RICS is partnering with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in a project to mainstream the implementation of FAO’s voluntary guidelines on responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests in the context of national food security. The project’s goal is to embed sound and fair land tenure principles in courses in leading academic institutions around the world.
This builds on collaboration between the two organisations, and many others, to produce global voluntary guidelines with the aim of reducing poverty and securing some of the most basic human rights to occupy, use and own land and other resources in the developing world. The guidelines are aimed at all the stakeholders involved with land development, including decision makers, politicians, civil society, local community organisations and professional land administrators, surveyors and lawyers. The guidelines are intended to improve delivery of land-related services, to provide a vehicle for advocacy and to raise awareness amongst stakeholders. A particular focus of the guidelines is to highlight the rights of minorities, including improving and securing women’s access to land, addressing the rights of indigenous groups and those with customary and tribal non-registered land rights. The scope of the guidelines is to promote transparent and accountable land markets and reforms, recording of rights, compulsory purchase, fair valuation and taxation, regulated spatial planning and dispute resolution.
RICS involvement with the global guidelines project was initiated by Rob Mahoney, RICS Honorary Secretary and co-author of “Land Markets (RICS Research Report, 3rd Edition December 2011). Rob commented that:
“The World Bank has estimated the value of land and real estate at up to 70% of global wealth. In mature, sophisticated economies this value is realised, and its importance as a mainstay of any successful economy is recognised. But in poor countries this value remains locked up – in what the economist Hernando de Soto has called ‘dead capital’.
“Land ownership may be impossible to prove in the absence of a proper legal framework or land registration system. Better governance of land tenure will be essential in achieving many of the Millennium Development Goals, and RICS is proud to be playing a central role in bringing this about.”
The education project is designed to ensure that fair and robust land tenure principles are embedded in academic courses throughout the world. The project is being implemented by James Kavanagh MRICS, Director Land Group and RICS International Sustainable Development Advisor, John Tracey-White FRICS, who is a member of the guidelines advisory board and who explains:
“The global guidelines are a first step in setting out how countries can govern rights to use land and other natural resources efficiently and with respect to people’s basic human rights.
“The education project aims to ensure that the principles will form a core component of academic courses for all students who will be the future leaders in the field of professional land administration and management.”
The voluntary guidelines, which were approved on 9th March 2012, were prepared on the basis of fifteen consultation meetings, involving more than a 1,000 stakeholders from 130 countries. The guidelines will be presented to the Committee on World Food Security later in May for final approval.
As part of this consultation process RICS hosted in January 2010 a two-day private sector conference attended by 70 senior representatives from 23 countries. In March 2012 RICS hosted a roundtable workshop attended by academics and researchers from India, Brazil, Kenya, Trinidad, the Philippines, Netherlands, Eire and the UK. The result of this workshop will form the basis for preparing a strategy for implementing the delivery of capacity building material and appropriate land governance curriculums. The strategy will be presented for discussion at the next FIG congress in Rome in May 2012.
For more information contact: [jtracey-white@rics.org or jkavansagh@rics.org
The recently released and popular RICS output on 'Crowd Sourcing and Land Administration 1st ed 2011' is reaching a critical point of its global roll out and industry penetration. Although the concepts held within the document are common knowledge to a generation reared on geo-visualisation, data mash-ups and direct access mapping/modelling many of those to whom the 'crowd sourcing' is most relevant are within government and intra--government agencies such as national mapping agencies and agencies such as the World Bank. This area is really just starting to get to grips with the risks and advantages of crowd sourced data and RICS, through the author Robin McLaren, is bringing it directly to their doorsteps.
Robin will be presenting at both the World Bank 'land & poverty' conference in late April (Washington DC) and at FIG Working Week Rome 2012 to a large and infuential audience of surveyors, geographers, policy makers and economists. An international audience of National Mapping and Cadastre Agencies (NMCA's to you and me, or the troika of Ordnance Survey/Land Registry/VOA in England & Wales terms) recently met in Nottingham to discuss crowd sourcing and its potnetial ramifications on the operating models and offer sponsorship for students to research this area.
The Association of Geographic Information Laboratories Europe (AGILE) and the European Spatial Data Research Network (EuroSDR) have an initiative to jointly fund pilot project research into the use of crowdsourcing in a national mapping and cadastral agency (NMCA) context. The projects are to be carried out through university student internships in the summers of 2012 and 2013 with funding of €1,800 per internship with the possibility of further funding by project partners. Two additional internships will be funded by ESRI in 2012. The intention is that the projects will pair a NMCA with an academic partner(s) and possibly industrial partners.
