News in 2024
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A special focus on Climate Responsive Land Governance and Disaster
Resilience
13-16 November 2024, Kathmandu, Nepal
FIG Regional Conference
On 14-15 November 300 participants from Nepal, the region and
international attended the FIG Regional Conference which was held at the
Hotel Yak & Yeti in Kathmandu, Nepal. There were participants from 30
different countries hereunder Australia, Bhutan, China, Germany, India,
Japan, Kenya, Nepal, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Saudi Arabia, the
United Kingdom, and the United States spanning diverse sectors such as
government, academia, civil society, and the private sector. It was
especially positive to see the support and interest from Nepal.
The conference was organised jointly by FIG and the member
associations from Nepal, the Nepal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
(NICS). As the sole FIG member association in Nepal, NICS has
consistently worked towards professional development and security for
its members. The 2024 FIG Regional Conference marked another milestone
in NICS’s commitment to fostering knowledge sharing and capacity
building among land professionals.
The primary objective of the conference was to enhance knowledge and
capacity in the Asian region to address climate change and
disaster-related challenges, particularly in safeguarding the land
rights of vulnerable communities. The secondary objective was to
encourage collaborative partnerships among diverse stakeholders,
including government agencies, academic institutions, non-government
organizations (NGOs), the private sector, and civil society, to foster
dialogue, share knowledge, and facilitate technology transfer at a
regional level.
The main theme of the conference was:
Climate Responsive Land Governance and Disaster Resilience:
Safeguarding Land Rights.
All sessions and around 70 presentations were centered around this
main theme. The sessions were designed through an open call for papers
and in cooperation with the conference partners World Bank, UN-Habitat/GLTN
(Global Land Tool Network), Dutch Kadaster and ICIMOD.
Outcome
The conference enabled the participants to:
- Identify entry points for integrating climate and disaster
resilience into land management and governance practices.
- Learn from regional case studies and best practices shared
through technical sessions, interactive panels, and workshops.
- Gain practical tools and recommendations to implement climate
and disaster actions through the official Call to Action document.
Call to action
A Call to
Action Statement was a critical outcome of the event. This call to action was
formally handed over to Mr Ganesh Prasad Bhatta,
representing the Government of Nepal by FIG President, Dr. Diane
Dumashie.
provide actionable insights and tools to address climate change and
disaster resilience, emphasising the importance and need of land
professionals’ expertise in safeguarding land rights
The Call to Action aims to deliver concrete strategies and actionable
recommendations to
- Strengthen and safeguard land rights for both women and men
against climate challenges
- Foster collaborative partnerships for climate resilience and to
bridge gaps
- Enhance disaster resilience of both people and place through
knowledge and capacity
- Enhance regional responses through best practices and
fit-for-purpose standards
- Strengthen land governance, equitable land decision making, and
empower land practitioners
- Increase monitoring and measuring for climate action, and flow
through impacts to land tenure, property and environmental
management.
The outcome of the sessions together with the Call to Action will be
published in a FIG Publication.
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Clarissa Augustinus presents the Call to Action |
Pre-events
On 13 November one of the main partners, World Bank, held a
Multistakeholder Workshop on Land Use Planning in Nepal. Further, at the
Land Management Training Center (LMTC) a well visited 5th FIG Young
Surveyors Network Asia and the Pacific Meeting was held. Under the theme
"Empowered Youth for Climate Resilient Land" this gathering was
a call to action for young surveyors ready to address the pressing
challenges of climate change, land rights, and disaster resilience. The
programme included presentations and input from both young and more
seasoned/experienced surveyors. In the opening Ceremony FIG President
Diane Dumashie welcomed everyone together with Mr Buddhi Narayan
Shrestha, NICS, a long-term well-known face in FIG, who is still very
active despite the fact that he has reached his eighties.
The first Keynote presenter was Clarissa Augustinus, Chair of FIG
Task Force on Climate Compass, talking about Building the capacity of
Young Surveyors as leaders for Climate an disaster action. Janak Raj
Joshi, Executive Director at the Land Management Training Centre was the
second keynote speaker talking about climate change and land rights and
how to empower youth for sustainable land governance.
The Land Management Training Centre had made it possible to use their
facilities. A very big thanks to Janik and the training centre.
Inaugural Ceremony and plenary sessions
Minister of Land Management, cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation,
Hon' Balaram Adhikari attended the Inaugural Ceremony, and he welcomed
everyone to Nepal. His
address is available in English and Nepalese. In his address he
stated that "In today’s world, climate change is a global challenge.
It is not just a concern for a specific geography but a shared global
issue. One of the greatest challenges of humanity is dealing
with natural and human-induced disasters. The topics of land use and its
management are directly linked to climate change and disaster risk
reduction. " Nepal has faced several faced the impacts of climate
change, including floods and landslides, which not only affect the
environment but also pose risks to the socio-economic and cultural
aspects of society. He continued: "Although Nepal has made efforts
to establish constitutional, policy, and legal frameworks for addressing
climate change and disaster management, further debate on the impacts of
climate change on land management is necessary. Our ministry has already
initiated policy discussions on the interrelationship between land and
climate change."
The outcome of this conference is relevant not only to Nepal and the
region, but beyond. The resut of the world can learn from how Nepal has
been working on climate and disaster issues over the later years.
Trimble was main sponsor of the conference. Unfortunately
Bryn Fosburgh, Vice President of Trimble was not able to
deliver his keynote speech. Bryn was missed, but a large thanks goes to
Trimble for the support of the conference.
Co-Conference Director Ganesh Prasad Bhatta opened
the conference with welcome remarks in which he welcomed all from near
and far and wished all a fruitful conference. The local organising
committee with Mr Ganesh in the lead have worked tirelessly and
dedicated to organise this very successful conference, and is the
culmination of previous meetings in 2015 and 2019.
