LANDac, the Netherlands Land Academy, is a partnership between Dutch organisations and their Southern partners working on land governance for equitable and sustainable development. The LANDac network brings together actors, conducts research, and distributes information, focusing on new pressures and competing claims on land and natural resources.
Governing land for the future What (r)evolutions do we need? Welcome to the LANDac International Conference of 2022! 29 June – 1 July We are now pleased to invite abstract submissions for the LANDac Annual International Conference 2022…. Read More
Learn MoreThe Professional Learning Network In 2019, LANDac launched the Professional Learning Network on Land Governance and Field Mediation. The programme brings together professionals working on sustainable and/or inclusive land governance in a community of practice. While working at… Read More
Learn MoreThe LANDdialogue The LANDdialogue is a multi-stakeholder initiative that aims to improve global land governance through strengthening the practical application and monitoring of improvement measures by Dutch companies, the Dutch government, knowledge institutes and NGOs, in line with… Read More
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The LANDac Annual International Conference offers a podium for knowledge exchange between researchers, practitioners and private sector representatives working on land governance for equitable and sustainable development. Anticipating that restrictions for travel and large-scale events will still be in place, the LANDac Annual International Conference 2022 will be held in a hybrid format. This year’s conference ‘Governing land for the future – what (r)evolutions do we need?’ focuses on the future of land governance. More than a decade into the ‘land grab’ debate it is time to ask ourselves some tough questions: What have our efforts to regulate land-based investments brought us? Where did we manage to make land governance work for equity and sustainability and where did we fail? From the outset some of us were more optimistic and others more pessimistic about the possibility to ensure fair outcomes. Today, however, most would agree that whatever successes have been achieved, these have not been able to change the overall pattern of dispossession, inequality and resource depletion. Have land governance interventions just been scratching the surface? At the 13th LANDac Annual Conference, we need to discuss what it takes to address today’s and tomorrow’s land issues. Do we need further evolution of current approaches, or rather a revolution in land governance thinking? This is an urgent question. While the early wave of mega land deals seems to have waned, on the ground alienation and dispossession continue unabated, if in more diverse and stealthy ways. Pressures on land and other natural resources seem to be increasing, authoritarianism is omnipresent, and the violence against territorial defenders and human rights activists is increasingly worrying. As we review our efforts to address these issues the question arises: Should we tune the instruments at our disposal (“evolution”)? Or do we need a more radical re-think (“revolution”)? Every summer, LANDac organises the ‘Land Governance for Development’ Summer School in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This year, the Summer School will take place from 4 – 15 july. Due to ongoing uncertainties, we aim to organise this edition in a hybrid format. Background Land governance in developing countries must deal with the multiple pressures and competing claims, whilst balancing economic growth, environmental protection and social justice. This course provides a multidisciplinary analysis of the ‘land rush’ within the more general context of land governance in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We will look at the history and drivers of the process; the diversity of stakeholders and networks involved; and the global policy instruments of which inclusive land governance is an integral feature, such as the Sustainable Development Goals and the New Urban Agenda; as well as highlighting the urgency of current challenges and discussing innovative governance solutions. The course The lectures in the two-week course provide a general overview of important themes such as the global land rush, land governance, land administration and land issues in post-conflict situations. The group assignment will complement this general overview by illustrating the issues and trends in specific contexts through case study analyses.
On 11 May 2012, CFS endorsed the Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the Context of National Food Security (CFS VGGT) to promote legitimate land tenure rights particularly those of the most marginalized and vulnerable. The Guidelines provide a framework that countries can use when developing their own strategies, policies and legislations.
To commemorate the 10th year anniversary of the CFS VGGT, CFS and FAO will jointly organize a high-level event to:
The large-scale acquisition of land in the Global South – often referred to as “land grabbing” or “the global land rush” – has received much attention from academics, policy-makers and the media in recent years. Especially following the food crisis (2003-2008) and stimulated by the growing demand for bio-energy, pressure on land in developing countries has intensified. Besides the demand for agricultural land, current land acquisitions are also related to tourism development, mineral extraction, industrial development, urbanisation and even nature conservation. Local populations are often left defenceless in this ‘rush for land’ and governments lack capacity to address these challenges – or are sometimes themselves the drivers. As a result, access to and use of land and other natural resources, particularly in the developing world, is being transformed irreversibly. Moreover, COVID-19 and the measures taken worldwide to curb the pandemic are of great concern to the land governance community, as alarming observations are coming in about the loss of livelihoods and deepening poverty, but also of government crackdowns on civil society, the suspension of land administration services and irregular land acquisition.
Topics are discussed in interactive lectures, as well as within a group assignment. The design of the course allows for participants to closely work together with professionals, experts and fellow students from a variety of backgrounds. Topics are discussed from a range of perspectives, with contributions from Dutch and international academics as well as development practitioners.