In order to set an agenda for the internships and to award projects for the initial 2012 round of internships, a project development workshop was held at the University of Nottingham in January 2012. The objective of the workshop was to provide a mechanism for cross-fertilisation of research ideas and groups. The workshop was led by Dr Jeremy Morley of the University of Nottingham and Dr Peter Mooney of National University of Ireland, Maynooth. Over 45 participants from across Europe attended from academia, industry and NMCAs.
The scene setting on the first day included talks from Prof. Dieter Fritsch (IfP, University of Stuttgart; Vice President of EuroSDR), Prof. Mike Jackson (NGI, University of Nottingham; Chair of AGILE), Andy McGill (Senior Operations Manager, Ordnance Survey Ireland), Dr Jeremy Morley, Dr Peter Mooney and Paul Hardy (ESRI). These presentations can be accessed at http://www.osmgb.org.uk/blog/?page_id=64 and provide an excellent introduction to crowdsourcing and current research issues.
Two breakout sessions then provided the participants with the opportunity to formulate ideas for the internship pilot project research. These early proposals were presented to the workshop and then judged by representatives of AGILE and EuroSDR for potential funding. The following six proposals were presented:
1. Conflation of NMCA crowdsourced data.
This proposal would investigate the conflation of NMCA data with OSM and a wide range of available crowdsourced data using the data specification of the NMCA.
2. Citizen involvement in cadastral record updates
This project would support citizens in Norway to better understand their cadastral and land registration records (the range of legacy systems is very complex) and empower citizens to capture updates to their land rights information directly.
3. International mapping event
This proposal planned a series of concurrent events across Europe that would bring a range of user communities of interest together, e.g. fishers and canoeists, to identify their requirements and capabilities. The results of the events would be collated and analysed to provide a better understanding of crowdsourcers.
4. Bottom-up SDI & NMCA plans in a reduced funding environment
This project would identify potential contingency plans for NMCAs, if their budgets were severely squeezed (most likely), using a range of options, including Open Data, user generated map data and open standards.
5. Incidental crowdsourcing
Rather than using direct crowdsourcing, this proposal would encourage indirect or incidental crowdsourcing through designing games / smart phone applications to collect land use data.
6. User interface collaboration for map change
This proposed project would create a wiki-like user interface to support collaboration between the crowdsourcers and the NMCAs in collecting changes to features. It would provide a semi-structured, rule based interface with the NMCAs acting as moderators.
The panel of judges selected projects 1, 3, 4, and 6 as potential candidates for internship funding and have asked for more detailed project methodologies and plans to be submitted. The other two proposed projects will be considered in the second round of funding that will be sponsored by ESRI.
This was an excellent workshop that brought a diverse set of stakeholders together from academia, commerce and the NMCAs to better understand the fusion of traditional sources of data from the NMCAs and crowdsourced data. We look forward to the results of the funded internships and their projects. A detailed report on the workshop will be available on http://www.osmgb.org.uk/blog/?page_id=64 where you will be able to follow progress on the projects.
Towards the latter end of 2011 I put myself forward to become a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) with the Society for the Environment (SocEnv). The process involves a written career and experience report and an interview, both of which involve reviewing your career. This was something I enjoyed as an opportunity to reflect upon my career to date, appreciate my professional experience and competencies, and re-focus that which is important to me.
The assessment is not all that arduous, assuming you have the background in environment/sustainability. You have to show that through your career you have gained a knowledge and understanding of the aims of sustainable development; can analyse problems from an environmental perspective, developing evaluations of this problems and practical solutions to them; are a leader in sustainable management; and are personally committed to professional standards and the management of the environment. The above is assessed in the context of a written application and a short interview.
I have spent the past decade pursuing a career as an Environmentalist. I am proud of my achievements but have in the past found it difficult to put a label on what I do and who I am professionally. “Environmentalist” conjures up images of tree hugging types. Conversely, labelling yourself as an “Environmental Professional” made it seem somewhat flimsy. I was neither an environmental manager; consultant, advisor – but all three. Being able to differentiate myself as being professionally involved and suitably experienced/qualified within the field, rather than simply being interested in environmental issues, is important to me. The use of CEnv designation gives my employer, colleagues, peers and RICS members’ confidence that I will be acting as an appropriately knowledgeable professional when considering matters environmental.
