News in 2022

FIG and the Sustainable Development Goals - Commission

January, 2022

FIG Task Force on FIG and the Sustainable Development Goals together with the ten Commissions have worked on their role on the sustainable development goals relevant for their Commission.

Commission Chair David Mitchell gives his Statement on the sustainable development goals in relation to Commission 2 - Professional Education

Commission 2 focuses on innovative and effective professional education and training for surveyors. That makes SDG Goal 4 "ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all" the most relevant to the work of Commission 2. As we focus on higher education the following targets are particularly relevant:

  • Target 4.3: By 2030, ensure equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education, including university
  • Target 4.5: By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable including persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples and children in vulnerable situations
  • Target 4.7: By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development
How do you include the SDG's in your daily work?

The indicators under Targets 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 provide some guidance on how Commission 2 can support meeting the overall Goal 4. Our work focusses on making higher education more accessible for all potential surveying students therefore supporting participation and this is a key focus of Working Group 1 on regional academic networks. Working Group 2 also seeks to support education for sustainable development in conjunction with the other commissions.

  • Indicator 4.3.1: Participation rate of youth and adults in formal and non-formal education and training in the previous 12 months, by sex
  • Indicator 4.5.1: Parity indices (female/male, rural/urban, bottom/top wealth quintile and others such as disability status, indigenous peoples and conflict-affected, as data become available) for all education indicators on this list that can be disaggregated
  • Indicator 4.7.1: Extent to which (i) global citizenship education and (ii) education for sustainable development are mainstreamed in (a) national education policies; (b) curricula; (c) teacher education; and (d) student assessment
What are inspiring examples of how FIG members and delegates have contributed to the achievement of the SDGs (e.g. refer to a paper, project or publication)?

A key Commission 2 session focusing on the SDGs at the FIG e-Working Week 2021 was the session run by Commission 2 working group 1 - "02.1 - Regional Academic Networks: Lessons from COVID-19 for SDG Goal 4 (education)". This session had the highest attendance for any session at the event. Proceedings can be accessed via this link

Speakers session run by Commission 2 during FIG e-Working Week

What can FIG do (more) to privide leadership and raise awareness on the SDG's?

Delegates of Commission 2 are finalising a report on Blended Learning for Surveying Education and this will be published next year. Blended learning is a key strategy in making education more widely available and accessible to all - especially in countries where acccess to major cities to study is difficult for many people. Surveying academic institutions are supporting the development of blended learning and tremendous progress has been made in the last 2 years. FIG will continue to support the Surveying education community to mainstream global citizenship education and education for sustainable development into education policies.

David Mitchell and Paula Dijkstra
January 2022