Contents

Key figures

22 agencies
84 certified projects
23,5 M€ of global funding

SCO in France

As the national offshoot of the international initiative, the SCO France aims to bring together the scientific community, public authorities and the business world around solutions for mitigating and adapting to the impacts of climate change. As the driving force behind the initiative, the signatory members have entrusted the CNES with the Secretariat of the International SCO.

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As the SCO initiative was born in June 2019 at the instigation of France, the French Space Agency CNES (Centre National d’Études spatiales) was immediately entrusted with the implementation of the SCO in France. In a driving role, he created and implemented the annual call for projects process, which is now used internationally, while his approach to facilitation now inspires that of the rapidly expanding international SCO.

1 Presentation

Launched in November 2019, SCO France is managed by an Inter-Agency Committee (IAC) made up of 22 French public entities operating in the field of climate action, including the Ministry of Higher Education and Research and the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Solidarity.

The IAC meets at least twice a year. An Executive Board oversees the smooth operation of the Committee and coordinates its work.

SCO France strives to accompany national public policies on climate change and therefore implements an annual call for projects in the priority areas set out by the government in its climate policy.

2 Objectives

In accordance with the objectives set out by the international initiative, SCO France supports the development of a set of operational tools for policy makers and the general public, making full use of satellite and socio-economic data to assist in monitoring, mitigating and adapting to climate change at the local level. These tools must be co-developed with their users to precisely meet a set of needs and be easily transferable to other territories facing the same climate challenges.

3 SCO Projects: a "use case" approach

The goal of SCO France is to create a community capable of providing feedback and detailed requirements for climate adaptation and mitigation through an approach based on specific use cases.

Every year on 1 September, SCO France opens a call for projects for French entities, potentially in international cooperation, in parallel with the international call for projects. During a few weeks, the labelling committee – composed of IAC members and European partners – assess the applications against precise criteria. The first and most important one is to answer the immediate needs of local geographic area using space data.

To achieve this, a SCO project should involve several families of players within its consortium:

The scientific community, whose research studies result in practical solutions by analysing and modelling available data – be it satellite or socio-economic data;
National and local authorities, as well as municipalities, which are responsible for adapting the project at grassroots level;
Regional engineering players, whose technical expertise is the most relevant for the scale of the problem;
Companies and design offices able to deliver an industrial and operational response linking scientists, data and the population;
CNES contributes its space expertise, regardless of its direct involvement in the consortium.

SCO project criteria

♦︎ Meet the immediate needs of end users in a specific geographical area;

♦︎ Propose an operational and practical solution, such as a web application or software;

♦︎ Make the best use of available satellite, environmental, in situ climate and socio-economic data, at a resolution appropriate to the problem;

♦︎ Build on existing (pre-)operational and research infrastructure, services and local data

♦︎ Have the potential for expansion to other geographical areas.

👉 More details in the SCO France project guide (label, criteria, consortia, etc.)

Projects that are accepted as SCO Projects benefit from tailor-made technical and financial support, as well as communication at national and international levels.

In return, and to ensure that the elements produced benefit everyone, the holders of certified projects undertake to carry out promotional activities: reuse code elements in a new application, make algorithms or expertise available, etc.

Thanks to this unique involvement, local decision-makers and the general public are progressively gaining access to crucial tools for planning resilience-focused actions that are essential in the face of climate challenges.

👉 Consult the many other Resources available, such as the SCO Charter, the Project Valuation Guide, the SCO Portfolio, which lists all projects since 2020, and the main access points for data and satellite products.

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