CEnv establishes professional environmentalists on a par with other professions. Other senior environmental professionals, such as the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Baroness Barbara Young, have noted that the Chartered Environmentalist qualification represents the highest standards of professional practice in sustainable environmental management.
I feel extremely proud that at a mere thirty years I have achieved enough in my career to become a Chartered Environmentalist. I feel the environmental profession is an intellectually stimulating as well as socially imperative one. I believe that the regulation and identification that the Society for the Environment grants to me offers credence to me as a professional.
CEnv is the highest level of professional registration available for environmental practitioners. The designation recognises the demonstration of and commitment to sustainable environmental management and development. The qualification is awarded by the Society for the Environment (SocEnv) and demonstrates proven knowledge, experience and commitment to professional standards in the environmental field.
Rebecca Mooney MIEMA, CEnv
BA(Hons), MSc Environmental Economics and Environmental Management, MSc Environmental Consultancy
Project Executive to Environment and Minerals & Waste Management Professional Groups
If you are interested in becoming a chartered Environmentalist, please go to http://rics.org/socenv
RICS has entered into an agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) to provide support in mainstreaming the involvement of leading academic institutions in the implementation of the Voluntary Guidelines (VG) on Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests. James Kavanagh and John Tracey-White visited the FAO HQ in Rome to attend an inception meeting with FAO land tenure, fisheries and forestry specialists in order to scope out the project design and the next steps to be followed at an expert meeting in London. This meeting will be followed by a special VG workshop at FIG Rome May 2012.
The issues of land tenure/rights, security and sustainable resource use are gaining much media attention of late but have always been of central importance to land professionals. The visit to the FAO offices and the various meetings with their highly knowledgeable and international staff really helped us to get a handle on how important land issues are globally. What was most interesting was how land tenure was dealt with regionally, from the deeply ideological mindset of central and South America where land issue education is ingrained within social, economic and political academic establishments to the post colonial land tenure problems of Africa and the Caribbean. A real issue for the UK is how far we have (in educational terms) almost divorced ourselves from the economic and social drivers behind what many would consider 'surveying' in its broadest sense and have almost painted ourselves into a 'technical' corner with an over emphasis on fast changing technology or outmoded processes.
One can see how economic understanding rides shotgun with social justice when it comes to land tenure. We are also working on a position paper on how to 'value non-Red Book assets (non-market driven)' within the land group, it is this connection to economics and value which provides a surveyors trump card. A freely operating market won't necessarily ride on the back of a successful land titling/tenure project but I would point surveyors towards the 'continuum of land tenure' diagram as outlined with the Land Markets 3rd ed. This concept that a range of relevant land tenure stages exists is important, each stage can be as relevant as another and many may find that the establishment of say 'a non eviction' right is as important to their future prospects (and tenure security) as freehold.
This project with its global, e-learning and UN resources focussing on a subject of critical global importance should enable RICS to re-establishment global contacts and create a strong linked community of land professionals and institutions.
RICS Land Group would like to take this opportunity to wish you all
A Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year
Best wishes for 2012
It's been a highly productive and exciting end to 2011 for the Land Group with both the new Land Markets 3rd ed and Crowdsourcing and land admin research outputs going live, a new consultation on RICS valuation of renewable energy installations being launched and the latest evening lecture series being filmed for YouTube distribution. The environment and resources outputs on Rare earth metals, minerals valuation and environmental liabilities were highlighted in 2011 as were the 'Green Infrastructure' and its sister publication 'Mapping of Green Infrastructure' for P&D. Rural maintained it's high tempo standards production with the valuation of rural property VIP 5, options and leases for renewable energy installations and the valuation of woodlands. RICS Land group also ran a large number of highly successful events in 2011 and engaged with policy and legislation here in the UK and internationally.
All of our Land Group standards can now be sourced from
Land Group standards members can keep up to date with all land related developments by making sure they access the land group e-brief and
Land JournalJames, Fiona, Tony, Rebecca and Chrissie
Did anyone see the ‘What’s Fuelling Your Energy Bill?’ episode of Panorama that went out last Monday (07 November 2011)? I have a lot of issues with the documentary and the way it portrayed the cost of renewable energy. I will not go into that here, but to get an idea of how I reacted, see articles written here , here , here and here.
But here’s what struck me - the report looked into homes officially experiencing or verging on fuel poverty. Much of this is a result of the economy, where people simply do not have the disposable incomes many once enjoyed. It is also due to the rising price of fuel – an issue I believe not totally accurately portrayed in the above BBC documentary. I have a lot of sympathy for people in this situation, and feel a lot of anger that such a situation should exist at all.
