INTERVIEW

GIM Internationalinterviews FIG President Holger Magel

Well-Grounded Specialised Generalists

Two months before his term of office ends in December, FIG president HolgerMagel will arrive at its highlight: FIG XXIII Congress, 'Shaping the Change',to be held in his hometown of Munich, Germany in October 2006. A previousinterview headlined 'An obligation to say what we think' (GIM InternationalAugust 2003) mentioned Professor Magel's many public pronouncementsand international visits to professional and political organisations including. ! United Nations. It revealed a man very active in creating opportunities toshare his ideas with others. We asked him to update us as to achievements so

far and how hefelt about things at this significant moment.

By Christiaan Lemmen, contributing editor, GIM International

You told the international geo-detie student meeting 2006 in Kra-kow, Poland that "FIG is the motherof all surveying, surveyors and sur-veyor students". Is it then the realand only international represen-tative of the surveyor eommunity?

Absolutely! For a century nowFIG has represented the com-munity with a high degree of

FIG president Holger Magel serves the surveying profession withr--endless energy, cheerfulness and openness to all. Always to the

Joint, and driven by his conviction of the urgent need to builda more just, peaceful and sustainable world, he has motivatedand fired students and professionals alike into providing their

maximum support and contribution for his cause.

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engagement on the part offunctionaries and members;all branches are represented,including business. FIG has a

we should not rest on our laurels ...

I have said many times that sur-veyors and geodesists shouldplay a more active role in areaswhere spatial planning and de-velopment decisions and whereland-related conflict situationsarise and have to be solved.These are all issues that deservefurther attention and action. Inmany countries where there areoverlapping claims on substan-tial areas of land, surveyors canprovide a major contribution inconflict resolution. Politicianshave to be aware of this: we havemade great efforts in this areaand the potential role of our pro-fession is more and more recog-nised worldwide. Another issueis the weak financial position ofsome of our members. But there

Surveyors and geodesists should play amore active role

high reputation, is attractive,and has a presence in over ahundred countries. We providestandards that improve the ef-ficiency of surveying servicesand embedding output data inspatial-data infrastructures. Weprovide guidelines for qualityof education and professionalethics. Ethically based commit-ment is so important! We bridgefields to get win-win situations;an important example is integra-tion between GIS, surveying andland management, and betweencadastre and land registrationas a basis for spatial-data infra-structures. We influence politi-cal decisions on national aspectsof surveying and developmentof land registry. We are repre-sented as a Non-GovernmentalOrganisation at UN meetings,as recently at the World UrbanForum in Vancouver, Canada.

You said in our earlier interview that

is patronage of rich members forpoor member applicants. I wouldsay that FIG is able to meet thedemands of international or na-tional communities, state agen-cies and universities. FIG expertsare frequently consulted by UNagencies and by national institu-tions.

You mention the United Nations, theWorld Urban Forum in Vaneouverheld in June of this year. How eanand does the profession eontributeto good governanee and poverty al-leviation?

It has been recognised world-wide that the land issue is essen-tial for sustainable development.We have a strong commitment,especially to Africa, in this re-spect. Secure land ten ure andland administration, using mod-em technology, is of vital impor-tance and a real challenge for ourprofession worldwide. This

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INTERVIEW

'-J.Prof Magel, accompanied by his wife, Mrs Ansi Magel,

at the gala dinner in Accra during the FIG RegionalConference 2006. The work of the president would not have been

possible without her support.

was the focus of attention at ourregional conference in Accra,Ghana, this year: the theme was'promoting land administrationand good governance'. We helplocal organisations to build ca-pacity. We advise polities, politi-cians and the public at globaland national level. Indigenousapproaches with respeet to cus-tomary rights are relevant; this isa view now shared by the survey-ing profession. Good governanceis based on good land admin-istration. This needs both civilsociety and committed profes-sionals attentive to pro-poor ap-proaches and to gendering landtools. We are happy to be a part-ner in the UN-HABITAT 'GlobalLand Tool Network'. FIG has theobligation to contribute to moreeffeetive, efficient and equitableland-governance modeis basedon gendered and pro-poor landtools. Further, I want to stressthat FIG is strongly committedto the Millennium DevelopmentGoals. FIG has become one ofthe main civil-society partnersof UN-HABITAT as a leadingumbrella organisation of all ex-perts in land, land survey, landmanagement, security of ten-ure issues, valuation and spatialplanning. FIG is a member of theUN Habitat Professionals Forum,the umbrella organisation for allplanners. I am even currentlychair of this global and, as I onceagain experienced at WUF 3 in

