FundaYao is an international initiative dedicated to building a stronger, more connected, and more inclusive remote sensing community with a particular focus on Southern Africa, China, and South-to-South cooperation across the Global South.
Our Origins
FundaYao was founded by Prof. Timo Balz of Wuhan University and Prof. Walter Musakwa of the University of Johannesburg, two researchers who share a long-standing commitment to education, capacity building, and equitable scientific collaboration between Africa and Asia. The organization was launched with the generous initial support of the ISPRS Capacity Building Initiative 2026, whose backing has enabled us to move from a shared vision into a working program of activities.
Our name brings together two languages and two regions that sit at the heart of our community. Funda, drawn from the Nguni languages of Southern Africa, means “to learn” or “to read” and yao (遥), a Chinese character meaning “remote” as in remote sensing.
Who We Are
We are a community of young professionals, students, educators, and established practitioners working in remote sensing and Earth observation. Many of our founding members are based in China and Southern Africa, but FundaYao is open to collaborators from every region who share our values. We come from universities, research institutes, and applied sectors such as agriculture, urban planning, environmental management, and disaster response.
What We Do
Our work is organized around three interlocking goals:
Connect — We link young remote sensing professionals to each other and to the practitioners whose decisions depend on Earth observation data. South-to-South cooperation is a particular priority.
Educate — Coming from a higher education background, we create accessible content for young audiences on social media and beyond, explaining remote sensing, demystifying pathways into higher education and research careers, and engaging openly with the broader issues that shape our field.
Empower — We promote and amplify remote sensing work led from the Global South, ensuring that researchers and practitioners from Southern Africa, China, and beyond are recognized as central contributors to international science, not as distant subjects of it.
Looking Ahead
FundaYao is a young organization with a long horizon. Our ambition is to grow into a durable network that helps the next generation of Earth observers learn from one another, work together across borders, and shape the future of remote sensing from the ground up. We warmly welcome students, professionals, educators, and partner organizations who would like to learn, collaborate, and shine with us.