However, the premise of today’s blog is this. The show puts energy efficient behaviour in an almost negative light – we meet families who are changing the way they use energy in their home due to the rising costs of fuelling their households and decreasing household budgets. People are now considering whether they really need to turn and leave things on. Putting citizens in the position where they have to make the call between heat and food is unacceptable. However, the same cannot be said for coming to the decision of leaving the lights on or your appliances on standby.
The show claims this government “remains committed to expensive alternatives”. I would argue that until recently it was the consumer who engaged in inefficient and wasteful energy consumption behaviour.
Throughout my career as an environmental specialist, I have been stating that nothing will really change unless we can change people’s behaviours. This is slowly happening. We recycle - there is still a very small minority who feel they should have the right to dispose of any waste they create in any way they see fit, but by and large the population has embraced domestic waste segregation. These things take time, but when this change of public mindset occurs, the environmental professionals dedicated to harnessing this should be ready.
At times of crisis, look for the opportunity!
This change in energy consumers’ behaviour – even though brought about through undesirable circumstances - is an opportunity to change the way people think about their relationship with their energy consumption and how the little changes they make really can make a difference. People are ensuring their homes are better insulated; and are coming up with ways to use and waste less energy. The drivers are economic rather than environmental conscientiousness, but the results are the same. When we come out of this financial mess, it is a real hope of mine that we will be leaner, greener and that bit smarter for it. Lets not forget the lessons we are learning now, when – hopefully - someday soon we no longer need to apply them so ardently.
Written by Rebecca Mooney MIEMA, CEnv
Project Executive to Environment and Minerals & Waste Management Professional Groups
Land grabbing & food security have been in the news again recently with several UK broadsheets and the BBC running in-depth investigations into developing world land issues. Oxfam, Christian aid (Londoners will have noted the tube posters on land grabbing) and other non governmental organisations have also come out in support of indigenous land rights and the recognition of such rights by countries that in many cases have no functioning land registration or land transfer systems in place. It’s all a bit like ‘closing the gate after the horse has long long bolted’, over 50 million hectares of Africa (or 25 times the size of Wales on the Wales-size-o-meter) were sold to foreign ‘owners’ last year and although ‘land grabbing’ has been rife in recent years many developing countries have wised up to this.
We in RICS Land are also trying to do our bit with the production of the soon to be released ‘Land Markets 3rd ed’ and ‘Crowd sourcing for land administration’ 1st Ed outputs (another blog and article to follow on this anon) – both should be out by Christmas 2011 www.rics.org/land and by working with international agencies such as UN Habitat and its constituent agencies of FAO and GLTN
The Land Markets 3rd ed will get its first airing and a ‘soft’ launch (the ‘hard’ launch will be held on 8th Dec 2011 at the annual Christmas lecture) at an upcoming GLTN event in Nairobi on 15th – 16th Nov 2011 by Hon Sec Rob Mahoney FRICS. The theme of the two day conference is ‘‘Strengthening Global Partnerships” the meeting aims at further strengthening the global partnership towards sustaining the paradigm shift in the development and implementation of pro-poor land tools and approaches and in the promotion of alternative land tenure and land management systems to improve tenure security within the land governance framework.’
We will then follow this up by presenting at the World Bank ‘land & poverty’ conference in Washington April 2012.
I’m sure there are many staff and members who have never heard of GLTN (Global Land Tools Network) but it is a vitally important UN organisation which champions the land rights and needs of people, often discriminated against, in the developing world.
I’m quite proud that the featured ‘partner of the week’ on their main website http://www.gltn.net/ is RICS.
INTERGEO 2011 was held in Nuremberg, Germany 27-29 September 2011 and is the biggest tradeshow for geomatics in the world. More than 16,000 visitors from over different 80 countries attended and even through a strong German ‘flavour’ is maintained the overwhelming international influence is becoming more evident each year. This is highlighted by German conference which really does need an English language stream, RICS was very pleased to note in the post InterGeo commentary that this would happen for InterGeo Hanover 2012.
