News in 2021
|
FIG General Assembly approves changes to upcoming FIG Conferences
25 June 2021
FIG Congress 2022 has been moved to Warsaw, Congress 2026 will be
in Cape Town, Working Week 2025 in Brisbane... Confused?
At the General Assembly 2021 there should have been election of the
destination for FIG Working Week 2025. The two bidding destinations
were:
- Australia: Brisbane, submitted by Surveying and Spatial Sciences
Institute (SSSI)
- Poland: Warsaw, submitted by Association of Polish Surveyors
(SGP)
This current pandemic situation and its impact on travels has brought
the organisers of the FIG Congress 2022 from South Africa together with
FIG Council to reconsider the travel and conference situation. Bringing
attendees together to a FIG Event should first of all be safe and
important is also that many will have the opportunity to travel to the
destination. Travels are often not only to the conference itself, also
further explorations of the country and surroundings is appealing.
The South African local organisers has written a letter to FIG
Council in which they state:
| Pursuant to our engagements and reports back to FIG, and keeping
abreast with COVID developments and plans for the FIG Congress 2022, we
want, as I am sure all members do, a Physical Congress meeting as a
first-choice option for the Congress in 2022. Covid has of course turned
travel upside down and is a major planning issue for the Congress. |
Coucil is considerate that with no doubt travels will still be
affected for some time - no one can know for how long. There are also
other aspects that we need to take into consideration when organising a
face-to-face event such as the vaccination plans of the country, there
is an uncertainty of travel insurance, vaccination passports, quarantine
rules etc.
For FIG it is important to bring people together. It is
however important to bring people together in the safest way. We have
shown that an online event can work, but it does not replace a
face-to-face event. FIG Council is conscious that the local organisers
from South Africa could also have organised a successful virtual
conference, but FIG Council is keen on offering a face-to-face event
again (with online additions).
The local organisers from South Africa continue in their letter to
FIG Council:
| The Congress is extremely important to us, but in the
current environment we must also be conscious of what is best
for FIG and ourselves, considering as well that 2020 was
cancelled, 2021 is virtual and the financial impacts that comes
with uncertain numbers of international delegates to a physical
2022 event. Considering a physical event, would all FIG partners
be able to travel, FIG council and then importantly the
international delegates. To plan a Physical event and then find
that many FIG member representatives and or Council members
cannot attend would run counter somewhat to the purpose of
holding the event. We can easily hold a Virtual event, we
already have the technology experience and knowhow for this
within the LOC. We can even hold a Hybrid event, but costs of
such is a big worry to us as costs are enormous in such cases,
and we don’t particularly want to go down this route.
Prudently, we all need to take a hard look and say what is best
for 2022 – where could most delegates travel to, and seriously
consider such. |
FIG is thankful to the South African LOC for their considerations.
Council has decided to suggest to the General Assembly - after close consultations with the future destinations - changes that might dimish the risk of
not having a face-to-face event in 2022.
These changes will be that the
Congress 2022 will be moved to take place in Warsaw, Poland instead of
Cape Town, South Africa. FIG Council estimates that having more
face-to-face participants in Poland in 2022 will be more likely than in
South Africa. Instead, the South African organsiers have been offered to
organise the following Congress in 2026 instead.
Another consquence of
this is that there is now only one destination for the FIG Working Week
2025, Brisbane Australia and FIG Council therefore suggested to the
General Assembly that this Working Week will be given to them without
election.
In other words:
These changes were adopted by the General Assembly 2021.
Thanks to the Local Organisers from both South Africa and Poland for
their positive approach and flexibility.
For the Polish local organisers this is a huge challenge organising
the FIG Congress 2022 in less than one year - and FIG Council thanks
them heartily for their spirit, will, and engagement to make this come
true.
Already in 2020 there were changes to the future destinations. The
Working Week 2020 in the Netherland was cancelled and the local
organisers from Ghana generously offered to the Dutch organisers to take
over 2021, and therefore the Working Week in Accra Ghana has been moved
to 2024.
To sum up:
The future FIG Conferences will be:
| Year |
Location |
Dates |
| FIG Congress 2022 |
Warsaw, Poland |
the dates have not yet been settled |
| FIG Working Week 2023 |
Orlando, Florida, USA |
28 May - 1 June 2023 |
| FIG Working Week
2024 |
Accra, Ghana |
the dates have not
yet been settled |
| FIG Working Week 2025 |
Brisbane, Australia |
the dates have not yet been settled |
| FIG Congress 2026 |
Cape Town, South Africa |
the dates have not yet been settled |
Louise Friis-Hansen
28 June 2021
