The Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences participated in the 4th annual Summer School of Environmental and Climate Law, organised by the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in cooperation with the civic association SPEK. The summer school brought together students and experts to combine legal theory with environmental protection practice.
September 19-22, 2025, Antonstál Castle (Nemšová)
The summer school program included lectures, workshops, and field trips; The key topics were precision and regenerative agriculture, nature-friendly forest management, environmental responsibility, and others. The summer school was attended by 24 members of the academic community and was also supported by LESY SR with practical demonstrations of forest management.
The Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences was represented by Tomáš Goga, who presented how remote sensing (RS) reliably detects where and when changes in the landscape have occurred – from the ploughing of permanent grasslands to the destruction of non-forest vegetation to the mapping of legal and potentially illegal landfills. The presentation showed examples of working with satellite, radar, and lidar data, including time series, fusion with reference registers, and field verification (UAV/photo documentation). The main message conveyed to the young law students was: “The satellite sees physical changes, not the verdict of the law.”
Why is this important for law and control?
- Reducing false alarms: combining optical, radar, and lidar data with cadastre, CLC, LPIS, or ZBGIS improves accuracy and interpretation
- Speed and regularity: free satellite missions provide coverage of the entire territory at short intervals, suitable for early indications
- Objective record of change: “when/where/extent” serves as a basis for subsequent legal analysis and field control
Cooperation and acknowledgements
The summer school is a stable platform for the exchange of experiences between academia and practice. The Institute of Geography of the Slovak Academy of Sciences looks forward to further cooperation with the Faculty of Law of Comenius University in the field of nature conservation, climate policy, and environmental law.
Text: Tomáš Goga | Source: press release PF UK
