The webinar will: hear from donors about their experience and challenges in making grants more inclusive;  give insights in measuring inclusiveness; and ask and discuss questions on how donors can use data-driven information to inform their decisions in financing land governance investments. 

The momentum is increasing around international land monitoring initiatives, together with an unprecedented demand for free, accessible, and usable land data and information. The land sector must find ways to seize opportunities presented by open data innovations while negotiating a rapidly changing data environment. 

The Land Portal and Open Data Charter have been working with the Government of Senegal to open up land data, following the guidance set forth in the Open Up Guide for Land Governance. The Open Up Guide is a practical guide for governments who are seeking to better collect, publish, and use land data for the public good. As Phase 1 of this project, the team has published the State of Land Information in Senegal (SOLI) Report. SOLI reports are research-driven analyses of the current state of land data that assess the available land information against open data standards. 

The webinar will:

• Share latest results from the Open Up Guide implementation pilot in Senegal and findings from the SOLI Senegal report 

• Ask and discuss questions concerning the interest in and maturity of open data in Senegal as it relates to land 

• Hear perspectives from the government of Senegal (ANAT, PROCASEF), donors (GIZ, World Bank), local community members, using specific case studies on data and land initiatives

One of the main aims of the Land Dialogues series is and has been to highlight Indigenous knowledge and wisdom as a solution to pressing global challenges.  The series does so by creating a virtual space that bridges that gap, where the term “expert” is not limited to academics or researchers, in an effort to both decolonize and democratize knowledge.  In particular, the Land Portal’s role is to highlight Indigenous Peoples’ need for agency and control over the data that is about them, recognizing that data can either amplify equality or exacerbate unequal power structures.

In 2022 we remain in the midst of a once-in-a-century pandemic, increasingly violent weather events connected to the changing climate, and global security tensions due to war and conflict. Indigenous Peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are among the most vulnerable and are both directly and indirectly hard-hit by these events. 

Strengthening security of tenure is considered a key outcome of the LAND-at-scale program as a pre-condition to improved livelihoods, resilience, and sustainable resource use. LAND-at-scale interventions employ a range of tools to achieve tenure security, in particular land mapping and registration. Despite the popularity of such interventions, the assumptions underpinning the impact pathways from registration to tenure security and derived outcomes such as improved livelihoods are not always built on a solid evidence base. 

This final webinar of the Land Dialogues 2022 series, will take place  after the UN Climate Change Conference COP 27 (6 – 18 November, Sharm El-Sheik). With a historic 1.7 billion dollar pledge having been made at last year’s COP26 by the Forest Tenure Funders Group to advance Indigenous Peoples’ and Local Communities’ tenure rights and their forest guardianship, it is important that we discuss  challenges and opportunities in the context of these important advancements. The  “Post COP27: Reflecting on Donor Promises to Forest Guardians” webinar will serve as a platform to reflect on progress made, what is falling short and if the 1.7 billion dollar pledge made during COP26 was reflected during COP27.

The webinar will share the latest results from the Open Up Guide implementation pilot in Senegal and the SOLI research in Namibia. We will ask and answer pressing questions concerning the interest in and maturity of open data in the two countries and specifically in the land sector. 

In September 2022, Sierra Leone enacted unprecedented laws related to land, climate, and sustainable development. This new law transforms communities’ ability to protect their land rights and pursue sustainable development. This webinar will discuss the processes, the experiences, the challenges, and the context of this new law, highlighting the new responsibilities in Sierra Leone.

On the occasion of the new publication of   The State of Open Data, Land Portal and Data 4 Development are co-hosting a panel discussion to discuss the key issues and challenges that have emerged since the 2019 publication.

This event will launch the technical guide on integrating the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forest in the context of National Food Security (VGGT) into land degradation neutrality (LDN) in all 6 UN languages, produced jointly by UNCCD and FAO.

Land monitoring systems are crucial tools for improving the governance, ownership and management of land around the world.

Open discussion between partners and the audience  on the impact of the VGGT 10 years later: what have we learned, what can we  do better, where are the evident needs, gaps, and unmet expectations.