News in 2017

FIG Publication on STDM now available in 4 languages

April 2017

"The Social Tenure Domain Model - A Pro-Poor Land Tool" is a FIG Publication written by Dr Chriistian Lemmen. The FIG publication was published in 2010 and is a co-production between FIG and UN-Habitat/GLTN.

Most developing countries have less than 30 percent cadastral coverage. This means that over 70 percent of the land in many countries is generally outside the land register. This has caused enormous problems for example in cities, where over one billion people live in slums without proper water, sanitation, community facilities, security of tenure or quality of life. This has also caused problems for countries with regard to food security and rural land management issues.

A model has been developed to accommodate social tenures, termed the Social Tenure Domain Model (STDM). This is a pro-poor land information management system that can be used to support the land administration of the poor in urban and rural areas, which can also be linked to the cadastral system in order that all information can be integrated.

The security of tenure of people in these areas relies on forms of tenure different from individual free hold. Most off register rights and claims are based on social tenures. GLTN partners support a continuum of land rights, which include rights that are documented as well as undocumented, from individuals and groups, from pastoralist, and in slums which are legal as well as illegal and informal.

STDM Workshops

Over several years GLTN and FIG, primarily FIG Young Surveyors, have held STDM Workshops around the world to encourage and instruct (Young) Surveyors to use the STDM model. In connection with the FIG Working Week in Helsinki, Finland another STDM Workshop will be held on 29 May 2017: http://www.fig.net/fig2017/stdm.htm

Arabic, French and Japanese

The publication has now been translated into the following languages that are now available in pdf:

The Arabic version was translated by GLTN, reviewed by Saad Kholoud who was also a great help when the publication was finalised for print, and published in 2015. The French version was also translated by GLTN, reviewed by Claire Galpin,  and published 2017. The Japanese version was translated by Kazuaki Fujii, Japan Federation of Land and House Investigators’ Associations (JFLHIA) Research Institute and confirmed with Japan Federation of Surveyors. Mr Kazuaki Fujii aalso assisted with the layout to ensure a correct language.
A very big thanks to all who have helped with these translations.

25 April 2017