Humanitarian surveyors can make a difference globally

Land Journal: Tell us about the Volunteer Community Surveyor Program (VCSP), and the Wisdom Workshop you attended recently.

Tim Burch: The VCSP was started by the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Young Surveyors Network (YSN) in partnership with the UN Habitat Global Land Tool Network. The Wisdom Workshop was a two-day conference earlier this year that looked at tools and modern approaches for land-based community problems, and there were more than 120 participants worldwide. They represented a great cross-section of the young surveying community, who recognised that a lot of effort is needed in developing countries to achieve some of the things we take for granted in the developed world, such as a living wage secure job and home environments, secure tenure, strong land management systems and policies, potable water and utilities.

LJ: What sort of experiences do volunteer surveyors have?

TB: These volunteers are taking on so much when they go into developing countries. As well as climate change impacts and other natural disasters, they can come into contact with local gangs or factions that take over the areas where they're working.

On the other hand, volunteers can benefit from accessing whatever local people know – for instance, from this creek to this tree line to this roadway belongs to a particular person, and there's a government-backed document to say as much. We have the technology to map this easily through GPS, even on our phones, and to digitise it all using GIS and global navigation satellite systems.

There's a good number of surveyors, from recent graduates up to 40-year-olds, who want to volunteer. The workshop covered how they could do so, not just in terms of technology but the human side of working with local residents, and what to expect in terms of culture, religion and behaviour.

If you walk into a village in Nepal or Eastern Africa as a middle-aged white man, you don't look like anyone there. They don't know you and their communication cues are different – unlike First World countries they rely heavily on body language and facial expressions, so why would they trust you? The workshop covered those communication skills, and how best to win locals' trust.

LJ: What are the aims and aspirations of the VCSP?

TB: It is a big programme that needs a lot more people – not only young people but older people who can mentor. It's everyone's problem and we all need to help.

The other part is developing systems. The way we inventory land in the US and in Europe using cadastre and collecting information, then entering it on a database to track it accurately, might not work in these areas.

So the parcel systems and data collection processes that local surveyors with limited resources have devised might not be as sophisticated as in developed countries, but they reflect what's needed when mapping these small occupied regions.

And it's not just about ownership. You need to see whether there are any utilities such as wells that need to be protected, or features such as drainage ditches or local governing agency buildings, to be able to map them.

So the programme has been creating these opportunities for partnering with local communities to build an organised cadastre from the ground up. This doesn't only concern land itself – it's about people and resources, giving communities who have never had these tools and information more encouragement and empowering them to organise and improve their lives. By mapping they could take the data and analyse, say, run-off from the mountains to check that it's safe to drink. There are huge social benefits to this.

Sustainable, safer environments shouldn't just be an expectation in developed countries. We are all citizens of this world, and we need to be able to take care of everyone. I applaud the young surveyors helping to achieve this – their work has opened my eyes.

LJ: Could you explain how the US network developed?

TB: The FIG YSN started in 2011, and the National Society of Professional Surveyors (NSPS) began a US network in 2014. A couple of young surveyors had the idea of putting this together with the backing of the global network.

The global programme has grown from a couple of dozen people initially to more than 120, and they are getting interest from people who want to use the benefits of their knowledge and education and experience to help humankind. Through connections with the UN, the group is better educated on where help is needed most.

LJ: How does the volunteering work?

TB: It takes a dedicated person to volunteer, and not just from a financial standpoint. Lots of people have the desire to help, and this is a way for them to go to developing countries and make a significant difference. The experiences these volunteers have during the program is similar to other outreach efforts where the humanitarian relief is personally satisfying to those who are participating.

It would be great if larger companies such as Leica, Trimble, Esri or Autodesk could set up a sponsorship scheme or grants for their employees who wanted to volunteer for a month, because as well as doing the right thing, the companies themselves will benefit from positive publicity and ethical actions by companies will influence their employees, clients and customers to follow their lead.

LJ: What did you learn from the workshop?

TB: It made me think that even here in the US, where everything is easy to survey, there are no warlords, gangs or wild animals but when I go out to survey on the south side of Chicago then I'm also walking into a village where I don't look like anyone else.

So I have to earn people's trust, because even though I'm just there to do a job, I'm in their world and I have to honour that. Those of us in an older, male-dominated profession need to bear that in mind especially. Even on an everyday survey you need a humanitarian sense, you need empathy.

Not everyone will want to go to map a village in Kenya, say. But as you do your job, remember who you are and where you came from. Not everyone out there is exactly like you. Take that into consideration as you work. We all have the power to make a difference every day and to be a little better if we try.

Related competencies include: Cadastre and land administration, Legal/regulatory compliance, Surveying and mapping