Category: government

## **Partnership for Action** : Information ecosystem for land governance 

## **Date:** 

17-18 March 2018 

## **Venue:** 

Washington (National Union Building) 

## **Organizers:** 

Land Portal Foundation, LandMark, Resource Equity & Habitat for Humanity. 

## **Group size:** 

Up to 50 participants 

## **Background** 

It is widely understood that effective use of land, the sustainable production of food and development are linked. Yet, creating effective policy, which takes into account broader notions such as economic prosperity and social justice, especially in the context of competing claims to land use and title, still presents significant challenges. The difficulties are compounded by the fragmented nature of information resources about land. 

There are many sources of information about land, but their visibility, accessibility, consistency and completeness vary enormously. Finding solid evidence upon which to base policy and practice involves a lot of work.  Policy progress on land governance is threatened by lack of good information. Now, more than ever, it is paramount that awareness is raised amongst key policy makers on the importance of information sharing, knowledge management and, more specifically the power of an information ecosystem. 

Land rights are finally at a point of global attention. With several land-related indicators included in the Sustainable Development Goals, the land sector has the unique opportunity to create an unprecedented momentum around land tenure issues and bring it higher on the (national) political and international development agenda. Now is a crucial moment for the land sector to work together effectively and share knowledge about land rights issues with key and wider audiences, as well as with one another. Increasing access to information will connect the global and the local across different continents and different sectors. 

Now - as the official process around the Sustainable Development Goals is beginning - it is critical that the land sector works together effectively. The Land Portal Foundation and partners* invite key stakeholders to participate in a two-day workshop in Washington D.C., to create an active partnership to increase access to information and contribute to the information ecosystem on land. Through inclusive discussions, we will determine the most effective way forward to expand the information ecosystem in a range of sources, but also in its value and use.  We need to ensure that the link between this information ecosystem and improved tenure security for vulnerable people around the world, is effectively made. 

**Target audience** 

The target audience for this workshop will be information providers, both from a global and local level. We intend to invite two types of people, namely a manager/professional user of information and a communications officer / website manager. 

## **Objectives of the Workshop** 

- **Identify information gaps** (gaps in existence, accessibility or abilities to re-use) with regards to concrete land rights issues; 

- Collectively raising awareness and building capacities of participants to **increase access to information and use it** in order to address identified land rights issues; 

- Collectively raising awareness and building capacities of communications participants **to gather and communicate knowledge** to reach a wider impact and be part of and promote the information ecosystem; 

- Collectively having participants **implement and adopt action plan** and become part of the information ecosystem. 

## **Envisioned Outcomes** 

- Concrete action plan on how to address identified information gaps and plan to monitor impact of activities; 

- Commitments of participants to be part of the information ecosystem and make efforts to increase access to their own information; 

- Communications campaigns on advocating for the importance of the information ecosystem; 

- Creating a community of communicators on this subject, that can remain in contact to further share their knowledge and expertise. 

## **Preliminary Outline of the Workshop** 

The workshop will be designed around three main themes and the information gaps that exist in these particular areas of land rights issues. The three themes are **Urban Tenure; Women’s Land Rights and; Customary and Community Land Rights** . Each of these themes will be lead by a coorganizer of the workshop. 

During the two-day workshop, the participants will be introduced to the concept of the information ecosystem and its potential as a means to improve land governance. The communications officers will learn about how to gather and communicate knowledge practically as well as to promote the information ecosystem more widely. It will have two consequent effects: creating a community of communicators who see the value and importance of communicating knowledge for wider use and impact. The managers will work around concrete land rights issues in relation to the themes, identify gaps in information with regards to these themes and work out concrete steps that can be taken to address these gaps and addressing the issues. 



Question: When and where was the Partnership for Action land-governance workshop held, who organized it, and what three thematic areas structured the agenda?
Answer: It was held 17–18 March 2018 in Washington (National Union Building), organized by the Land Portal Foundation, LandMark, Resource Equity, and Habitat for Humanity. The three themes were Urban Tenure, Women’s Land Rights, and Customary and Community Land Rights.