FIG Foundation - Building a Sustainable Future
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Report from James Quick
FIG Foundation Young Surveyor Grant Recipient to attend the FIG Congress
2018 in Istanbul, Turkey
“ It was such a privilege to be
sponsored by the FIG Foundation to be involved in the FIG
Congress and FIG Young Surveyors meeting last year. Crucially,
it enables younger members in FIG to develop a wider view of the
problems in our industry and then encourages them to contribute
to some of FIGs excellent thought leadership work.”
From left: Cemre Sahinkaya, Turkey, Jean-Pierre Habiyaremye, Rwanda, Ana
Julia Herrera Gonzalez, Costa Rica, John Hohol, President, FIG Foundation,
Eva-Maria Unger, Chair, FIG Young Surveyors Network, James
Quick, United Kingdom and Mudit Kapoor, India.
The 4th FIG Young Surveyor Conference, titled – ‘Beyond Boundaries: The
Changing role of the Surveyor’ was a two-day event where early career
professionals discussed these changes and dialogued how we can play an
integral role now and, in the future, to make this theme a success.
Certainly, Turkey was the archetypal country to explore this topic, with its
blurred boundary between continents. The 2-day conference involved keynote
speakers from industry leaders, panel discussions, workshops and networking.
The conference ended with a spectator evening cruise on the River Bosporus;
a great chance to unwind and get to know more of the wonderful minds that
had gathered for the weekend conference. It was welcoming to see so many
young people, at a similar career stage, from across the globe sharing
solutions to common problems we all face as surveyors.
Following the weekend sub-event, the main Congress began with the opening
ceremony, which gave a real sense of scale for the event. It was amazing to
be able to attend a truly international meeting, with many countries
represented by various national survey associations, national mapping
agencies and businesses. Topped off by traditional Turkish dancing to open
the Congress!
Of the many interesting plenaries and technical sessions at the Congress
that I attended, the issues surrounding land rights and tenure was really
apparent to me and I learnt alot about this issue throughout the event. 70%
of people in the world do not have security over the land they own.
Consequently, many of the technical sessions that I focused on land
administration during the conference were about and how to create a spatial
model that can facilitate the registration of land parcels. Additionally, an
eye-opening policy campaign on women’s rights to land ownership was also
part of the Congress’ dialogue. This was an extremely refreshing and
powerful discussion to be a part of. Women own less than 20% of the land in
the World (UN FAO, 2017). Consequently, many developing countries at the
Congress were discussing introducing progressive legislation to enshrine
gender equality in land ownership was. It was amazing to see that in action
at the FIG Congress.
Another message from Congress that I thought was a really important
takeaway was how organisations can remain successful in the world of
geospatial by embracing automation. I left the conference feeling how
important it was to embrace this revolution because it will allow us to
offer more to society, with greater client care and even richer and more
accurate spatial data.
Overall, it was such a privilege to be sponsored by the FIG Foundation to
be involved in the FIG Congress and FIG Young Surveyors meeting last year.
Crucially, it enables younger members in FIG to develop a wider view of the
problems in our industry and then encourages them to contribute to some of
FIGs excellent thought leadership work.
/James Quick
United Kingdom
Group photo of the participants of the 4th FIG Young Surveyors Conference
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