A widespread feature of national land-tenure structures is the vesting of owner­ship of substantial national land in state/public sector ownership and management. The management of these areas is commonly problematic; for example, lacking considered, rational, equitable and transparently implemented policy, suffering frequent administrative corruption involving such assets, and lack of adequate management capacity.

Land Tenure Study
These problems are widespread globally and found in both developing and more developed economies . The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) is preparing to publish a Land Tenure Study in this area, and as a part of the process is disseminating its findings and supporting widespread sharing of experience and discussion on the subject.

Verona Seminar
To explore the present situation and potential for new good practices, a Sem­inar on “State and Public Land Management” will be held in Verona, Italy, on 9th and 10th September 2008, just before the FIG Commission 7 Annual Meeting. The seminar is being organised by FIG Commission 7 (Cadastre & Land Management) and the Consiglio Nazionale Geometri (CNG), in co-operation with FIG Commission 9 (Valuation & Management of Real Estate) and FAO’s Land Tenure and Management Unit.

Raise Global Awareness
The major goal of the seminar is to share experience and discuss policy options and practices in relation to state and public-sector land management, including between land managers, policy advisers and decision-makers and their professional advisers and the civil society organisations working in these areas. The seminar will help raise global awareness of problems associated with state/public land and its management, to improve knowledge of good practices in this area and encourage these to be increasingly addressed in new development initiatives.

State and Public Sector
The seminar will concentrate on:
-studying and analysing the state of the art relating to state and public-sector land management around the world, addressing land-policy issues, real-estate management practices and civil society perspectives
-sharing national case experience in state and public-sector land management
-finding possible and effective solutions to the problems, especially for developing countries; which are the best practices and what principles should be taken into consideration or avoided?
-making suggestions for future research directions.

The following topics may be addressed regarding state and public-sector management:
-legal frameworks
-institutional frameworks
-good practices
-environmental issues
-civil society perspectives
-developing transparency
-avoiding corruption
-state land in different national situations (post-conflict, post-transition, disaster management, resettlements, state land distribution)
-public land policy, new trends
-public land policy and land-use strategies
-social, economic, conservation and cultural functions of public land
-state land and fiscal management, fiscal efficiency and transparency.

Registration closes 7thJuly 2008.