[:en]Supported by:
UN-GGIM Academic Network Forum
Ninth Session of the Committee of Experts on UN-GGIM
UN-GGIM Academic Network and Geospatial Societies Open Forum
Building Technical Capacities for Resilience and Sustainability
Monday 5 August 2019
10:00 am -13:00 pm
Venue: Conference Room 12 (CR-12), GA building
United Nations Headquarters, New York
Concept Note
Background
The primary objective of the UN-GGIM Academic Network is to support the aims and objectives of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM). In this task, the Academic Network Forums have become important parallel events at many UN-GGIM sessions and meetings. Following the successful events during the 7th (2017) and 8th (2018) meeting of experts in New York, we are proud to organize a new side event as part of the Ninth Session of the United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management.
The Geospatial Societies support the work of the UN-GGIM while leverage their global networks which are typically thematically organized. They aim aligning these with UN-GGIM working group topics.
The theme for this Forum is “Building Technical Capacities for Resilience and Sustainability -Challenges and Opportunities“. Local and national Governments understand that improving resilience to natural disasters, which are exacerbated by global challenges such as climate change, is important to achieve long term sustainability. Urbanization, a trend across the world, has concentrated large portions of the human population on cities that in many cases are exposed to natural disasters. In the context of SDGs, while sustainability in the long-term is likely to reduce the vulnerability of communities and infrastructures, building resilience in the short and medium term is fundamental.
As many countries focus their geospatial and land agendas to develop strong digital infrastructures that support country resilience to natural disasters and help driving decision-making towards sustainable development, the need to improve understanding of technical capacity building becomes a fundamental piece of the puzzle.
UN-GGIM can play a fundamental role in responding to the needs for developing technical capacity building, particularly in developing countries.
This forum, organized and delivered jointly by members around the globe of the UN-GGIM Academic Network and Geospatial Societies, will address from a theoretical and practical point of views, the opportunities that new trends and technologies offer to build capacity and the challenges likely to appear.
Forum Objectives
In line with emerging and critical issues identified by the UN-GGIM, the Forum will:
1. Discuss resilience and resilience impact of national land and geospatial.
2. Present the status of geospatial techniques applied for resilience and sustainability.
3. Discuss the current capacity building related to these techniques, identifying the main challenges and designing possible solutions.
4. Develop a roadmap that discusses methods and tools for improving geospatial and land and technical capacity, particularly in (but not limited to) developing countries.
5. Develop a work plan to assist UN-GGIM and member states to respond to the need for developing technical capacity building for resilience and sustainability in the context of SDGs.
For more information, please contact:
Professor Abbas Rajabifard
Chair, UN-GGIM Academic Network
E: abbas.r@unimelb.edu.au
Professor M.J Kraak
Chair, UN-GGIM Geospatial Societies
E: m.j.kraak@utwente.nl
“This is an open forum and all Session Attendees are invited”
Updated: 9 July 2019
You may download the Concept Note and Program here.
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