Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas Forum Aguascalienties

Spatial Data Infrastructure for the Americas Forum Aguascalienties, Mexico, 26th – 27th October 2004

The Government of Mexico hosted a Special Forum through the Instituto Nacional de Estadística Geo-grafía e Informática, INEGI, at their headquarters in Aguascalienties on 26th and 27th October 2004 under the theme ‘The Development of Land Information Policies in the Americas’. This followed on a resolution passed at the Seventh United Nations Regional Cartographic Conference for the Americas held in January 2001 in New York.

The objective of the forum was ‘to establish an awareness of the economic and social value for decision makers, of the importance of developing land policies that effectively and efficiently incorporate appropriate spatial data infrastructures, including an understanding of the value of integrating the land administration/cadastre/land registration function with the topographic mapping function’.

The United Nations issued invitations to government ministers with responsibility for the above functions, or their senior managers carrying policy responsibility. Funding support for the forum was received from the Government of Canada through Natural Resources Canada, the Government of USA, the World Bank and the Danish Trust Fund, and the Pan American Institute of Geography and History, PAIGH. Facilities and resources were provided by INEGI, and the United Nations contributed administrative support. FIG was tasked with taking the lead role in planning and arranging the Special Forum and contributed a significant amount of time to this.

The programme over two days consisted of four keynote papers and seven case-study papers, followed by a number of discussion sessions and a session of short presentations and discussions on challenges facing the Americas with respect to the theme of this forum. Following presentation of papers there was very active discussion on a range of issues including education, capacity building, institutional structures, funding, and spatial data infrastructures.
The outcome of the Special Forum will be an ‘Aguascalienties Statement’, which will form part of the final report to be tabled at the next UNRCCA to be held in June 2005 in New York.

Prof. John Parker

Inter-Regional Conference on Urban-Rural Linkages UN Office, Nairobi, Kenya, 1st-4th October 2004

A conference on Urban-Rural Linkages in Nairobi was organised by UN-HABITAT and co-sponsored by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) and the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG). The objective was to create and promote awareness among national economic and social development decision-makers and planners, their policy advisers and urban-rural development actors of the need for enhancing the balanced territorial development of both rural and urban areas. The conference was designed to achieve this by pooling, collating, synthesising and sharing experiences and lessons learned with a view to stimulating mutual learning, capacity-building and utilisation.

His Excellency Hon. A. A. Moody Awori, vice-president of the Republic of Kenya opened the conference and there were several government ministers among the delegates, a majority of whom were from Africa and Asia. Keynote speakers included Dr Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka, UN under-secretary general and executive director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT), Mr Bakary Kante, director, Division of Policy Development and Law, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and Mr Ali Mchumo, managing director, Common Fund for Commodities

The FIG Marrakech Declaration (FIG publication 33, see GIM International, November 2004) was presented to UN-HABITAT. The Marrakech Declaration is a significant publication reporting findings of the Second FIG Regional Conference held in Marrakech in December 2003 and provided a major input to the conference. The declaration is designed to define ways that professionals, governments and the public and private sector can work together to address the complex and interrelated issues of institutional and governance concepts; infrastructure and land & natural resources; together with capacity-building and change management. The major themes of the Marrakech Declaration were well co-ordinated, the main issues being discussed at the conference.

The conclusions of the conference are currently being finalised; they are likely to include statements on:

• underlining critical urban-rural development
  
• calling on governments to adopt a more holistic and integrated regional-planning approach to investment decision making
  
• calling for improved rural urban communication links and the stimulation of growth of small and medium-sized towns to help alleviate intensification of slum development
  
• cross-sector institutional structure/framework to support effective environmental planning and management together with economic and social programmes and development of physical infrastructure.

Rob Mahoney