Contents
Task Force Activities during the FIG Working Week 2001 in Seoul,
Korea
by Gabriele Dasse, Task Force Chair
News in brief
Personalities: Dr. Clara Greed, UK
Raising the Ratio
Task Force Activities during the FIG Working
Week 2001 in Seoul, Korea
by Gabriele Dasse, Task Force Chair
Task Force Workshop
The Task Force Workshop held on Tuesday 8 May was well attended. Gabriele
Dasse welcomed the participants and gave an overview about the Task
Force activities. The 10th issue of the Task Force Newsletter was
distributed by the Task Force Chair.
Recommendation for the FIG Congress 2002 in Washington
One of the Task Force's charges is to support and encourage female and
young surveyors as well as for example linguistic or cultural minorities
within the FIG community. During the Workshop the participants discussed in
which way the attendance for minorities in or entering the disciplines of
surveying at the FIG Congress 2002 in Washington could be facilitated.
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Mary Clawson, Congress Director, gave the information that there is a
special low registration fee for students and also a lower registration fee
for speakers. In addition also low-cost accommodation is available in
Washington, DC.
It was proposed to write an e-mail on behalf of the FIG Task Force on
Under-represented Groups in Surveying to Member Associations, Affiliates,
Academic Members, Corporate Members, Correspondents, Council Members,
Officers of Commissions and Permanent Institutions, Honorary Presidents and
Honorary Members to ask for assistance to support and encourage the
Under-represented Groups in Surveying to attend the FIG Congress 2002 in
Washington, DC and to give presentations. |
In the meantime an e-mail of the Task Force Chair was distributed by Markku
Villikka, Director of the FIG Office.
Sessions and Meetings during the FIG Congress in Washington 2002
The Task Force Chair together with John Parker, Chair of FIG Commission 1
(Professional Standards and Practise) and Kirsi Virrantaus, Chair of
Commission 2 (Professional Education) agreed upon 2 joint sessions.
The Task Force and Commission 1 would like to discuss "The Informal
Ways to Surveying". Mary Clawson suggested and the participants agreed
that after this session there should be a second one with a plenary
discussion instead of a separated meeting of Task Force members and members
of the "Forum of Equal Opportunity" of the American Congress of
Surveying and Mapping.
The Task Force and Commission 2 would like to discuss "The modern Profile
of a Surveyor - new educational Contents for new Students".
The Task Force Chair would like to organise one Task Force meeting during
the Congress.
Future of the Task Force
The Task Force on Under-represented Groups in the present shape was
established 1998 during the FIG Congress in Brighton. The limited time
period will end in 2002 with the FIG Congress in Washington.
The Task Force is a network of currently 56 members from 22 countries with
many contacts to colleagues and a good co-operation with UNCHS (Habitat) and
other international and national associations in the technical field.
The participants of the Workshop reflected all Task Force activities like
networking, publishing Best Practises and giving recommendations on FIG and
national level. The proposal was that the Task Force time period should be
extended or that the Task Force should get a more permanent structure.
Activities concerning equal rights for individual members within FIG, not
depending on Gender, age, native language or some other cultural
characteristics will also be necessary for the next period 2002 to 2006.
Nomination Review Committees
In correlation with the report of Gabriele Dasse concerning the Task Force
"Review of Commission Structure" the participants of the Workshop
proposed that there should be at least one woman in all FIG Nominations
Review Committees.
Presentation
In session 19, "Curricula II - How to Manage and Keep the Curricula
Contents Up-to-date?", the Task Force Chair presented a paper
"Which Changes in the Curricula do we need to attract more Women to
study Surveying?".
Among other things decreasing numbers of students beginning surveying
studies at German universities has led to changes in the curricula of some
universities from surveying to geomatic, geoinformatic or geoinformation. A
lack of students, male students, may necessitate activities designed to
attract as well more women into studying surveying. But up to now there has
been no evaluation of the target groups which should be addressed by this
new curricula.
General Assembly
During the General Assembly on Friday the Task Force Newsletter 1/01 was
distributed to all member associations and there was the opportunity to give
a short report about the Task Force activities in Seoul.
Gabriele Dasse, Task Force Chair
Email: g.dasse@gmx.de
News in Brief
World's Women 2000: The Trends and Statistics
The World's Women 2000: Trends and Statistics is a unique compilation of
the latest data documenting progress for women world-wide in six areas:
health, human rights and political decision-making, and families. The Report
attempts to answer the urgent but complex question of the progress the
world's women are making in their lives. The Report stresses that new data
is needed on issues unique to women - such as violence against women and
maternal health. The World's Women 2000 is the third in a series of reports
that has broken new ground and the data in the present publication is
intended to provide a "snapshot" of some of the more salient
statistical findings since 1995, while also drawing recent changes and
long-term trends. This revealing book remains the most complete description
to-date of women's conditions and contributions world-wide.
You will find more information on the web site http://www.un.org/Pubs/update/womupd.htm.
The price is $16.95.
Women's Access to Land in Senegal
For the first time women in Senegal got the right to buy and to own land.
This right was established with the new fundamental law of the State, which
was adopted by the predominantly Islamic people of this West-African State.
In many African countries the acquisition of land and the opportunity to
receive credits is reserved for men.
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Dr. Clara Greed is a Reader (senior
researcher) in the Faculty of the Built Environment, University of
the West of England. She originally qualified as a town planner and
is a member of the RTPI (Royal Town Planning Institute) and is a
Fellow of the Architecture and Surveying Institute.
She started her career in local government and
then moved on to teach surveying students in Bristol. With the
growth of the 'women and town planning movement' in the 1980s she
felt led to make comparisons with the situation in the surveying
profession.
