FIG Regional Conference

The 7thFIG Regional Conference ‘Spatial Data Serving People: Land Governance and the Environment – Building the Capacity’ will take place in Vietnam from 19thto 22ndOctober 2009 at the National Conference Centre in Hanoi. About four hundred participants from all over the world, with a specific focus in Asia and region, are expected to attend. Conference topics will both address issues at the top of regional and local agendas and at the same time offer a platform for international discussion. The focus will be on areas of land administration and environmental management, so that the meeting provides an excellent opportunity for FIG member associations and surveyors to meet and share experiences and achievements. Please note that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is holding a two-day regional conference on ‘Voluntary guidelines for responsible governance of tenure of land and other natural resources’ as a fully integrated part of the 7thFIG Regional Conference.

Eilat General Assembly

Important decisions emerged from the 32ndFIG General Assembly held in Eilat, Israel, from 4thto 8thMay 2009. Firstly, the General Assembly admitted the Association des Géomètres Experts du Niger (AGEN) as a member association. Ken Allred was appointed an honorary member, having held many responsible positions in FIG since 1977. Wafula Nabutola of the Institution of Surveyors of Kenya was named chair-elect of FIG Commission 8 on Spatial Planning and Development.

The FIG task-forces for, respectively, ‘Institutional and Organisational Development’ and ‘Developing Global Land Tools for Pro Poor Land Management’ reported back to General Assembly, and new task-forces were established for ‘Africa’ and for ‘Spatially Enabled Societies’.

The General Assembly also adopted establishment of the Young Surveyors Network, endorsing its terms of reference and the appointment of Cecilia Lindén from Sweden as chair until the end of 2010. As part of its Work Plan 2007-2010 the Council has established a task-force on FIG Responses to the Millennium Development Goals to co-ordinate co-operation with the United Nations and the World Bank.

Responsible for bringing all this together is FIG President Stig Enemark, who reported back to the General Assembly on the subject. It was decided that FIG Working Week 2013 would be held in Abuja, Nigeria.