The two further keynote presenters were FIG President Diane
Dumashie, and Mr Mika-Pettri Torhonen, Global
Lead on Land at World Bank setting the scene for the following sessions
and discussions.
Three honorary NICS members, all in their eighties, received FIG
recognition and certificate of appreciation:
- Mr. Buddhi Narayan Shrestha, Past President of
NICS
- Mr. Punya Prasad Oli, Immediate Past President
of NICS
- Mr. Rajendra Prasad Maratha, Immediate Past
Treasurer of NICS
After the plenary session the first plenary session took place, on
Climate Responsible Land Governance. Four speakers gave their input to
the transformative role of surveyors and land practitioners in tackling
climate changes and how we can possibly safeguard vulnerable
communities, promote climate-responsive land governance and strengthen
resilience against disasters. Speakers were Mr. Pranab Ranjan,
co-founder of Landstack, a global south think tank, Markus
Kukkonen, World Bank, Ganesh Prasad Bhatta,
joint Secretary and Spokespoerson for the Ministry of Land Management,
Cooperatives and poverty Alleviation, and finally Paula Dijkstra,
Director of Kadaster International.
The plenary session that started day 2 of the conference elaborated
around Disaster Resilience, and how disaster resilience can be built
across the Asia region with practical strategies. Speakers were
Birendra Bajaracharya, Chief of Party of SERVIR-Hindu Kush
Himalaya, a joint initiative of NASA and USAID, Rishiraj Dutta,
a Disaster Risk Reduction Practitioner and Researcher, working as
Capacity Development Lead at the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center
(ADPC) in Thailand, Jagannath Aryal, Associate
Professor at the University of Melbourne, Ikram ul Haq, presenting a
case study of PULSE implementation in Punjab, a World Bank funded
initiative on the digitization of urban lands and cadastral mapping in
Punjab, and finally Dinesh Manandhar, Associate
Professor at the University of Tokio on Low-Cost GNSS Receiver Systems
for Disaster management, Dynamic Air-Quality Monitoring, and Gateless
Toll Gate.
Outcome from all plenary and technical sessions will contribute to
the final publication.
Technical sessions were run in 3 parallell breakout tracks. One track
was dedicated FIG Commission 9 and World Bank on valuation of the real
estate.
Closing ceremony and thanks
On Friday 15 November a Closing Ceremony ended this highly useful,
operational and inspiring conference. Dr Clarissa Augustinus presented
the Call to Action. Hereafter the Call to Action was handed over by FIG
President Diane Dumashie to Ganesh Prasad Bhatta representing the
Ministry. Hereafter Diane Dumashie held her closing speech thanking all
for coming and especially for the support from Nepal to the topic and
the conference. It was two very productive days. Diane thanked all the
local organisers and helpers who had made the two days work smoothless.
FIG Foundation had sponsored four regional Young Surveyors to this
conference and 20 young surveyors from Nepal. All received a special
certificate from the Foundation. FIG and the local organisers thanked
the Foundation for their generous and very helpful support.
FIG sends a final and special thanks to the local organisers for
their engagement, structured approach and efficiency with this
conference.
FIG Foundation grant recipients
Social and Technical tour
On Saturday 16 November the local organisers had put together an
exciting combined social and technical tour which was well visited by
the regional and international participants. This gave an insight into
both culture, nature and the surveying work in Nepal. The morning
started very early with a bus ride out of Kathmandu and up in 2100 m
height to see the sunrise. Unfortunately, the moment the buses arrived
the clouds arrived, too. Nevertheless, it was a wonderful sight towards
the mountains. The view station functioned as a fix point for surveyors,
too, and local surveyors gave insights into their work in the mountains
and the measurements. The nearby Geodetic Observatory was a stop on the
tour as well as the local survey station who kindly offered a warm cup
of tea.
The tour continued to Bhaktapur, a UNESCO World Hertitage Site with
intereting historical and articistc treasures. A guide explained about
the temples, the main squares and culture of Nepal.
After a walk, insights into the Nepal
culture and a group photo, the next stop was the Land Management
Training Center (LMTC), where the Young Surveyors meeting was hosted a
few days earlier. The training center is under the ministry and
offers various levels of training courses to land professionals.
Next stop was the
Kathmandu University, after a refreshing and delicious lunch at the
Training Centre. This stop started with a group photo, and hereafter the
participants were divided into two groups getting a tour around the
university. Thanks to the representatives from the University and
Training Centre for opening up for us despite being a Saturday.
The final stop on the tour was a special
area in Hadigaun, Kathmandu. A community-driven initiative has secured
Car-free Saturdays enabling people to enjoy their Saturday in the
pedestrian streets incl a diverse street food experience. One of the
initiators of this initiative met with the group and showed around the
area, telling about how this was established. Hopefully other areas will
learn from their experience.
Read more:
A special thanks to all our partners, supporters, sponsors and
exhibitors
Partners:
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Government of Nepal;
Ministry of Land Management, Cooperatives and Poverty Alleviation;
Land Management Training Center
Survey Department
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FIG Commissions and Task-Forces :
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FIG Task Force on Climate Compass
FIG Task Force on SDGs
FIG Commission 2 - Professional Education
FIG Commission 5 - Positioning and
Measurement
FIG Commission 7 - Cadastre and Land
Management
FIG Commission 9 - Valuation and the
Management of Real Estate
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The Conference is supported by:
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Community Self Relience Center
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KU Department of Geomatics Engineering
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PLATINUM SPONSOR
GOLD SPONSOR
BRONZE SPONSORS
EXHIBITORS
Louise Friis-Hansen
November 2024
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