The exhibition space exceeded 28,000 sqm and contained more than 800 exhibitors. The usual multinational manufacturers such Trimble, Leica & Topcon had large and well attended stands but InterGeo is also interesting for the amount of ‘service providers’ that exhibit. An entire industry of competing and expert niche companies have evolved to provide everything from geo-enabled valuation services, geo-location and addressing, imagery and precise positioning for a bewildering range of clients. Apart from the ongoing attraction of the cutting edge geo-gadgets that are released this aspect of a growing service provider industry is one of the real successes of InterGeo and the global geo industries in general. This year saw the Chinese and Indian participants grow in number and also saw a significant rise in participation from North America.
Before delving into some of the more interesting releases, RICS had a small but busy stand and received a constant flow of visitors and RICS members during the three days of the exhibition. Chris Preston FRICS represented the RICS geomatics global PG board and helped run the stand during InterGeo. Chris also had time to wander the three enormous halls that made up the InterGeo exhibition and see the geomatics global industry writ large. An awesome sight, especially when one is used to the generally small scale of UK geo events.
The geomatics client guides (especially ‘Laser scanning’) proved popular as did the recent releases on ’mapping green infrastructure’ and ‘GPS in the Arctic’ somewhat surprisingly the more ‘Land’ orientated outputs such as the Land Journal and Modus proved very popular. We also took the opportunity to meet with representatives from several countries. InterGeo is fast becoming the forum to meet UK senior surveyors with several large practices and organisations sending delegations, some even brought clients along for the ride. RICS has already followed up on becoming involved with the SPAR laser scanning events and closer liaison with South Africa.
This year also saw several ‘industry forums’ take place and an ongoing ‘open’ stage for innovation and ideas; this was very well used and attended.
So just what was causing all of the excitement at InterGeo?
For the last couple of years laser scanning (the release of the Faro laser scanning last year causing the nearest thing to mass hysteria that geomatics has ever witnessed) and this year a couple of new-ish products. Topcon’s IP-S2 Mobile Mapping System was popular with Topcon taking interested parties on a quick scan/drive around the conference centre. The new system is modular so at the end of a long day it can be removed from the car roof for secure storage. Trimble revealed their new software products ’Access’ and ’Business centre’, these are very interested cloud-based products which bring the connection between field and office a step closer. Leica showcased their ALS70 Airborne Laser Scanner and the Wednesday evening saw the traditional showdown on who had the biggest stand party.
2011 saw a prize being given for best ‘animator’ by a laser scanning service provider and it was interesting to see the German National Mapping Agency (aDv) stand and outputs. Germany has also launched the ALKIS (official property and land register information system) which provides online access for the public and professionals to a whole range of property related datasets. Perhaps not so unusual from a UK perspective but an enormous cultural step change for continental Europe. One more nail in the coffin of the measured cadastre.
Some of the geo-gadgets were quite amazing but none more so than the undoubted top product of InterGeo 2011, the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Remote controlled helicopters, weird flying saucer style UAV’s, model aeroplanes and more was on display and all containing high resolution camera (and in some cases inertial and in most GNSS enabled navigation technologies). A personal favourite was the ‘swinglet CAM’ by SenseFly LLC which is a ready-to-deploy (by a big rubber band!) mini drone with a high-resolution camera; it even looks like a stealth bomber! 10k, yours to take away in the box.
And who said surveyors were boring?
A full listing of all of the InterGeo exhibitors and products including those mentioned above can be sourced at InterGeo exhibitors
It's just one of those things. For the past few years I have been really trying. I have been buying clothes and furniture from second hand and charity shops, trying to buy produce with no or minimal packaging, upstyling clothes I no longer like, or pulling them apart to make use of their fabrics. I freeze anything I worry I won't eat before it begins to go off. Even the teabags and used coffee beans in my house get sprinkled over soil in the garden. I am becoming quite obsessed with not throwing away anything that I can somehow re-use, and even with snooping through what others perceive to be waste to see how I can give it a second life. In essence I am trying to hate waste.
50% of the clothes we discard get thrown into landfill but the other 50% is going to charity shops, gets put up on ebay, or is put into fabric bring banks. The later saves both carbon and moneys, the former does not.
In 2003 the UKs recycling rates were at about 11%. We are now at about 40%. This is an impressive jump and is largely thanks to the good work of WRAP, local authorities, and green campaigns encouraging people to consider their waste and recycle more. Peoples attitude has changed towards recycling where a decade ago. The success here has in no small part been thanks to the great work of WRAP’s “Love Food, Hate Waste” campaign.
