Joint Meeting of FIG Commission 3 and 7

Information and Land Management - A Decade After the Millennium

Sofia, Bulgaria, 15-17 November 2010

The Joint FIG Commission 3 and 7 Workshop and 2010 Annual Meeting of Commission 3 took place in Sofia, on the 15-17 of November. The Workshop was organized by FIG Commissions 3 and 7 and the Chamber of Graduated Surveyors of Bulgaria. The meeting was the 4th Workshop of FIG Commission 3 in the four-year term of office 2007-2010.

FIG Commission 3, with an acknowledgement of its responsibility to serve the society, has followed the major social changes and finished its four-year work plan in Sofia. During this period Commission 3 has focused on investigating the problems that are related to the current urban growth and on identifying the appropriate land tools for good governance.

The technical program included the opening session, seven technical sessions, and the closing session, which took place at the headquarters of the Agency of Geodesy, Cartography and Cadastre. In total 38 papers were presented and almost 80 participants registered to the workshop coming from 18 countries: Bulgaria (33), Canada, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iran, Israel, Italy, FY Republic of Macedonia, Nigeria, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, USA and FAO.

The opening of the Workshop was announced by the Minister of Regional Planning and Public Works, Mr. Rosen Plevneliev, who underlined the need of spatial information for the development and the economy of Bulgaria. The Minister also emphasized the important role of the Bulgarian surveyors for the implementation of the cadastre and the infrastructure improvements (such as motorways and bridges), planning, construction and other land management activities. Welcome addresses were made by Angel Yanakiev, Aleksander Lazarov, Prof. Chryssy Potsiou, András Osskó, and Slaveyko Gospodinov. Invited speakers included FIG Honorary members Prof. Ivan Katzarsky and Prof. Dr. Eng. Georgi Milev, who gave very interesting presentations.

Aleksander Lazarov, Head of Land Administration Agency, described the progress of the cadastral project in Bulgaria and emphasized the need for further funding for continuation of the project; Angel Yanakiev, chairman of the Chamber of Graduated Surveyors, thanked FIG and especially Commissions 3 and 7 for their support and contribution.

Prof. Potsiou, Chair of Commission 3, congratulated the local organizers for the excellent organization of the Workshop and their cooperation with FIG Commissions 3 and 7, the invited speakers, national delegates and speakers for their valuable contributions, and the young surveyors’ participation. She emphasized the contribution of Bulgarian experts in the workshop and FIG community and reminded to the participants that Bulgaria not only plays a role in the Balkan region and in Europe in general, but it also had a leading role in FIG during the beginning of ‘80s. She also referred to the topics of the workshop, and explained the need for providing new tools for land and information management to respond to the emerging challenges of economic crisis and climate change.

Andras Ossko, Chair of Commission 7 also congratulated the local organizers, the speakers and the participants and he emphasized the importance of the Minister’s participation to the Workshop. He explained that there is a great need for coordination among the government and the surveyors of the public and private sectors internationally in order to achieve the desired results. Prof. Slaveyko Gospodinov, Dean of Faculty of Geodesy in the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy, welcomed participants, gave a brief update of the surveying education in Bulgaria and its link with cadastre.

International invited speakers were Robert W. Foster, FIG Honorary President, who gave a speech on “225 Years of Land Management in the United States”, Rumyana Tonchovska, Senior Land Administration Officer, Environment, Climate Change and Bioenergy Division, FAO, on “Information and Land Management in Support of Good Governance”, Helge Onsrud, FIG Honorary Member, on “Protecting land in Norway through state ownership and public restrictions on private land”, and Dr Ing. Otmar Schuster, who presented the resolutions of the interesting Workshop on “Transaction in the Digital Age Register-property cadastre-mortgaging Actual Conclusions” that was held in Duisburg in September this year.

Young surveyors had an increased participation in numbers this year due to the Bulgarian, Italian, Greek and Israel delegations. More detailed information, the papers, presentations and resolutions of this workshop will be available soon on the FIG Commission 3 and 7 websites.

The optional double blind peer review of submitted papers was applied for a fourth year in a Commission 3 workshop. Prof. Yerach Doytsher, incoming chair of Commission 3, was responsible for the peer review, six papers received successful peer review for this workshop.

Makis Apostolatos, FIG Commission 3 Vice Chair of Administration, has again offered his experience and assistance in organizing this Workshop.

During the Commission 3 annual meeting there was a brief presentation, by Prof. Potsiou on the achievements of Commission 3 during the current period, which came to an end, and acknowledgements to all contributors, delegates, invited speakers, organizers of workshops and meetings. Prof. Doytsher presented the draft work plan and the working group chairs for the new term. Mr. Rafic Khouri, announced the organization of the next FIG Commission 3 Workshop in Paris in Autumn 2011.

The Chamber of Graduated Surveyors of Bulgaria organized exciting social events and a very interesting cultural half-day tour to the famous Rila monastery. FIG Commissions 3 and 7 whish to thank the local Organizers Angel Yanakiev, Zlatan Zlatanov and Maria Sotirova for the excellent organization and their warm hospitality.

Prof. Chryssy Potsiou
Chair of FIG Commission 3.

15 December 2010