The present study offers a comprehensive evaluation of the monthly rainfall and temperature patterns across nine stations and fifty-nine points in North-Eastern Nigeria using NASA’s Prediction of Worldwide Energy Resources data, spanning four decades (1981–2021). By employing the Mann–Kendall (MK) test and inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation, the researchers effectively detected and visualized trends in climate variables. The MK test results indicate contrasting rainfall trends, with notable decreases in Akko, Billiri, Maiduguri, Numan, and Yola, and increases in Gombe, Abadam, Biu, and Mubi. The trends in the maximum temperature were found to be statistically significant across all stations, showing a consistent increase, whereas the minimum temperature trends exhibited a slight but insignificant decrease. The application of the Theil–Sen slope estimator quantified these trends, providing nuanced insights into the magnitudes of changes in climate variables. The IDW results further corroborate the general trend of decreasing rainfall (z = −0.442), modest increases in the maximum temperature (z = 0.046), and a marginal decline in the minimum temperature (z = −0.005). This study makes an important contribution by advocating for the proactive dissemination of climate information. Given the evident climate shifts, particularly the increasing temperatures and fluctuating rainfall patterns, timely access to such information is crucial to enhancing climate resilience in the region. The rigorous statistical methods applied and the detailed spatial analysis strengthen the validity of these findings, making this study a valuable resource for both researchers and policymakers aiming to address climate variability in North-Eastern Nigeria. These research results may also be useful for understanding the climate variabilities in different parts of the world.

Monitoring energy consumption in response to rising temperatures has become extremely important in all regions of the globe. The energy required for cooling is a major challenge in West Africa, where the climate is predominantly tropical. Among the various methods for evaluating energy requirements, the degree-day method is best known for its ability to estimate the heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) requirements of buildings. This study used three decades of weather station data to assess the cooling degree days (CDD) in two major West African cities, Kano and Bamako, across a range of base temperatures from 22 °C to 30 °C. The results indicate an increase in cooling degree days for Kano, whereas Bamako experienced a decrease in these parameters over the same period. Nonetheless, Bamako required a relatively higher cooling demand for all base temperatures. Furthermore, the study showed that the years 1998 and 2015 had the most significant impact on Kano and Bamako, with CDD values ranging from 2220 °C-day to 218 °C-day for Kano and from 2425 °C-day to 276 °C-day for Bamako. The study also found that a lower base temperature leads to higher energy consumption, while a higher base temperature leads to lower energy consumption. This information provides a useful reference for governments and policymakers to achieve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Unplanned urban expansion poses significant challenges to environmental sustainability and urban planning. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal dynamics of Zinder’s urban landscape using Landsat satellite imagery from 1988, 2000, 2011, and 2022. The study applied remote sensing (RS), geographic information system (GIS) techniques, and urban growth models. The random forest classifier, a machine learning algorithm, was used to classify three land use/land cover categories: “vegetation”, “built-up”, and “others”. Zinder’s arid environment is characterized by sparse vegetation, which constitutes a limited but vital component of its landscape. Despite the already sparse vegetation in the area, the findings reveal a 3.5% reduction in vegetation cover between 1988 and 2022, alongside an 11.5% increase in “built-up” areas and an 8% decrease in the “others” category. This loss of already minimal vegetation raises significant concerns about environmental degradation and the exacerbation of desertification risks. Interestingly, urban expansion showed no significant correlation with population growth (r = 0.29, p > 0.5), suggesting that other factors, such as economic activities, infrastructure development, and land use policies, drive land conversion. Edge expansion emerged as the dominant growth type, with a significant directional preference (Chi-Square = 2334.41, p < 0.001) toward major roads and areas with higher accessibility to public services. These findings emphasize the need for strategic urban planning and land management policies to address the drivers of unplanned expansion. Prioritizing sustainable infrastructure development, enforcing land use regulations, and conserving natural landscapes are critical to balancing urban growth with environmental preservation, ensuring resilience and sustainability in Zinder.

ToPoTown analyzes the feasibility of using precarious housing conditions for sustainable tourism in the “Katatura” township in Windhoek, Namibia. The focus is on economic feasibility, environmental relevance and acceptability among the population. Tourism should lead to an improvement in living conditions, which in turn has a positive impact on environmental conditions. With GIS-supported inventories, surveys of new data and their spatial analyses, the feasibility and environmental situation is being researched and at the same time a database is being created that can be used as a starting point for a web-based portal solution for structured resource management.With just under 500,000 inhabitants, Windhoek is home to almost 20% of Namibia's total population. The city is experiencing rapid growth due to people whose hopes for work and a better life are based on its proximity to the capital. As a result, the urban area continues to expand. Overall, the living conditions of around 60% of Windhoek's inhabitants can be described as extremely precarious. Katatura is Windhoek's best-known and oldest suburb. It was created in the 1950s during apartheid in order to forced relocate the colored population from the city center according to ethnic groups. The City of Windhoek's pilot program to encourage the owners of historic houses in Katutura, which were built between 1959 and 1960, to exchange them for new, modern houses represents a unique opportunity to preserve Windhoek's cultural heritage and at the same time boost the local economy through tourism. Based on these buildings - which are very important for the people's consciousness - tourism could develop, which would help to improve the precarious situation of the inhabitants. This would also have very strong environmental aspects, as the disastrous pollution and land degradation resulting from this living situation could be significantly mitigated.The aim of ToPoTown is to assess the feasibility of sustainable tourism, research the environmental conditions and thus create a database on the country's socio-cultural and natural resources. The content focus relates to the following points:Inventory (socio-cultural and natural parameters) Perspective of the residents Environmental aspects (e.g. land use, pollution, degradation) Designation of potential tourist centres In terms of methodology, the focus is on analyzing remote sensing data in order to obtain information about relevant natural (e.g. climate, soils, terrain morphology, water) and technical parameters (e.g. water supply, health, infrastructure, electricity). On the other hand, socio-cultural parameters are collected through extensive qualitative and quantitative surveys. The results lead to the realization of a GIS with emotional aspects (“emotional GIS”). Finally, based on these principles, a site location analysis is developed as a generic model for a multi-criteria analysis to identify potential tourist centers.ToPoTown provides an excellent starting point for conducting similar studies in other regions of Namibia and southern Africa, focusing on the following specific aspects of the regions:Cultural-historical parameters, Natural resources and environmental conditions, Colonial historical parameters.

