1. Global Terrestrial Observing System National and regional dimensions Linking scientists and policy makers to collaborate on global and regional environmental priorities Assessing data availability and access in countries Strengthening national capacity in terrestrial observation Developing mechanisms for collaboration (networks, metadata)

2. Southern and Eastern Africa Southern Asia Central and Eastern Europe Global Terrestrial Observing System National and regional dimensions

3. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Activities and outputs User needs assessment In-country assessments in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia Desk studies for other CEE countries Synthesis Workshop Strategy and action plan

4. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Structure and partnerships GTOS-CEE co-ordinator located in FAO- SEUR GTOS national focal points in four countries Collaboration with NoLIMITS, UNEP- GRID and ILTER

5. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Operational activities Resources Participation Product definition Data and information exchange Initiation of the GTOS CEE programme

6. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme User needs assessment Meet the requirements of the user communities Prioritise environmental issues within the region Identify information gaps Foster partnership between data providers and users Increase the use and value of terrestrial observation

7. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Main information users The scientific community National policy makers from governmental bodies International experts from global programmes, NGOs and international organisations Educators The general public

8. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Potential uses of data and information Monitoring and assessing impacts of global changes Developing and validating models Scientific understanding Planning for sustainable development

9. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme User needs for data, information and products Data required to address the five GTOS issues Information products to be generated Specifications of the data management framework for data and information exchange

10. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme User needs assessment process Selection of a representative sample of recipients Development of a questionnaire Analysis of the responses Formulation of the main needs

11. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme The questionnaire

12. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Profile of the respondents Number of responses Sample profile (ratio between scientists and policy makers, geographic distribution, etc.) Quality of the data

13. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Environmental issues prioritisation Loss of biodiversity is considered as the major issue in the region (1.) Other issues are ranked as follow: 2. Availability of freshwater resources, 3. Changes in land quality, and 4. Impacts of pollution and toxicity Climate change is the least important issue (5.) Additional issues mentioned are: waste management and land ownership changes

14. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Identification of existing initiatives 30 sites mentioned in addition to the sites of the TEMS metadatabase 24 initiatives for national and regional terrestrial observation

15. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Purposes of the data currently used

16. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Required monitoring methods and information gaps Few intensively observed sites with a great number of variables and high resolution versus large number of less intensive sites with few variables and low resolution Specification of information needs not satisfied because of the lack of data or data access

17. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Potential users identification of GTOS CEE

18. The GTOS Central and Eastern Europe programme Additional responses expected Detailed analysis for the Synthesis Workshop Comparison of the results of the user needs assessment with the in-country assessments