FIG XXIII Congress and XXIX General Assembly

The XXII FIG Congress held in Munich, Germany from 8th to 13th October 2006 and attended by 1,300 delegates from about a hundred countries was a complete success. Together with the Intergeo conference and other simultaneous events, some three thousand participants attended the congress. The Intergeo trade fair attracted about nineteen thousand visitors.

Shaping the Change
Bavarian Minister President Dr Edmund Stoiber gave his welcoming address during the opening ceremony to a full hall of 1,400 participants. As a high-level politician he acknowledged how essential was the contribution of the surveyor for the development of a country. In his own presidential address, as vibrant as are all his speeches, Professor Holger Magel covered many subjects relating to the theme of the Congress, ‘Shaping the Change’.

The keynote address by Dr Klaus Töpfer, long-time general director of the United Nations Environment Programme, was more than impressive. Under the title ‘For a More Just World – the Surveyors’ Role for Achieving Sustainable Development’ he linked measuring with the perception of ideologies. We lived in a world of unprecedented change, he said, and one characterised by great differences in income, where two out of three babies are born in cities. In Germany, and in Europe as a whole, the difference in prosperity between ‘east’ and ‘west’ had to be managed, but the differences worldwide were much bigger; we should make commitments to change and we should invest, not out of charity but out of a sense of obligation. The Millenium Development Goals were aimed at decreasing poverty: the western world throws away more food daily than is needed by the hungry. And food was not the only issue; access to water was another. Notwithstanding huge progress, many problems still remained. He warned “If you want a conflict, then destroy the cadastre”, and there was thus a lot of work to be done on property-rights registration, secure tenure and implementation of rule-based systems. Clear and accepted property situations were a basis for freedom and for investment (in peace); this was, he insisted, the highest priority on the development agenda. Slum upgrading would not be successful without secure tenure. Better land-management systems with better data were needed and governments should make money available for this as for other infrastructures. And to achieve all this, he concluded, the knowledge of the surveyor was needed, and that was why FIG was a premium partner of UN. The price of globalisation must not be loss of individual or professional identity.

General Assembly
Some major decisions were taken by the General Assembly. These included the election of Prof. Stig Enemark (Denmark) as new president of FIG 2007-2010. Matt Higgins (Australia) and Dr Dalal S. Alnaggar (Egypt) were elected vice-presidents for the same term of office and Prof. Paul van der Molen as vice-president for 2007-2008. The new Council will start its work on 1st January 2007. The fourth vice-president is Ken Allred from Canada, who will continue in the new Council. Dr Chryssy Potsiou is appointed ACCO representative on the Council for 2007-2008. Jürg Kaufmann (Switzerland) and Prof. Kazimierz Czarnecki (posthumously) were appointed honorary members of FIG.

Wings and Boots
In his conference summary Prof. Holger Magel pronounced himself a happy man: there had been an impressive number of participants, many young professionals and many new delegates from many countries. And FIG now had integration of students’ forums. Relations with sister organisations and international partner organisations were and would continue to be strong. FIG now had more than a hundred member associations. An incoming Council had been elected and the new FIG Commission chairs 2007-2010 were well prepared. The president quoted the words of Kofi Annan, “Freedom from poverty, freedom from fear, freedom to live in human dignity.”
Surveyors should take initiative and responsibility here and FIG had already taken action by publishing broadly recognised and accepted reports and by co-operating with UN, WB, NGOs and sister organisations. FIG needed taskforces to further develop this co-operation based on professional engagement. Of specific importance was the Munich Declaration on Disaster and Risk Management (soon to be published). Much had been achieved and much had still to be done. He listed the changes we are facing: global economy, financial and new business paradigms, climatic risks and environmental disasters, social patterns of poverty and migration. The challenges were to re-balance economic aspirations across regions, to leave a liveable planet to our children, to create a peaceful and just world, and to engage with mass-information portals. Required were energised leadership, effective policies and organisations, ethical cultures and values, equitable models for co-operation, and expert knowledge to share and influence.

Surveyors should contribute to Millennium Development Goals (appropriate engagement and tool creation). Also design and implementation (accurate reference systems and creation of virtual infrastructures), upgrading settlements and slums, eServices, engagement with Urban-Rural, and awareness: increasing knowledge of spatial solutions for other client-groups and customers and the relevance of both geoinformation acquisition and use of data, from ‘Mash Ups’ to high-quality data.

In conclusion, Prof. Magel asserted that surveyors could shape the change by collaboration, communication and co-operation. Surveyors could shape the change with passion, energy and enthusiasm, and by working in many dimensions. “Surveyors”, said Prof. Magel, “need wings for flying in the air and boots for walking on the rough ground.”