Kadaster International won the Empowering Community Award at the Geospatial World Forum

This month the Geospatial World announced and presented its annual Geospatial Leadership Awards at Geospatial World Forum. These awards acknowledge exceptional leadership, innovation, and transformation efforts made by individuals and organizations in the geospatial industry.

This year, the awards were drawn from open nominations and selected by a panel of jury comprising eminent industry stalwarts: Greg Scott, Inter-Regional Advisor, UN-GGIM (Chair); Lena Halounova, President, ISPRS; Nadine Alameh, CEO, Open Geospatial Consortium; Basanta Shrestha, Former Director of Strategic Cooperation, ICIMOD; and Derek Clarke, Former Chief Director, Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, South Africa.

Kadaster International won the Empowering Community Award for its Land in Peace project work. Kadaster International has been working with Colombia institutions to contribute to implementing the Peace Agreement in Colombia, focusing on Fit-for-Purpose land administration. By cooperating with Colombian-Dutch governmental institutions, academia, and the commercial sector to develop the needed technologies and train local communities, Kadaster has simplified land administration processes and empowered farmers and indigenous communities. The project has directly impacted the land administration at a local and national level. The Colombian National Land Agency has implemented the Fit-for-Purpose approach to update municipal cadastres in several regions.

Many grassroots surveyors have supported cadastral actualization activities in different parts of the country, and several indigenous youngsters were trained to support their community. This award is for them and all the Colombian institutions who work towards guaranteeing land tenure.