The University of Applied Sciences in Neubrandenburg, Germany has developed an independent and unique profile with regard to applied research, development, and knowledge transfer. This especially applies to the Bachelor and Master programmes in Geomatics within the Landscape Sciences and Geomatics department.Geoinformatics involves using all information that has a spatial reference. Some of the major areas are the recording and representation of the Earth’s surface (cartography and land registry), the processing of aerial photography and satellite and radar images, as well as geographic information systems. Application programs, databases, the Internet and software development form the basis for the use of geoinformatics in the geosciences, such as geodesy, geography, geology, geophysics and ecology.Geoinformatics requires a high degree of interdisciplinary work and this means that graduates enjoy excellent and exciting career opportunities in various application areas such as environmental protection, environmental monitoring, landuse planning, tourism and leisure industry, agriculture, and forestry.The curricula for both the undergraduate and postgraduate courses are strongly oriented towards the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), open data and open standards. Since 2022 the studies include facultative seminars on Open Science / FAIR and Open Research Software. These courses reflect the paradigms of Open and FAIR and introduce the students to the values and best practices developed by the global open geospatial communities. The course provides a holistic overview and introduction to the organization, infrastructures and stakeholders of the OSGeo Foundation as an umbrella organization of quality-tested Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects, giving an overview of the software projects themselves (including OSGeoLive, QGIS and libraries such as gdal and proj), as well as the networked organizational structures such as GeoForAll, the national and regional OSGeo chapters, and the FOSS4G conference series, and providing opportunities for student participation and career building.Taking this as a starting point, Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences is aiming to participate in the global GeoFoAll Labs community in the mid-term.

Landscape management, agricultural sciences and geoinformatics are inseparable nowadays, and this should also be reflected in teaching. For example, green areas provide an important biodiversity, are positively associated with mental well-being and play a critical role in mitigating the impacts of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide, reducing heat islands in urban areas, and providing shade and cooling. However, climate change is also affecting green areas.On the other hand, geoinformatics offers powerful tools for assessing, monitoring and sustainable planning for all types of landscapes such as urban, rural and natural areas, and deserts. It relates to all data with a spatial reference with the focus on data acquisition, management, analysis, visualization and dissemination. Geographic information systems and remote sensing (aerial photography, satellite and radar images) play a major role for the use of geoinformatics in the geosciences, such as geography, geology, agricultural sciences, and ecology.Prior to this, the Tunisian GEOMAG project was able to identify a lack of education in geomatics in the center of Tunisia, the Sahel region, which includes the governorates of Sousse, Mahdia, Monastir and Kairouan. This project included in particular an evaluation phase consisting of a self-assessment of 11 Tunisian universities (i.e. 51 “institutional” components) and a national survey of 66 public or private companies active in the geomatics sector.To address this proven problem, an intensive exchange has been taking place between the Institut supèrieur agronomique de Chott Mariem (ISA CM ) in Tunisia and the Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences (HSNB). So far, the Tunisian students have attended the HSNB's Master's program “Geomatics” with a focus on spatial data analysis, landscape and risk management and remote sensing. The curricula are strongly oriented towards the use of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), open data and open standards. Thanks to the high degree of interdisciplinarity, graduates are offered excellent and exciting career opportunities.The exchange is guaranteed by a contract between the two universities and is supported by the Erasmus program of the European Union. Various theses have been successfully completed to date. The main objectives of these efforts are:Promoting an interdisciplinary education that brings together the perspectives and skills of different disciplines; Integrating geospatial information technologies into land use planning; Fostering innovation and research and encouraging students to explore new approaches; Promote international cooperation between universities and organizations, including opportunities for students to study and work with colleagues from different countries. These objectives reflect the European Commission's priorities for interdisciplinary training, the integration of geoinformation technologies, innovation and research, and international cooperation in the field of territorial planning, agricultural sciences and in the European Green Deal strategy. In the future, these activities are to be expanded and a double Master's degree is to be targeted.The existing and planned activities in the field of higher education can be seen as a pilot project that can be extended to countries such as Morocco, with which there is also very close cooperation, or even beyond.