Registration is now open for the
Terra em Foco 2026 conference
This year's edition of the national Earth Observation conference will take place on 17 and 18 March in Coimbra.
AED Cluster Portugal is partnering with the event to promote networking sessions.
Registration is now open for Terra em Foco 2026. Participation in the third edition of the national Earth Observation (EO) conference, created by the Portuguese Space Agency and co-organised with local partners, is free of charge but subject to the capacity of the facilities at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra.
With 81 applications submitted for oral presentations and posters, 35 more than in 2024, this year’s edition of the conference will be the most popular ever, a clear indicator of the event’s growth and the dynamism of the national EO community. Created in 2022, Terra em Foco is a biennial event that has already been held in Évora and Braga, establishing itself as the main meeting point for the national EO community.
‘The growth of Terra em Foco accompanies the growing interest in space technologies and, specifically, in scientific production in the field of Earth Observation,’ says Carolina Sá. The manager of the Earth Observation programmes at the Portuguese Space Agency highlights the ‘significant increase’ in the number of papers submitted by students. “Presenting research work at this conference is a great opportunity for those who are still studying. Here, they can not only interact with their peers from academia, but also get to know national companies and other entities that may have a practical interest in their research, and even find recruitment opportunities,” she points out.
The best oral presentations and the best student posters will be awarded prizes by the event organisers, in categories and according to conditions to be announced in due course. As in 2024, the Career Award will also be presented, recognising individuals who have made significant contributions to the field of EO in Portugal. The 2024 edition honoured Ana Fonseca, former director of the Applied Geodesy Unit at the National Laboratory for Civil Engineering (LNEC). The recipient of the 2026 Career Award will be announced during the conference.
In addition to promoting knowledge sharing in plenary sessions, Terra em Foco includes practical sessions and workshops. The conference also offers free stands for companies and institutions that want to promote their products and services to a specialised audience. The organisation has so far received around a dozen expressions of interest in using the exhibition space. However, it is still possible to accommodate new expressions of interest up to the available capacity limit.
AED joins Terra em Foco
The 2026 edition of Terra em Foco includes, for the first time, a structured networking component aimed at strengthening interaction between participants and creating business opportunities. To this end, after registering for the conference, participants can sign up for the Space Technologies Community, created on the b2match platform as part of a partnership between the Portuguese Space Agency and AED Cluster Portugal. This digital space allows participants to propose and schedule bilateral meetings throughout Terra em Foco, facilitating the identification of potential partners and relevant connections, tailored to each profile.
During the event, there will be an area reserved and dedicated to these dynamics, with the organisation and management of the networking meeting area under the responsibility of AED Cluster Portugal, which is partnering with Terra em Foco for the first time.
According to the Director-General of AED, ‘the Terra em Foco conference plays a decisive role in the development and consolidation of the downstream segment in Portugal, particularly in the strategic sector of Earth Observation.’ ‘Its contribution is clear: to transform data into decisions and decisions into concrete solutions for the territory, sustainability and the economy, bringing science, technology and the market closer together,’ says Rui Santos. The Director-General of AED also stresses that “the partnership between the Portuguese Space Agency and AED Cluster Portugal reflects a common priority: to mobilise industry and the national ecosystem to accelerate the adoption of Earth Observation applications, create scale and strengthen Portuguese participation in value chains and European programmes. It is through cooperation and ambition that we continue to consolidate a more competitive, innovative and international ecosystem.”
The 2026 edition of Terra em Foco is organised in collaboration with the Faculty of Science and Technology of the University of Coimbra (FCTUC), the Geospatial Information Competence Centre (CGEO) of the Intermunicipal Community of the Coimbra Region, the Pedro Nunes Institute (IPN) and AED Cluster Portugal. It is also sponsored by Development Seed.
Participation in the event is free of charge, but subject to the capacity of the FCTUC facilities. General registration closes on 2 March. The preliminary agenda for the event is now available for consultation here.
