9 September 2000

Dear Colleague,

It is some time since our extremely successful annual meeting in Hamburg, Germany, and we have a breathing space before our next annual meeting in Gavle, Sweden, 11 - 16 June 2001.

An enormous amount was achieved at the meeting in Hamburg, and the Commission is deeply indebted to all of those who were a part of the organisation and who took part in the meeting. It was critical in setting the agenda for the Commission's three Working Groups to complete their work in time for the 2002 FIG Congress in Washington DC.

The meeting was organised by Dr Winfried Hawerk, our German delegate, and Gabrielle Dasse, together with an enthusiastic and delightful band of helpers. The programme was not only great fun, but it worked smoothly, with exactly the right mixture in a full programme of hard working sessions, discussion and relaxation. The generous hosting of the German Associations, the welcome from the City of Hamburg and the real interest shown in the Commission's work by our German colleagues were symptomatic of the heart-warming hospitality that we received.

The meeting was attended by 35 delegates from more than 20 countries. In addition to the Working Groups' development and progress, particularly useful reports were received on the status and initiatives from the Commission's two Task Forces, on Standards (Winfried Hawerk) and on Women's Access to Land (Agneta Ericsson - Sweden).

David Mercer of the UK's Land Registry has prepared a record of the meeting which is attached to this letter. It is accompanied by his short review of the Country Reports presented at the session.

The Commission's one day international symposium on the theme of Working Group 3, Land Markets, was attended by more than 60 delegates and chaired and organised by Andras Ossko, our Hungarian delegate. The papers delivered were of a high quality, and will be published as part of the output of the Working Group. They stimulated vigorous discussion. Some provoked fascinatingly contrasting views on appropriate approaches to resolving land related problems in transitional economies. Although there was a strong focus on land markets in Central and Eastern Europe, and particularly on the German experience, there was a truly international range of presentations ranging from South Africa (Apie van den Berg), through Europe (Bodil Ekner from Denmark, Peter Dent from the UK and Jan Sonnenberg from the Netherlands) to Australia (Ian Williamson).

The strong attendance and contribution of delegates from Germany for this one day symposium reaffirmed the importance of this regular event in the Commission's annual calendar.

The Commission's delegates split up after the conclusion of the Hamburg meeting. Some returned home, but two groups made their ways respectively in the direction of Prague, Czech Republic and Bregenz, Austria. Some particularly energetic delegates - including our vice chair, Paul van der Molen - even managed to achieve the impossible of being in both places almost at once!

The Prague delegation, including of course our Czech delegate, Ivan Pesl, enjoyed a very interesting FIG Working Week, and the hospitality of the Czech Association. The Commission's contribution to the proceedings included a well attended session on cadastre and land management. It included a number of stimulating papers from a wide range of geographical locations. The Commission's current and future activities were reviewed, and the work of the three Working Groups on Cadastral Reform, Access to Land and Land Markets was discussed. There was an emphasis on issues from Central and Eastern Europe with excellent papers reporting on developing land markets in Central and Eastern Europe by Richard Baldwin and Peter Dale from the UK, and on the difficulties in establishing information for EU accession countries for CAP purposes (IACS), by Carsten Kragh from Denmark. The Czech Association's delegate to the Commission, Ivan Pesl, presented an detailed review of the transition process in the Czech Republic, particularly as it has affected land and the cadastre. The session was rounded off by a fascinating account of the South Korean cadastral reforms, and of the prospects for the future by our Korean delegate, Dr Ryu.

The meeting in Bregenz was the Austrian Geodetic Congress, held every three years. It is the main congress of the Austrian Society for Surveying and Geoinformation. About 1200 participants attended this event. Around 120 of these delegates took part in the successful Commission 7 Working Group 1 session on Cadastre 2014. The impact of the work of the group is illustrated by the fact that the publication "Cadastre 2014" is now translated into 20 languages and has been very influential globally.

The session was chaired and organised by Gerda Schennach (Austria), and featured papers by Andras Ossko (Hungary), Daniel Steudler (Switzerland), Winfried Hawerk (Germany), Paul van der Molen (Netherlands and Commission vice chair) and Jurg Kaufmann (Switzerland). The report of the meeting can be found on the Commission 7 Working Group 1 website.

It is evidence of the strength of the Commission that it is able to provide such excellent resources to two simultaneous international events, and all of the presenters and organisers have the Commission's thanks and congratulations!

The Commission's busy summer continues with a substantial contribution to "The Mediterranean Surveyor in the New Millennium" seminar, 18 - 21 September 2000. This seminar has been designed as part of a regional seminar strategy to help make FIG's expertise more accessible. The Maltese member association, together with Commissions 2, 4, 5, 6 and 7, will be presenting a range of papers. Our session is being organised and will be chaired by our secretary Bob Ashwin. Everything is in hand for a good set of papers in our area of interest. Further details of the meeting and up to date information on registration may be obtained directly from Bob through the website.

Later in the year, Paul van der Molen is helping to organise a workshop at ITC, Enschede, the Netherlands, on "Capacity Building in Land Administration", 13 - 15 November, 2000. The workshop will build on the Bathurst Declaration and will look at how the declaration's recommendations can be implemented effectively. As such, it will also provide a very valuable opening to discussions within the Commission about the design of our workplan for the period 2002 - 2006.

Building on the Commission's strong contributions to the Working Weeks in South Africa in 1999 and this year in Prague, a very strong presence is planned to support our Korean colleagues in Seoul, 6 - 11 May, 2001. A copy of the Call for Papers for Seoul is included in this circular, together with a copy of the titles of papers committed by those attending the Commission's Hamburg annual meeting in May. Seoul promises to be an outstanding meeting for the Commission and will provide an opportunity for further work on the outline for our sessions planned for the FIG Congress, 2002, in Washington DC.

The Commission's 2001 Annual Meeting will take place in Gavle, Sweden, 11 - 16 June, 2001, and will be hosted by the Swedish member associations. It will be organised by our Swedish delegates, Tommy Osterberg and Agneta Ericsson. I encourage you all to attend. The programme will be full, both for delegates and accompanying persons, and I can guarantee the warmth of the hospitality! Our one day International Symposium this year will be the responsibility of Working Group 1 chaired by Jurg Kaufmann. It promises to be an influential and exciting set of presentations. It will also be the first year in which we deal with Country Reports in a more structured way, to enable us to use the material gathered more effectively. Further information about how these will be structured is being drafted by Working Group 1 and will be finalised for forwarding with the draft agenda before the Gavle meeting.

I would like to close with a particular note to those Commission delegates who have not been able to attend the Commission's Annual Meetings recently. I would particularly like to reassure you how very warmly you will be welcomed by all of the delegates.

With kind regards,

Yours sincerely,

Paul Munro-Faure
Chairperson, Commission 7, Cadastre and Land Management
International Federation of Surveyors,
c/o Land & Property Economics Ltd,
Roystons
Haresfield
Stonehouse
Gloucestershire GL10 3EQ
United Kingdom
Tel: 44 1452 883880
Fax: 44 1452 722933
e-mail: pmunrofaure@lapeco.co.uk
paulmunro_faure@compuserve.com
pmunrofaure@cs.com

Enclosures:
1. Report on the Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of Commission 7, Hamburg, Acting Secretary David Mercer
2. Summary of the Country Reports presented at the Annual Meeting of Commission 7, Hamburg, Acting Secretary David Mercer
3. Call for Papers, Korea Working Week
4. List of Commission papers contributed, Korea Working Week
5. List of proposed sessions for FIG Congress 2002, Washington DC