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Vancouver, well respeeted asso-ciation. FIG also has strong linkswith FAO, UNEp, UNECA, to theUN Office for Outer Space Af-fairs and to the World Bank. Oneaspeet of the utmost importancein terms of this co-operation is toencourage more extensive pro-fessional-surveyor support fordisaster management.

The association of surveyors in TheNetherlands is joined with otherdisciplines. Co-operation with otherdisciplines is surely essential,given thechallengesposed by land management,disaster management and land devel-opment?

Yes.That's why FIG played suchan important role in the estab-lishment of the Joint Board ofGeospatial Information SocietiesaB GIS), which I have the hon-our to have been chairing sincelast year. JBGIS is a coalition ofleading international geospatialsocieties that ean speak on be-half of the geospatial professionat international level, especiallyto the United Nations and otherglobal stakeholders. This boardco-ordinates activities within thegeospatial society and organi-sations (ed. The Joint Board ofGeospatial Information Socie-ties currently includes amongits members the lAG, ICA, FIG,IHO, IMTA, ISCGM and ISPRS).It is very common now for rep-resentatives of these bodies togive keynote presentations atour international events. Duringthe Munich Congress there wiIlbe close co-operation betweenFIG and the International As-sociation of Geodesy (lAG) Sym-posium on Geodetic ReferenceFrames. Strong relationshipswith all geo-related disciplineshave been developed and will befurther developed. We hop e thatwe ean initiate some politicallyorientated aetions, such as lettersto PM Tony Blair or Germany'sPresident Prof. Kohler in relationto support for capacity buildingin Africa.

And the development of our ownprofession?

The FIG definition of 'surveyor'has been renewed and widenedin line with the vision that sur-veyors cover responsibility from

"the single parcel up to the plaiMars" and FIG General Assem-bly in 2004 adopted this. That'srelevant in relation to the iden-tity of the surveyor. I'm happywith such a broad definition. Thenumber of academic members israpidly growing: today eighty ae-ademic organisations from aboutfifty countries are members. TheFIG surveying-education data-base provides a comprehensiveoverview on education. FIG isa member of the InternationalCouncil for Science. Our Stan-dards Network provides contri-butions to the development ofstandards not only for surveyinginstruments but also on issuessuch as valuation, geographicinformation, professional cer'fication and cadastre. These L....

velopments are of crucial impor-tance for the future; we ean seethe benefits of standardisationin many areas. Principles, guide-lines, declarations as publishedin FIG publications are used andadopted worldwide.

Do politicians recognise the impor-tance of the role of the surveyor incontributing to solving many worldproblems?

In general I observe during myvisits much better recognition ofthe profession today. But we haveto remain engaged, especially inorder to increase the awarenessof politicians and the public! Oruessential question is whether vneed pure specialists in niche;or, as I repeat again and again,"well-grounded specialised gen-eralists". I'm deeply convincedthat only specialised generalists- and not specialised experts -ean reach the new fields we havediscussed: aetive contributions toplanning and development de-cisions, confliet resolution, andpro-poor land management, in-du ding disaster and environ-mental-risk management. FIGhas the responsibility to forwardthese topics on to the academicagenda: in faet that's what wewill be doing at our Congressin Munich in October. Last butnot least: our congresses, work-ing weeks, regional conferences.and activities developed by oten commissions provide a com-prehensive set of documentationrelevant to the development of

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/tl. r>rofession in all its aspects.

What about students? I have noticedhow you personally engage with par-ticipating students during FIG events.