Zero waste is an aspiration, albeit a long term one. In the shorter term, we are striving for zero waste to landfill. But, how do me meet our recycling targets of 50% by 2020 with a much smaller waste pool. Or more worryingly, where will the fuel sources for all of these EfW plants come from with less and less waste arising. It is generally considered preferable to recycle rather than sending waste as a fuel to an EfW plant, unless the material is inappropriate for reuse.
Preserving a tonne of aluminium or rare earths is more important than a tonne of wood or brick. This is where carbon counting and life-cycle assessment comes in.
We are losing sight of the value of things. We look to replace them before their lives are spent. We need to look at how to allow aspirations and consumption by getting such wastes back to manufacturers who can give them a new life. This is something I have been harping on about for the past year with regard to the Rare Earths issue.
Equally, this week has seen the announcement from food charity Fareshare that more and more people are requesting their services. The charity redirects retail food surpluses to those in need. It is commendable that what would otherwise have been waste is now being used to feed those who could otherwise go hungry.
But, with all of the above examples, I am left wondering whether it is wise to rely on discarded excess as a renewable energy, an alternate securer supply of elements, or a food supply for those in need. If this is indeed the best way to tackle these issues, then surely we must abandon our ambitious waste reduction targets. Therefore, here is the rub as I see it. How can designing waste out of the economy be viable when it will produce less resources to recycle and make it even more difficult to make the already huge leap from 40-50% recycling.
That’s the thing with what really is a relatively new profession. As a professional environmentalists one major driver over the past decade has been the reduction of waste. But only now, as we begin to approach this goal are we seeing the likely obstacles it creates. The assumption of waste as a resource does not sit well with the pursuit of a zero, or near-zero waste society. Just like the management of ecosystems on a much broader level, the management of the environment is a fine balancing act and we need to be very careful removing anything or putting additional stresses onto any one element.
Rebecca Mooney, RICS Environment & Resources rmooney@rics.org
They say that a picture tells a thousand words but a good map (or online spatial representation of data in this case) can tell millions. Indeed the latest efforts by the coalition government to open public access to data highlights the extensive nature of publically owned property and resources in England & Wales and is a first view of what might be on offer when other HM Gov open data initiatives come online over the next couple of years. Consultations on Open Data and the Public Data Corporation (PDC) policy are now live and explore questions on key aspects of data policy – charging, licensing and regulation of public sector information as produced by a nascent PDC. public consultation on data policy for a Public Data Corporation
The new online public assets ‘map’ locates over 180,000, often diverse, assets worth an estimated £385bn owned by almost 600 public sector bodies, including Central Government and 87 councils. The opportunities for efficient property asset management are obvious and RICS Planning & Development PG is currently finalising a new output on ‘Disposal of Public sector assets’.
Public sector asset wealth can be a two edged sword but the production of an open online register should help local councils rationalise on management, maintenance and sharing of resources. It is also hoped that this will raise local community group awareness of what might be available for use in their vicinity.
Results from eleven council led pilot projects, known as capital and assets pathfinders, found that on average twenty per cent savings could be made by rationalising public assets or co-locating local services based on customer needs.
And a recent independent report found local government and the public sector could save up to £7bn a year in operational costs through better property management. Annual running costs top £25bn and the backlog of maintenance repairs has been estimated to be around £40bn.
Surveyors love data, lots of it, the more the better, and RICS will reflect this view during its responses to these ongoing consultations. Issues of consistency, currency and licensing are foremost in our initial thoughts. This is one area where geo-technology and political policy really operate in tandem and Open Data, in this instance, cannot be dissembled from the ‘Localism’ and planning agendas. In many ways open data and its geo-visualisation, through the provision of easy to use online mapping applications, will be a major driver behind several important government policy initiatives. It is important to remember that there is a difference between ‘transparency’ and Open Access in this instance and our rights as citizens to access all manner of official data should not be confused with the commercial exploitation of that data by third parties. Consistency and reliability remain central to the success of any open data initiative. RICS has been particularly involved in recent discussions on Land Registry data and maintains a stance, along with other stakeholders, that the integrity of Land Registry information must be maintained.
The new online public assets ‘map’ locates over 180,000, often diverse, assets worth an estimated £385bn owned by almost 600 public sector bodies, including Central Government and 87 councils. The opportunities for efficient property asset management are obvious and RICS Planning & Development PG is currently finalising a new output on ‘Disposal of Public sector assets’.
Public sector asset wealth can be a two edged sword but the production of an open online register should help local councils rationalise on management, maintenance and sharing of resources. It is also hoped that this will raise local community group awareness of what might be available for use in their vicinity.
