In a few decades, the majority of the people will live in urban areas. Already now, most of the world’s megacities are located in the coastal zone and many of these are situated in large deltas. It is there, where land and large water bodies meet, that sustainable development is under high pressure.
The host country for FIG Working Week 2020 the Netherlands has a long history of dealing with the challenges of building and managing a densely populated coastal country, with a land area of which nearly half is below sea level. The Dutch have an extensive experience in this field.
Surveyors have played a crucial role in land and water management. Their role is even more crucial today when we have to protect our countries from the effects of sea- level rise, floods and droughts and other natural disasters caused by climate change. Protection of nature and natural resources demands our attention and asks us to act now. This requires smart surveyors and integrated approaches for sustainable land and water management.
The FIG Working Week 2020 in Amsterdam is addressing the following overall theme:
This theme is both relevant for the Netherlands and internationally in a world where drinking water is a scarce resource, waste water needs to be recycled rather than seen as waste, where the sea needs to be better mapped and managed, where land resources need to be protected against sea-level rise, and where land-based fresh water habitats are threatened.
The overall theme, Smart Surveyors for Land and Water Management, is built up by the following sub-themes:
Organising the FIG working Week in Amsterdam is a great opportunity for the Netherlands to promote their achievements and progress in these fields but also a perfect venue for professionals world-wide to learn from each other exchanging ideas and develop new collaboration.
The FIG Working Week will be the major event in the global community of surveying and geospatial professionals. It is organised by FIG - International Federation of Surveyors and Geo informatie Netherlands - GIN in cooperation with Kadaster and University of Twente - ITC. The main objective of the FIG Working Week is to bring together experts from academia, governments/public administration and industry to report on recent developments, trends and research results.
The conference programme will be featured by a number of specially invited plenary speakers, focusing on aspects of the theme of "Smart Surveyors of Land and Water Management" in a variety of international contexts, and technical sessions with papers selected through the open call for papers procedure. This is an exceptional platform for industry practitioners, innovators, scientists, researchers, academics and students to discuss current research which is shaping a new world society.
We invite you to submit an abstract and full paper for peer review by 1 October 2019 and an abstract for non-peer-review by 1 November 2019.
We look forward to receiving your abstract/paper.
Your sincerely,
| Ms. Louise FRIIS-HANSEN FIG Director/ Co-Conference Director |
Ms. Paula Dijkstra Co-conference Director |
 #FIG2020 |