That's part of my life. As forprofessionals: PIG contributes bynetworking for students. This isone of the most relevant issuesfor PIG; it is about capacity build-ing and the future of the profes-sion in a rapidly changing world.Education should be focused notonly on modem surveying butalso on the whole environmentof neighbouring disciplines. Thiswill be the development in re-lation to globalisation; I expectmany of our students of todayt ' working internationally to-mlJLfOW.We have a special'stu-dents offer' for our Congress inMunich. International experi-

vironmental problems. We needopen-minded leaders, especiallydirectors of survey authoritiesand decision-makers. We needa strong education system, withinspired and optimally educat-ed students. We need excellentteachers who themselves shouldbe well-grounded, specialisedgeneralists and even 'wise men'.We need strong links with theUN, the World Bank and otherinternational organisations so asto be able to serve society in con-tributing to solutions. We need tocreate a win-win situation by re-specting our diverse disciplines.Within the land sector, we needto develop from the present situ-ation of separate organisationstowards single land-sector agen-cies with committed employeesand transparent procedures. Weneed balance between the pri-

We have to attract students and youngprofessionals to FIG

ence is of vital importance forthe next generation of surveyors.We have to do even more toattract students and young pro-fessionals to FIG. It is a survivalstrategy for us!

What do you see as the biggest suc-cess of your term of office?

We have so much importantwo.rl<to do if we look at urbanal rural development, mega-cities with informal settlements,urban-rural interrelationships,increasing poverty and scarcefood and water resources; natu-ral resources in general, and en-

vate and the public sector. Weneed courageous entrepreneursin survey companies. I look backover four years ago during whichthe profession has booked enor-mous progress: Earth observa-tion, geodetic reference frame-works, GIS and GNSS are makingdramatic advances, so relevantin contributing to solutions. Anoutstanding feature of the lastfour years has been the dramaticincrease in land-managementpolicy and politics around theworld. This represents a hugechance for our profession! I'mhappy and feel privileged thatmy excellent team (council, of-

President Magel with Chiefs from Ghana at the FIG regional conferencein Accra in March 2006.

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INTE.RVIE.W

Achievements of Holger Magel's FIG Presidency• Increased membership of associations, with about

twenty new organisations aside from an increase inacademics; FIG now represented in over a hundredcountries.

• Stabilisation in FIG's financial situation and per-spectives.

• Remarkable improvement in internal communication;for example, by regular president's lellers, FIG news-lellers and monthly article in international journal(GIM International).

• Professionalisation of FIG conferenees; for example,by introducing president's opening and summary clos-ing speeches.

• Tremendous improvement in FIG PR work; for exam-pie, by publication of regular interviews, articles andreports.

• Wonderful coming together with our geodetic familymembers, especially lAG, ISPRSand ICA.

• Successful restructuring of FIG office and FIG director'srole as a basis for coping with the role of the organi-sation as it has evolved over the post decade fromhaving the character of an association of amateursto a highly professionally driven and eperated globalbusiness - and the speed ef change is even increasing!

fice and commissions) and my-self have been able to contributewith PIG to the development ofcivil society and to a better rec-ognition of the profession. I amproud that our 'German Coun-cil' could fulfil its visions andmissions according to our motto"shaping the change". ane re-

I sometimes joke, uFIG is theUN's little brother"!

markable step forward has beenthe increase in member associa-tions. We now have about twentynew organisations aside from theaforementioned increase in aca-demics. PIG is now representedin over a hundred countries.Explaining PIG to politicians Isometimes joke,"PIG is the UN'slittle brother"!

Now I look forward to a majorevent in my hometown of Mu-nich. I hop e many new friend-ships will be made and I hop emany will be motivated and willtake responsibility for building abetter and more peaceful world.ar, as the survey students ofGhana expressed their commit-ment in their GESA anthem, tomaking the world 'a happy placeto stay'.

Holger Mage/, president, FIG,Lindevangs Alle 4, 2000 Frederiks-berg, Denmark, e-mail: fig@fig.net

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