Commission 4, Newsletter, September 2007
Since our last meeting in May (unbelievably, only just a few months ago), we have all been busy trying to keep our health, family and career in good shape. Some of us have been away (our commission chair Andrew Leyzack, for example, was lost for a long time in the Canadian Arctic conducting hydrographic surveys). Others have been busy changing jobs: Dr Michael Sutherland, vice chair of Working Group (WG) 4.3 (Administering Marine Spaces) moved to the University of the West Indies in Trinidad in July where he is now a lecturer in the Department of Surveying and Land Information. We have even had a change of commission officers. John McCarthy of the Australasian Hydrographic Surveyors Accreditation Panel, Australia, has agreed to take over as vice chair WG 4.1 (Hydrographic Surveying and Practice). The originally nominated officer unfortunately became unavailable.
Since our last annual working week in Hong Kong, there has been a lot activity in FIG. Most of this activity surrounded the follow up on decisions made in Hong Kong as well as preparatory work for the upcoming 6th FIG Regional Conference 2007 to be held in San José, Costa Rica, 12–15 November 2007 (web reference 1). The theme of this conference is ‘Coastal Areas and Land Administration – Building the Capacity’: a theme that has a special meaning and lies close to the activities of Commission 4. Our Commission is hoping to have representation from as many of our working groups, delegates and friends as possible. Just as in Accra, Ghana, in 2006, we hope that this year’s regional conference in San José, Costa Rica, will provide an opportunity for contact and discussion of a variety of coastal issues, including hydrography, hydrographic practice and its economic benefits, Coastal Zone Management (CZM) and the administration of marine spaces.
Of particular importance to FIG is a desire to focus on pro-poor CZM and, to this end, Rob Mahoney (UK) will be chairing a workshop on the topic. Dr Michael Sutherland will be key-note presenter at the first plenary session on CZM, which will contribute to a FIG special publication on this topic. All of these topics are ones that we as a commission have been exploring through our working groups, recent publications (web reference 2), working week presentations and Commission-organised workshops. Our plans for San José include a workshop that will continue the work initiated at our Economic Benefits to Hydrography Workshop held at the Munich congress last year. As some of you might recall, the FIG and the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) signed a memorandum of Understanding, which both organisations hope will foster scholarship and discussion towards the awareness of the need of hydrographic capacity worldwide.
One specific area of concern is trying to reach all national organisations with a need to collect, publish or manage hydrographic data. To this end, our Chair is keen on mapping IHO membership organisations against FIG delegates in an effort to determine whether there are areas where Commission 4 might be able to fill contact gaps. To this end, any existing delegate or Commission friend who is willing to contribute is encouraged to contact the commission directly (the chair, Andrew Leyzack, leyzacka@dfo-mpo.gc.ca; vice chair of administration David Neale, david.neale@caneassociates.com; or vice chair for WG 4, Mr Gordon Johnston, gordon.johnston1@orange.net).
The deadline for submission of abstracts for the Costa Rica Working Week has passed, but the chair is still willing to consider new abstracts for papers that are specific to the work of Commission 4. As it stands, we expect presented papers on CZM and the administration of marine spaces.
The Commission is planning a meeting during the regional week; the decisions from which we hope will guide the work of the Commission in the immediate future. All delegates and friends are therefore encouraged to join us in San José, Costa Rica, and should see the FIG website (web reference 3) for registration details.?
David Neale
Commission 4, Administration and Communications
E-mail: david.neale@caneassociates.com
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