FIG2025: First Impressions and Fresh Questions from a Geospatial Newbie

Attending the FIG Working Week 2025 in Brisbane was, for me, both a professional milestone and a thought-provoking experience. As somebody who is new to the world of land administration, and a first-time attendee of the event, I approached FIG2025 with curiosity, anticipation, and more than a few questions. Over the course of the week, I found myself repeatedly surprised and inspired by the diversity, complexity, and urgency of the issues discussed. What I initially assumed would be a technically focused gathering of surveyors revealed itself to be a dynamic forum grappling with some of the most pressing global challenges of our time: climate resilience, gender equity, Indigenous rights, and the future of work.

Thanks Naia.  The acronym VARS stands for the Vanuatu Affordable and Resilient Settlements Project and focuses on both existing settlement upgrades within the town of Port Vila and a new greenfield low-income subdivision that the Vanuatu Government is developing in its capacity as a developer.  Our consultancy team of Kate Fairlie (from LEI), Jennie Day and I are providing policy, legal, marketing and advisory services to support the development of the greenfield subdivision project.

Sustainable land management involves maintaining the balance between environmental, economic and social needs, ensuring that land use is both productive and resilient. It is key to ensuring that future generations can also utilise and benefit from this crucial resource. By ensuring that land ownership, rights, and responsibilities are clearly defined and registered, a government is taking the first steps toward the goal of sustainable land management. When done properly, land administration systems help to provide tenure security and maintain and protect equal land rights. It can also enhance transparency and accountability, which reduces disputes and promotes fair access to resources.

Please note that the names of those quoted in the article have been changed.

If 2024 was a day out of the office, it would have been to a theme park. We took many rides (a couple too many) on the roller coaster with tender proposals and travel, and not enough time at the picnic tables to exchange and connect. The unpredictability and sometime rapid pace of work in our field is what we have come to know. Very fortunately at LEI, we have a strong team who embrace the demands that allow us to pivot quickly and progress effectively.  We aim to find a steady pace for impactful work in 2025 as we see our projects move into implementation, wrap up and roll-over phases.

Naia Webb (on the far right in the photo above) joined the Land Equity International team at the end of last year in a new position in the company as a Research and Communications Officer! Naia brings with her experience in climate advocacy and a passion for impactful storytelling. Naia is a recent graduate from the University of Wollongong and over the coming years we look forward to fostering her career in environmental advocacy. We are keen to use Naia’s skills to strengthen our communication materials and company strategy for project knowledge, while also advancing our research initiatives to support good land governance worldwide.

Land Equity International was invited to contribute to the publication and interviewed Dr. Sochanny Hak (Dr Channy) and Dr Hue Le in an article titled ‘Giving voice to smallholder women farmers in the Mekong Region’ (pp 50-53).  This article discusses the Mekong Region Land Governance (MRLG) project which over the past decade has had a key focus on securing land tenure for small-holder farmers. Designed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), co-financed by Germany and Luxemburg, implemented by Land Equity International and GRET, and shaped by political economy thinking, the project has intentionally committed to over a decade of momentum building activities. 

It has been a super productive and exciting time here at LEI over the past six months with tenders, international conferences and bigger still, project mobilisations. We won’t be enjoying long summer holidays like our northern partners but aiming for some crisp short winter-breaks down-under instead.

Why did three members of the LEI team travel to Lesotho in the last three months? Because we kicked off with our national and internationally staffed team, a five-year contract by the US-funded Millennium Challenge Corporation to support the modernisation of the Rural Land Registration System in Lesotho, with a particular emphasis on supporting the accessibility and inclusiveness of that system for women! Our contract is called the Land and Gender (L&G) consultancy.

Planning and governance challenges within Vanuatu’s urban population are significant. Port Vila City Council has never adopted a master or local plan to guide and control urban expansion or land use. Likewise, there is no clear government agency responsible for land identification and infrastructure development to meet Port Vila’s growing needs. In one respect Port Vila is in a strong position – there is land that is available for development. But the majority of development to date has been private sector-led, targeting high-income bracket earners, and even this development has been limited by regulatory uncertainty and outdated land administration processes. In the 25-year period between 1996-2020 only 4,100 new residential lots were approved in Greater Port Vila – an average of just 170 new lots per year. The majority of these have targeted high-income households, with varying levels of infrastructure (that is, roads, electricity, water) provided by developers. Affordable housing units for those on lower wages are largely absent on the private market.