Mine Action: Innovation, Sustainability, and Global Partnerships Speaker Series

Date & Time

DATES: FEB 19 | MAR 19 | APR 16 | MAY 21 | JUN 18 | JUL 16 | AUG 20 | SEP 17 | OCT 15 | NOV 19 | DEC 17
Time: 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM ET
Location: VIRTUAL (ZOOM WEBINAR)

Register

Participants who attend a minimum of 50% of sessions and complete the series evaluation will receive a certificate of attendance from CIFAL York

BACKGROUND

Landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW) continue to pose a critical humanitarian and developmental challenge worldwide. These hazards hinder infrastructure development, agricultural productivity, and socio-economic recovery directly impacting the achievement of multiple UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), unmanned systems, robotics, and digital twins offer transformative opportunities to accelerate clearance operations, improve safety, and enhance cost-efficiency. Simultaneously, climate change impacts exacerbate contamination dynamics, demanding integrated approaches that link technology, sustainability, and policy.

The Subsphere Co. in partnership with York University, Kyiv National Aviation University, Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, and Ukrainian deminers and technology developers proposes a global speaker series that unites, deminer, applied research centers, academia, policymakers, industry, and humanitarian actors to shape the future of mine action through innovation and sustainability.

GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

The speaker series is structured to address landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) challenges through a strictly humanitarian, civilian-protection-oriented framework, with clearly defined ethical, legal, and operational boundaries between humanitarian and military applications of technology. Its core learning objectives are:

Advance applied knowledge for humanitarian landmine and ERW mitigation by presenting cutting-edge but non-weaponized technologies—including artificial intelligence, autonomous and robotic sensing platforms, geospatial analytics, and predictive contamination modeling—designed exclusively to improve detection accuracy, operational safety, and clearance efficiency in accordance with International Mine Action Standards (IMAS) and humanitarian principles.
Define and reinforce clear boundaries between humanitarian and military technologies, ensuring that all tools, methodologies, and case studies discussed are limited to civilian protection, survey, risk reduction, and clearance support. The series explicitly excludes weaponization, targeting, strike optimization, or offensive military use, and addresses governance, dual-use risk management, and safeguards to prevent technology diversion.
Foster a multi-stakeholder coordination platform for humanitarian mine action, bringing together academic institutions, United Nations agencies, industry partners, and NGOs to align research, validation, and deployment strategies for ethically governed, transparent, and scalable solutions toward a mine-free world.
Reinforce education, training, and professional pathways in humanitarian demining, with a focus on developing the next generation of mine action professionals equipped with technical competence, ethical awareness, risk governance skills, and a clear understanding of the limits and responsibilities of humanitarian technology deployment.
Promote business ethics, moral accountability, and responsible innovation among technology developers and industry stakeholders, emphasizing their obligation to ensure that technologies used in humanitarian mine action are designed, governed, and commercialized in ways that prioritize civilian safety, human dignity, transparency, and long-term social impact. This includes addressing ethical design choices, dual-use risk mitigation, compliance with international humanitarian norms, responsible AI governance, and the duty of care owed by developers to affected communities and humanitarian operators.

TARGET AUDIENCES

Public Health Departments
Emergency Management Agencies
Law Enforcement and Public Safety Professionals
National Safety Authorities
Mine Action Professionals
Demining Technology Companies
Health & Safety Professionals
International Organizations (UNMAS, etc.)
Humanitarian NGOs and NGOs in related sectors
Public Policy Researchers and Professionals
Disaster and Emergency Management Professionals
Professors and Students in related fields
First Response Organizations

SESSION 1 THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 12:00PM-1:00PM (ET)

Moderator: Shahab Moenini

Director & Strategy Lead, SubSphere Co.

Shahab Moeini is a global expert in unmanned systems and remote sensing with 25+ years of experience across humanitarian, defense, and academic fields. As a strategist and leader, he established a leading R&D center in geospatial technologies, setting new benchmarks for AI-driven solutions in explosive hazard management.

Moderator: Mishal Arif

Research and Development Coordinator, SubSphere Co.

