Climate Compass Task Force Seminar Series
The FIG Climate Compass Task Force held a series of three virtual seminars across different global time zones on 20-22 February 2024. During the seminars, global surveying and geospatial experts and practitioners presented case studies on climate impacts and resilience. An audience-driven brainstorming session, which was live-scribed, was organized to inform the FIG Climate Compass Task Force's latest publication. The involvement of the audience provided a space for learning, sharing, and problem-solving discussions.
Presenters and participants defined and assessed the major global land, carbon, and biodiversity issues relevant to surveyors working at national and local levels. This involved considering the legal, policy, financial, and capacity implications of scaling up new solutions. Three meetings were held across the major global time zones to ensure participation from all interested in climate, regardless of their location.
20 February 2024 – (09:00 CET)
Speakers:
Dr. Paul van Asperen works as Advisor, Digital Framework Environmental Act, Department of Waterways and Public Works, the Netherlands. He has a Ph.D in land administration. His presentation will cover the Netherlands experience with their new environmental planning act and how the new digital framework will support it.
Dr. Eranda Gunathilaka, Senior Lecturer at Faculty of Geomatics, Sabaragamuwa University, Sri Lanka. He has a Ph.D in tidal monitoring and is Chair of FIG Commission 4 on Hydrography. He will speak on Sri Lanka's national environmental plan (NDC) and surveying challenges and opportunities.
Ms. Rumbidzai Chivizhe has an Engineering Masters (Geomatics) and is a Lecturer at Midlands State University in Zimbabwe. She will speak on how to use a range of survey tools to monitor flooding from tropical cyclones.
21 February 2024 – (09:00 AEDT)
Speakers:
Dr. Charisse Griffith-Charles is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Geomatics Engineering and Land Management at the University of West Indies in the Caribbean. She will speak on informal settlement regularisation, disaster management and small island developing states (SIDS) using the extensive work she has done on this in the field.
Ms. Kate Fairlie, with a Masters from Oxford University in Sustainable Development, works for a globally respected Australian surveying company, Land Equity International, as a land administration specialist. From their work in the region she will present 4 case studies from Asia-Pacific linking land and climate.
Third speaker details coming soon - an expert from China will speak on coping with climate change.
22 February 2024 - (09:00 EST)
Speakers:
Ms. Usue Donezar is the Expert Lead at the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service (CLMS) within Europe. She has 2 Masters degrees (Geoinformation Science; Law and political science). She will speak on Copernicus' climate change service, its free data sets and dashboards used by the world on climate, land, water and marine.
Mr. Simon Peter Mwesigye is a Land Tenure specialist at UN-Habitat supporting Ugandan country operations. He is a valuer with a Land Management Masters. He will talk on customary tenure and local forms of land certificates within the national land administration system linked to natural resource certificates for access to wetlands.
Mr. Nelson Nieto is an environmental engineer specialising in GIS and climate change. He is a researcher in the field of Earth Observation Technologies of the Research and Prospective Directorate of the Geographic Institute Agustín Codazzi. In his professional and research career he has developed and led research projects in cooperation with international entities in the study and monitoring of natural resources, strategic ecosystems, territorial studies, and risk management.