Capacity Building for Institutional Development in Surveying and Land Management

Good governance, comprehensive land policies, and sound land administration institutions are essential components for addressing the problems related to land management and land information infrastructures. Both an efficient land market and an effective means of land-use control must be developed as the basic tools for achieving a sustainable approach. However, in many countries, and especially in developing countries and countries in transition, the national capacity to manage land rights, restrictions and responsibilities is not well developed in terms of mature institutions and the necessary human resources and skills. In this regard, the capacity building concept offers some guidance for analysing and assessing the capacity needs and for identifying an adequate response to these needs at societal, organisational and individual levels. The paper analyses the various means of capacity building for institutional development within surveying and land management. Finally the paper discusses the role of FIG in this regard. Three areas are identified: 1) Professional development through providing a global forum for exchange of experiences and new developments; 2) Institutional development through support for developing the basic capacity in terms of educational programs and professional organizations; and 3) Global development through cooperation with other international NGO´s such as the UN agencies, the World Bank and sister organizations in surveying. FIG, this way, plays a strong role, in improving the capacity in surveying and land management at a global scale.