The effects of human activity on nature are global and incalculable. Therefore, researchers are currently discussing whether humanity is not already in a new geological age, the Anthropocene. The causes of this Great Acceleration are complex and affect all spheres of the Earth system. Earth system scientists are collaborating in international and interdisciplinary networks with the overarching goal of understanding the functioning and interactions within the Earth system and addressing the multiple challenges of global change. The NFDI4Earth consortium therefore aims to provide FAIR*, coherent and open access to all relevant Earth system data, innovative research data management and data science methods. From the Ruhr-University two GI working groups are involved: Interdisciplinary Geoinformation Sciences (Jun. Prof. Dr. Andreas Rienow) and Geo Remote Sensing (Dr. Valerie Graw). To start with, an Educational Pilot is being developed in the form of a Massive Open Online Course entitled "The future is urban, the data is smart - Analysis of urban transformation processes with volunteered geographic information, social media geographic information and EO data". The National Research Data Infrastructure (NFDI) is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and aims to systematically develop, sustainably secure and make accessible the data holdings of science and research, as well as to network them (inter)nationally. A total of 26 consortia belong to the NFDI.

*The FAIR principles are intended to ensure sustainable research data management (FDM) and stand for Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable. More information is available here.