Evidence shows that very little land data is open to the public. This second Whose Land? webinar focused on the opportunities and constraints of civil society organizations (CSOs) and local communities in advocating for more open land data and in harnessing its power for improved land governance.
Date and Time: June 14th, 2022, 3:00-4:30 PM CEST
Open data can enable CSOs to advocate for better outcomes for public services related to land administration and governance, while promoting transparency, accountability, public debate, and anti-corruption. But there are legitimate concerns around privacy, trust, and first-movers to consider and overcome. The critical questions are, who benefits from land data being open, and, how can participation and equity for local communities and citizens be ensured?
As part of this discussion, the webinar addressed Indigenous data sovereignty. A key open data issue is the rights of indigenous people to control information and data about themselves and their lands, individually and collectively. Indigenous data sovereignty, which focuses not only on data issues, but also on asking fundamental questions about power relations and land governance (colonial and postcolonial), forces the open data community to respond to and consider these dynamics.
Panelists
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Charl-Thom Bayer, Land Information Management and Advocacy Consultant, Land Portal Foundation (Moderator)
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Hernando Castro, Indigenous leader from the Nɨpodɨmakɨ People from Caqueta in the Colombian Amazon
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Christian Jitar Taku, Coordinator at COMAID, Cameroon
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Juan Pane, Director, Center for Sustainable Development, Paraguay
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Menare Royal Mabakeng, Lecturer on Land Administration, Architecture and Spatial Sciences at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST)
About the Whose Land? Webinar Series
Strong land governance, underpinned by a democratic, open and accessible information ecosystem, is crucial in managing land in a gender just, conflict-free and sustainable manner. This works best when local communities and rights-holders are placed at the center of planning and decision-making, are able to define their own priorities and pursue them in meaningful and self-determined ways. Both ENDS and the Land Portal Foundation have initiated the Whose Land? – Inclusive pathways to land governance webinar series, which aims to provide a platform for different stakeholders engaged in land governance to exchange on the importance of inclusivity and meaningful participation of all relevant actors in both formal and informal land governance processes.
The main objective of this webinar series is to facilitate sharing and exchange around the topic of inclusion in land governance initiatives, to exchange among civil society organizations and with external actors on what inclusivity in land governance means in practice, and to explore how inclusivity can be better embedded in the programming and policies of those aiming to advance people-centered land governance.