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Subsequently she undertook her PhD on 'The position
of women in surveying education and practice' which was published in
1991 as the book, Surveying Sisters: Women in a traditional male
Profession (Routledge, London). She became more involved in equal
opportunities issues and in researching the built environment professions,
and in 1994 her book, Women and Planning: Creating Gendered Realities
was published by Routledge, London. Following this she has produced a
series of town planning books and her interests moved more towards social
planning issues. From 1997 she undertook ESRC (national research body)
funded research on the The Changing Composition and Culture of the
Construction Professions (published as a Faculty Occasional Paper)
which her moved back from the 'soft' areas of planning and urban policy,
towards the 'hard' areas of civil engineering, construction management and
building surveying. At the same time she became more interested in urban
design issues, thus looking at 'what is built' as well as 'who' is
building it and who is making the decisions that shape the nature of our
towns and cities. In association with Marion Roberts, an architect
at University of Westminster, she has produced two books on urban design
(published with Pearsons). In recent years she has put more emphasis upon
detailed design issues and upon the problem of actual implementation of
change. There are nowadays many books and analysis as to what should be
done, but very little action and policy implementation.
Clara is a member of several national committees
concerned with the construction industry, education and equal
opportunities including the Equal Opportunities Taskforce of the
Construction Industry Council which is pressing for change right across
the fields of surveying, architecture, engineering and planning. Currently
with Linda Davies (planner), Caroline Brown (planner) and Stefanie
Dühr (environmental researcher) she is undertaking a nationwide
Gender Audit project for the RTPI to investigate the extent to which
Gender mainstreaming (as required under EU structural funding) is being
integrated into the British Planning system. Her team are also producing a
Gender Audit Toolkit to enable local authorities to do so.
With Isobel Daniels (researcher) she is
undertaking a pilot study as funded by the Nuffield Trust (national
research foundation) to investigate the differences in user and provider
(manufacturer) perspectives on public toilet provision! This is because
everytime she does research on the planning of British cities, women in
particular, want to talk about the day to day problems they encounter in
the city of man, saying, 'it all comes down to toilets in the final
analysis'. This is a serious issue as it affects people's access and
enjoyment of the city. In Britain there is not a tradition of privately
provided toilets in shops and cafes, so public toilets are often the only
ones available, but councils are closing them to save money and prevent
[male] vandalism and criminal activity. Thus she has encountered the world
of the 'plumbing fraternity' and the 'sanitary engineer' which are
subspecies of the construction industry that are even more male-dominated
and socially unaware than those other species she has encountered within
civil engineering, town planning and surveyors. She has been an invited
speaker at international public toilet conventions in Japan and the Far
East, as public toilets are a global issue because of increased tourism,
Third World development, environmentalism and population change. There is
a growth in demand for improved provision for women, children, people with
disabilities and the elderly. She is currently writing a book for The
Architectural Press: Inclusive Urban Design: Public Toilets for All
which will cover overall policy issues and specific design considerations.
by Wendy J. Woodbury Straight
(Reprinted by permission from Progress & Perspectives July-August
2001)
On May 9, Jonathan Harris and Shirley Conran hosted an
event to highlight the future role of women in British property and
construction industries. Harris is President of the Royal Institute of
Chartered Surveyors (RICS), and Conran is chair of the Work-Life Balance
Trust. RICS represents over 110,000 chartered surveyors and technical
surveyors.
According to Harris, "Any profession worth its salt wants to
recruit talent from the broadest base possible. We need to find out why we
are missing out and what we can do about it." The special session
explored reasons for the low proportion of women working in property
industries. Also examined were steps required to redress the situation.
Only 8 percent of practicing chartered surveyors are female, although
women comprise 16 percent of those in training. This compares with 9.5
percent of practicing architects, 13 percent of chartered accountants, and
36 percent of solicitors (lawyers). The breakfast meeting was attended by a
high profile audience of senior industry figures from major firms. Also in
attendance were representatives from the Department for Education and
Employment and the Equal Opportunities Commission.
Norma Jarboe (from a proactive organization called Opportunity
Now) made the case for more women in influential positions in the workplace.
"Diversity leads to better decision making and better problem
solving," she said. "In today's diverse markets, any form
of corporate monoculture will be a weakness." Kate Howard
from the Construction Industry Training Board recounted the need for a solid
education and career strategy to recruit females into the construction
industry. Little over 1 percent of British trade and crafts workers are
women.
Sandi Rhys of Rhys Jones Consulting made a compelling presentation
which drew on her thirty years of experience in the industry. "Five
years ago you could clear a room in two minutes by talking about getting
women into the construction industry," Rhys recalled. "Things
have improved, but whereas then the lack of awareness was the stumbling
block, now we have to address lack of action."
A debate followed, pointing out the need for organizations to provide
role models to showcase the industry's success stories. Julie Mellor,
chair of the Equal Opportunities Commission talked of the importance of
removing the element of risk for executives who are courageous enough to
take affirmative action in this area.
Progress & Perspectives: an Affirmative Action for Surveying and
Mapping; Copyright 2001; Wendy J. Woodbury Straight; e-mail: wendy@netsync.net
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Editor: Chair of the Task Force on Under-represented Groups in
Surveying
Ms. Gabriele Dasse, Kleinfeld 22a, D-21149 Hamburg,
Germany
Email g.dasse@gmx.de
Fax
+ 49 170 9620 453
web site: http://www.fig.net/figtree/tf/underrep/tfunrep.htm
3/01, month of issue: September
© Copyright 2001 Gabriele Dasse.
Permission is
granted to photocopy in limited quantity for educational
purposes.
Other requests
to photocopy or otherwise reproduce material in this newsletter should be
addressed to the Editor.
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