H2020 project ConnectinGEO presented and pushed forward the state-of-the-art on Essential Variables (EVs) and one of the ERA-PLANET Transnational Call Projects- GEOEssential/ERA-PLANET, picks up on this work and aspires to demonstrate the feasibility of EVs across GEO SBAs, via demonstration workflows that will be using EVs served by the GEO infrastructure, to derive policy relevant indicators.

SMURBS, concerning EVs, is conceptually situated where ConnectinGEO left off and where GEOEssential continues from, thus, it will bring in and contribute to the urban component in the discussion of GEOEssential with which it shares partners and linkages to ERA-PLANET. This interaction is already underway, and it will be of an autonomous nature. Each project pursues each own agenda, GEOEssential guides SMURBS as the de facto expert in the EV domain and provides the methodological outline, while SMURBS focuses more on the urban perspective with its more relevant communities and necessities. The two projects share the objective to improve the availability of EVs services from GEOSS and Copernicus platforms, with SMURBS contributing to the still unexplored, in this field, urban domain. If the relevant communities decide positively on the strength and validity of the outcomes, then these outcomes will be incorporated, fully or partially, in the GEOEssential EVs Hub to be developed.

A combined/wider community/stakeholder pool is beneficial for all parties and of ERA-PLANET itself. Ideally, the two projects will converge towards the later months of their implementation in a set of Urban EVs or relevant indicators.