Speaker: Pedro Basto

Program Manager, Research & Innovation, Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining (GICHD)

Topic: The Mine Action Innovation Hub: challenges and enablers of the mine action innovation system

Pedro Basto joined the GICHD in May 2023 and holds the position of Programme Manager, Research and Innovation. In this role, he provides direction to the Research and Innovation Programme, and the rest of the GICHD, focusing on leading and coordinating research and innovation related initiatives, and on methods that improve the delivery of Explosive Ordnance Risk Reduction (EORR) operations. Prior to joining the GICHD, Pedro Basto worked in the Portuguese Armed Forces for 22 years, as Army Military Engineer, EOD and C-IED expert and in the European Defence Agency, as Project Manager for Capability Development and Research projects. His work has taken him to a number of countries in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Pedro Basto has a Master’s degree in Military Engineering from the Portuguese Army Military Academy (chartered Civil Engineer). He is Certified Chief Innovation Officer (GInI CCInO) and Project Management Professional (PMI PMP).

Speaker: Miodrag Milenković

Senior Advisor for Training Organization and Mine Action Coordination, Mine Action Centre of the Republic of Serbia

Topic: The Mine Action Innovation Hub: challenges and enablers of the mine action innovation system

Miodrag Milenković is the Senior Advisor for Training Organization and Mine Action Coordination at the Mine Action Centre of the Republic of Serbia. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics with a specialization in Finance, Banking and Insurance. Since joining the Centre in 2020, he has been actively engaged in all aspects of Mine Action, including project development, quality control, and training. He is part of the SMAC team of instructors delivering education on the dangers of explosive remnants of war. Miodrag holds EOD Level 1 and Level 2 qualifications and has completed numerous domestic and international trainings in Mine Action.

SESSION 2 THURSDAY MARCH 19 12:00PM-1:00PM (ET)

Moderator: Mishal Arif

Organizers

CIFAL YORK

CIFAL York is part of UNITAR's global network of training centres for knowledge-sharing, training, and capacity-building for public and private leaders, local authorities, and civil society. CIFAL Centres are local and regional hubs for innovative, participatory and co-creative knowledge exchange opportunities to support decision-making processes, build capacity, and accelerate the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals. Established in 2020, CIFAL York started its operation in June 2021 as the first CIFAL Centre in Canada. Health and Development training and knowledge sharing is among the key focusing areas of CIFAL York.

For more information or questions please contact: cifaldirector@yorku.ca

VPD ADERSIM Lab

ADERSIM (Advanced Disaster and Emergency Simulation Lab) is an interdisciplinary research and innovation lab at York University that explores the use of advanced technologies to support complex real-world analysis, training, and decision-making. The lab specializes in simulation, drone technologies, GIS, artificial intelligence, and immersive environments such as VR/XR, enabling applied research, technology development, and experiential learning.

ADERSIM provides facilities and expertise for scenario-based analysis, system testing, data collection, and visualization, working closely with academic partners, industry, and public-sector organizations. While the lab’s work includes applications related to disaster and emergency contexts, its core mission is broader—advancing technology-enabled research, training, and innovation across multiple domains through hands-on, collaborative, and practical approaches.

For more information or questions please contact: asgary@yorku.ca

SubSphere

SubSphere’s journey began with a shared vision of leveraging advanced technology to address one of the world’s most persistent and devastating issues: Landmines.

We are a dynamic blend of professionals with expertise in product management, software engineering, business development, military, remote sensing and geographic information systems. Our collective knowledge and dedication to innovation have been instrumental in shaping the company’s direction and success.

We all believe in the power of technology to solve big problems.

For more information or questions please contact: info@subsphere.ca

AvioTrax

AvioTrax designs and develops autonomous aerial and ground systems engineered for reliable operation in complex and evolving environments. Our expertise spans system architecture, platform integration, mission-specific configuration, and life cycle analysis—ensuring robust, scalable solutions for both autonomous and supervised operations.

We integrate advanced AI capabilities, including AI-enhanced object detection, sensor fusion, and intelligent mission control, transforming multi-sensor data into actionable intelligence for precise perception, adaptive navigation, and effective decision-making in degraded or data- constrained conditions.

For more information or questions please contact: info@aviotrax.com