BEAR is an initiative, which aims at supporting the formation of research networks corresponding to some specific themes of the GMES programme. BEAR is funded by the European Space Agency and managed by the IAF.

The goals of BEAR are:

• to promote East-West regional cooperation between scientists from ESA member States, Ukraine and Russia
• to promote international cooperation for using data from Earth Observation satellites from ESA, Russia and Ukraine

IAF and ESA provide:

• financial support for joint European-Russian-Ukrainian research projects on GMES thematics
• free data from Envisat and ERS satellites
• support to participate in conferences

BEAR presentation - Current status of the BEAR initiative