Results from eleven council led pilot projects, known as capital and assets pathfinders, found that on average twenty per cent savings could be made by rationalising public assets or co-locating local services based on customer needs.
And a recent independent report found local government and the public sector could save up to £7bn a year in operational costs through better property management. Annual running costs top £25bn and the backlog of maintenance repairs has been estimated to be around £4bn.
The Prime Minister recently announced that Ministerial responsibility for Ordnance Survey, alongside Land Registry and the Met Office, will pass to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS).
The Government shareholding of Ordnance Survey and the Government’s customer functions both move from the Department for Communities and Local Government.
The BIS Permanent Secretary, Martin Donnelly, welcomed the move, which marks a step towards establishment of a Public Data Corporation (PDC), plans for which were announced by the Government in January this year.
Martin Donnelly said: “It is good to welcome Ordnance Survey, the Land Registry and Met Office to the BIS family. The talents and abilities of their staff will be a welcome addition to the Department’s teamwork to ensure sustainable economic growth across the UK.
“Staff and customers should know that these organisations will continue to deliver a high level of service going forward.”
Dr Vanessa Lawrence CB, Ordnance Survey Director General and Chief Executive, added: “Bringing Ordnance Survey together with some of the other major data providers in government under BIS will provide an excellent opportunity to share best practice and strengthen our existing relationships.”
Final decisions on membership, structure and commercial strategy of the Public Data Corporation will be taken later this year, following a consultation on PDC data policy, due to launch over the summer. RICS has taken a keen interest in the trajectory of the PDC and will be commenting in due course.
In the meantime, BIS Minister Edward Davey MP will jointly chair with the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude MP a PDC Transition Board, which will consider membership, structure and governance for the PDC.
China delegation visits RICS
China has very much been in the news recently and several high level delegations have come to the UK in the wake of the Chinese premier Wen Jiabao’ recent visit. RICS was delighted to welcome a high level delegation from the National Administration of Surveying, Mapping and Geoinformation (formerly known as the State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping). China recently launched a new ‘licensing’ regime for (land) surveyors and RICS was especially keen to explore the connectivity between the new Chinese license and RICS professional membership. NASG surveys and maps a country over 50 times the size of the UK, has over 25 000 regional and central staff, and market driven land transfer and ownership is still in its early post ‘collective’ years. The scope of their task is awe inspiring. Even more thought provoking (and indicative of the desperate decline of the West) is that China has essentially achieved Global economic dominance without really engaging its private land and property sectors. This delegation, all very highly educated, were intrigued by the UK system of land transfer (non-cadastre) and by the concepts of 'self regulation'. I would wager that they will travel to the continent, view other systems such as Germany and Switzerland and then build a Chinese system of licensing, mapping and land transfer/administration which is very 'fit for purpose'.
This delegation included the directors of several regional offices, personnel and science departments. Mr. Zhang Rongjiu, Deputy Director General of NASG was also in attendance. This was a very knowledgeable delegation who were keen to explore the similarities and differences between the UK system and the Chinese system of mapping and land tenure. Presentations from RICS on membership structures, standards and regulation were followed by a presentation from Duncan Moss FRICS on Ordnance Survey GB. Debate continued into lunch as the delegation prepared to leave for the University of Nottingham. http://en.sbsm.gov.cn/index.shtml
As foreign investment and market liberalisation change the nature of rural land rights in many developing countries, development organisations have become ever more involved in issues of ownership and access to land. At the same time, the increasing urbanisation of poverty has seen millions of slum dwellers left living on the physical, social and economic margins of cities.
All of these issues are of critical importance to the surveying profession in the developing world and by extension to RICS. The coming research outputs on land markets 3rd ed and the use of technology for land administration will focus on how the current fiscal crisis in the west has led to serious re thinking of the land markets paradigm and how 'security of tenure' is the key target for agencies working in this area. The aid agencies are engaged in a debate on 'de jure' land rights (freehold) versus 'de facto' (proof of occupancy, non eviction rights etc) and which actually leads to definitive improvements in the lives of poor people. Personally I lean towards 'de facto' but that's me.
Some of the stats are astonishing, did you realise that 55% of Nairobi live on 5.5% of its area or that 'secure title' can led to an immediate value uplift of 25% or that by 2030 3 billion more people will require serviced housing and land (i.e. access to sewage, water, electricity etc).
