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Message from the Land Portal Team Leader

Dear Friends, 

In November 2019 the Land Portal celebrates its 10th anniversary. We started off a decade ago as a small UN partnership project, working to get the highly dispersed information on land onto one easy to use platform.  In the ten years that have passed since then, our mission and vision have matured. We have grown from being ‘simply’ a gateway to better access land data and information that is fragmented across the web, to a trusted knowledge broker that makes a difference by emphasizing data use and impact.  

While we are still a small and dedicated team of professionals working from around the Globe, we now welcome over 50,000 visitors a month to our platform, hailing from 231 countries.  The ultimate outcome we are working for is an open and inclusive information ecosystem that connects all actors.  This information helps to support informed decision and policy making and increases transparency and accountability on land governance issues.  Our growing community of visitors and users are at the core of this information ecosystem.  

Our newest strategy, now in effect, is a direct product our visitors feedback, emanating from a survey which took place last spring, as well as a recent evaluation report carried out by Wageningen University.  Put simply, survey and evaluation respondents appreciated the Land Portal for being a strong communicator and connector in the land domain and for being a one stop shop for those looking for information related to land, especially when related to our country portfolios.  Where they felt our work could improve, however, was going beyond the static data which we present, that often remains confined by national borders.  Our users want data that they can interact with, that moves beyond the national level to include a wider variety of perspectives, and data that can help them to influence positive change.  We have taken note of this and have woven it carefully throughout our new strategy: 

• INFORM serves to not only make data and information more accessible in the vast and scattered world wide web, but we also put extra emphasis on repackaging, visualizating, storytelling.  The Land Portal tries to democratize the information landscape and open up the meaning of data and information to an audience beyond data scientists and analysts. To this end, we have started ‘storifying’ through innovative data stories, which serve to explain the meaning behind the data. 

• OPEN plays a critical role in making the data ecosystem more inclusive.   It is a fact that people in the global South do not have equal opportunities to access land data and information, nor in achieving similar visibility when sharing knowledge.  Our State of Land Information reports (SOLI) have the goal to uncover local information ecosystems. We work with local partners to scope the information landscape, as well as address the accessibility of the data and information. This is followed by targeted capacity building workshop,intended to strengthen the local data ecosystem, make local knowledge sharing practices stronger, reinforce local networks and make people aware of the body of knowledge they have in their countries and how to best use it.

• DEBATE means we will promote, inform and enrich the global debate and practice on key land issues while raising the visibility of national, regional and international partners.  The main challenge that we aim to overcome is that discussions around land governance exclude grassroots voices. Our response has been to create virtual meeting spaces where all voices can be heard. This includes media partnerships, webinars and online debates and impact stories.  

Finally, perhaps the most significant project we have undertaken and which connects all three of our Pillars is the Land Portal’s soon to be launched GeoPortal.  The GeoPortal will be accessible and usable, geared specifically to non-GIS experts. It provides an opportunity for all those interested in land related data, not just highly trained researchers, to interact with data in its spatial format. Data to be browsed and visualized will transcend national borders, moving beyond country boundaries and focusing on State or district level information. Our aim with this GeoPortal is to move away from siloed and top-down approaches to data and to democratize information.  

I invite you to read our strategy and to get involved in helping us to build a vibrant and sustainable land information ecosystem. We will soon be launching a 10th anniversary campaign to fund this ambitious strategy. 

The success that we have achieved these past ten years could not have been accomplished without the steadfast support of our donors, partners and supporters.  I sincerely look forward to what the future has in store!

Warm regards,

Laura Meggiolaro

Land Portal Team Leader

Highlights

Call for Board Members

2019 Conference on Land Policy in Africa 

Interview with Joan Kagwanja, Chief of the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC)

VOICES ON LAND CORRUPTION IN AFRICA

Interview with Mino Ramaroson from the Huairou Commission

TODAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

TOP TWEETS

LEADING VOICES

PERSPECTIVES FROM THE GROUND

Audace Kubwimana, Coordinator of ILC Africa

Sam Szoke Burke, Legal Researcher at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)

Samuel Nguiffo, Secretaire General, Centre pour l'Environnement et le Developpement

In the last ten years, the Land Portal has grown from being ‘simply’ a gateway to better access land data and information that is fragmented across the web, to a trusted knowledge broker that makes a difference by emphasizing data use and impact. In this time, we have accompanied our users to interact with land data in the ways that suit them best. We have told data stories, so that easily digestible content and context behind land and property rights data can be provided. We have created country and issue portfolios, so that data can be understood in the national or thematic context. Land, by its very nature however, is place-based. One entry point which we had yet to make available to our users was land data in its spatial form. 

This all changes today! We are now pleased to announce the beta launch of the Land Portal’s Geoportal. The Geoportal responds not only to our user’s repeated requests to go beyond country borders with our data, but is also a natural progression in our mission to democratize the land data ecosystem. Making sense of polygons and spatial coordinates is mostly left to data scientists and geographers. But what about non-GIS experts? For them, visualizing data on a map will help in understanding and digesting data more easily. They are now being given a tool with which to do this.  

Join the Land Portal at the Conference on Land Policy in Africa (CLPA)!

Join us for a webinar:
Building a Land Information Ecosystem in India

Date: Thursday, February 20th, 2020
Time: 14:00-15:30 / 9:00-10:30 CET
 

Join us for a webinar co-hosted by the Center for Policy Research (CPR), the Land Portal Foundation, the NRMC Center for Land Governance, Omidyar Network India and Thomson Reuters Foundation in the context of the 4th India Land and Development Conference (ILDC) 2020.

An information ecosystem is an extremely vast and cluttered space. What data exist? What data is up to date? What data is reliable? Who owns the data? Can I use the data without inflicting harm? Who are the data subjects? Many people across numerous sectors struggle with such questions and more on a daily basis. The land governance sector in India is no different. But somehow, it seems the land data ecosystem in India is more complex and controversial.

In this country with 1.3 billion inhabitants, living across 29 states and 7 union territories, land is an important source of identity, a symbol of social status and foundation for rural power in India, often carrying significant emotional attachment. With a long history, diverse geography and pluralistic culture, land governance has evolved in India through communal, imperial, feudal, colonial and modern systems, gradually moving towards individualization and conclusive titling. Where land is a topic governed by the State governments, forest land is a topic for the federal government. This complicated legal, economic and social structure in which land is governed, is also reflected in the complexity of its land data and information ecosystem.

Lack of equal access to information and a lack of reliable or usable information has been identified to be one of the many challenges in creating effective land governance systems. This webinar will address these challenges and need to build a functioning information ecosystem on land in the country.

Moderator: 

• Rina Chandran, Thomson Reuters Foundation

Speakers: 

• Pranab Choudhury, NRMC / Center for Land Governance

• Namita Wahi, Center for Policy Research

• Shreya Deb, Omidyar Network India

Register for the webinar now! 

Data Story: Rethinking Informal Settlements in Pre-Apartheid, Apartheid and Post-Apartheid South Africa

This data story takes readers through a history of 100 years of informal settlements in South Africa, giving them insights into informal settlements before and during apartheid, the post-apartheid response to informal settlements and the current understanding of informal settlements in South Africa.  

This data story was written in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa and was created using ESRI story maps.  
 

>> CLICK HERE TO READ MORE <<

Data Story
South Africa's Move Towards Spatial Transformation: A look Into Trends in Land Market Data 

In South Africa, land ownership still continues to be skewed towards a minority, with the majority of the population not having ownership.  The South African government seeks to address the legacy of apartheid by devising regulations which focus on land redistribution, restitution and reform.This story gives you insights into three of South Africa's major metropolitan areas and their respective responses to spatial transformation programmes and regulations

This data story was written in partnership with the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) South Africa and was created using ESRI story maps.  

>> CLICK HERE TO READ MORE <<

Unlocking the Land Data Ecosystem in South Africa

New Report delves into the State of Land Information (SOLI) in South Africa

Land governance in South Africa is a significant and complex political issue. The land information landscape reflects diversity of actors involved and extends from sophisticated statistical datasets and satellite imagery to local arguments for restitution based on oral records. 

This State of Land Information in South Africa report provides an overview of existing data and information on key land issues. Its aim is to uncover the great diversity of land data and information sources in South Africa. The report was produced using an original scoping and assessment methodology that builds on recognized international frameworks. 

• 67% of key land resources are available as statistical or geospatial data, not documents.
• The government of South Africa is the main provider of data (over 60%). 
• Datasets managed by Civil Society Organisations account for only 8% of the total resources identified, demonstrating that the State is the dominant player in this ecosystem and possibly suggesting that CSOs may need to invest more in making their data and information accessible to a wider audience. 
• While 75% of the land-related knowledge published online in South Africa is available for free, 40% of the resources identified have some kind of login barrier.

Save the Date: Webinar on Informal settlements and access to data in time of COVID: a case for sharing data for decision making - October 22nd, 3:00-4:30 PM SAST (CEST).

Data Story: A New Hope

This is the story of how dozens of communities in Mozambique are mapping and documenting their own land rights. "A New Hope" is the first prize winner of the Land Portal''s Second Data Story Contest, and is authored by the team at Terra Firma Mozambique.  

>> CLICK HERE TO READ MORE <<

Join the LANDac Online Encounter 2020

Despite the current COVID-19 pandemic, LANDac wishes to bring the global land governance community together to take stock of research, policy and practice from around the world, as well as to reflect on the current COVID-19 crisis, as alarming observations are coming in about the loss of livelihoods and deepening poverty, government crackdowns on civil society, the suspension of land administration services and irregular land acquisition.

Over the course of 5 days, between 29 June and 3 July (2PM - 4.30 PM CEST), we will offer you a vibrant program, including two keynote contributions, three webinars, various parallel sessions and opportunities for online networking and exchange. We are looking forward to fruitful discussions, webinars and online sessions, as well as virtual networking opportunities!

Registration

Voices of the LANDac Community

• The video should be a maximum of 30 seconds.
• Record your video horizontally
• Provide a brief introduction of yourself.
• Answer one of the following questions: Why are you part of the LANDac community? 
  Why will join the LANDac Online Encounter?
• Share your video with us at hello@landportal.info

Register now!