I was lucky enough to lecture to the Socio-Economic Rights Group of Advocates for Development organisation last week in the offices of Reed Smith at Broadgate Tower in London along with Carla Clarke, Legal cases officer at Minority Rights Group International, together we explored the changing nature of urban, rural and indigenous peoples’ property rights, and discuss some of the challenges and issues that we have faced when working in developing countries. A full podcast and downloads are available @ http://www.a4id.org/event/land-rights
It’s been a long time coming but finally after nearly ten years of debate, consultation and legislation the UK (and after nearly 200 000 years as an island) the UK Government, the Scottish Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Northern Ireland Executive have adopted the Marine Policy Statement which will hopefully help achieve the shared UK vision for "clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas". The UK Marine Policy statement.
RICS has been continuously involved in this policy process and legislative initiative. RICS has maintained its policy and technical stance during all of these various marine initiatives from the Marine (and Coastal Access) Act 2009 to the foundation of the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). RICS has always maintained that the marine and coastal environments need to be viewed holistically and as an integral part of the UK rather than something separate from ‘land’ based processes and economic policy. We believe that all UK marine initiatives need to focus on the following interlinked issues:
- There needs to be an strong emphasis on ‘consistency’
- Consistency between the land and marine planning frameworks, from evaluation to implementation
- Consistency in geographic data standards (based on internationally recognised standard frameworks such as InSpire), between land, inter tidal and marine environments
- Consistency and support for technical and professional marine and coastal zone education
The Marine Policy Statement (MPS) will enable an appropriate and consistent approach to marine planning across UK waters, and ensure the sustainable use of marine resources and strategic management of marine activities from renewable energy to nature conservation, fishing, recreation and tourism. The Land Journal (Feb 2011 issue) featured an in-depth article from Crown Estate on their new GIS based marine planning tool MaRS.
Previous RICS marine policy responses and the ‘marine client guide’ outlining RICS involvement in marine areas of practice are also available from the RICS Geomatics practice area. RICS Land also runs a specific marine virtual community for all RICS members engaged in the marine and coastal zone areas.
Rebecca Mooney has been working extensively with some members of the Environment and Resources Board to put together a submission for the UK government’s consultation on the Electricity Market Reform. RICS policy team has now submitted this to the Department for Energy and Climate Change.
Government plans to achieve 15% renewable energy by 2020 may soon become unattainable unless swift action is taken to recycle some of the planet's most prized resources, Rare Earth Metals (REMs)
Government plans to achieve 15% renewable energy by 2020 may soon become unattainable unless swift action is taken to recycle some of the planet’s most prized resources, Rare Earth Metals (REMs), according to the RICS submission to the Government’s Science and Technology Committee.
These 17 metals are fundamental components in all current renewable energy technologies - from solar panels, wind farms and hydroelectric turbines to possible energy conservation systems and nuclear applications. However, with the Chinese government controlling around 97% of REM production and growing global shortages, a recycling programme is badly needed to protect the future of renewable energy production.
Abundant quantities of REMs already exist ‘above ground’ in the form of obsolete consumer technology, with an estimated 30 million computers and laptops containing these metals currently lying unused in the UK. RICS would like to see a comprehensive recycling programme introduced to meet demand, and safeguard the future of renewable energy.
No active commercial recycling programme currently exists in the UK. However, a ‘closed-loop’ production process involving collecting unused electronic equipment and reusing the elements is both economically and practically viable.
The growing shortage of Rare Earth Metals could very soon have a considerable impact on the future of renewable energy. Many current green technologies are wholly reliant on these elements. A policy similar to the EU’s WEEE Directive on electronic equipment recovery is urgently needed, as failure to act could mean that future green energy projects become economically unfeasible.
The UK does not have a secure domestic source of these critical materials. For this very reason, we should be investigating how to recover what has already been harvested and is lying unused or being discarded as waste. These metals are extremely difficult to isolate and mine, yet we are allowing them to be disposed of after just one use.
While such abundant quantities of these metals available above ground in the form of obsolete technologies, we should not be pursuing costly extraction processes of virgin materials.
Rebecca Mooney, RICS Project Executive
For more information
Rare Earth Metals (REM) are a group of 17 metallic elements in the periodic table:
Yttrium, Scandium, Lanthanum, Cerium, Praseodymium, Neodymium, Promethium, Samarium, Europium, Gadolinium, Terbium, Dysprosium, Holmium, Erbium, Thulium, Ytterbium, Lutetium.
Nathanael Moyers
RICS Press Officer
t +44(0) 20 7695 1634
e nmoyers@rics.org