24th FIG General Assembly, Seoul 2001
Appendices



Appendix to item 28.3

Report for the 24th General Assembly
FIG Working Week in Seoul, 6-11 May 2001

TASK FORCE ON MUTUAL RECOGNITION OF QUALIFICATIONS

General

Over the last year the Task Force has been focused on developing a suitable approach to Mutual Recognition tailored for the surveying profession. The strategy has been to develop a model suitable to the European region. The outcome of these efforts should then form the basis for developing a world wide model. A European model was developed for presentation at the joint FIG/CLGE seminar in Delft, The Netherlands, 3rd November 2000. The seminar attracted some 50 participants representing the educational sector and surveying community on the European region. The outcome of the seminar is reported on in the March issue of the FIG Bulletin and the final report of seminar, will be disseminated by the end of April 2001.

In parallel the Task Force has been working on developing a more global model and the structure for the final report to be adopted at the GA during the FIG Congress in Washington in April 2001. The Task Force is grateful to Dr. Frances Plimmer, UK, who has acted as secretary to the workshop and produced some very valuable papers and input. In conclusion, the profile of Task Force is coming well together, and we are looking forward to discuss the key issues and the structure for the final report during the sessions at the General Assembly in Soul. The profile and the key material of the Task Force can be found on the home page on the FIG web site.

Terms of Reference

Recognising the international market pressures and the regulations towards liberation of trade driven by the WTO, FIG should review the area of mutual recognition of qualifications within the world-wide surveying community and develop a framework for introduction of standards of global professional competence in this area. In pursuing this aim the task force will:

  • Undertake regional studies to investigate existing agreements of mutual recognition and reciprocity.
  • Develop guidelines for assurance of competence for entering the surveying profession, e.g. educational requirements and requirements for professional practice.
  • Develop guidelines for the establishment of agreements of mutual recognition and reciprocity, including standards for quality assurance in surveying education and standards for adaptation criteria with regard to professional practice.
  • Develop a concept and a framework for implementation of threshold standards of global professional competence in surveying.

The task force will develop a framework for reviewing the benefits and barriers against introducing standards for global professional competence. This should be seen as only a first step in this direction, to reflect FIG´s aim to drive these developments instead of being driven by them.

The output of the Task Force should be a report on global professional competence to be adopted by the General Assembly in Washington 2002. The report will be published in the FIG publication series for the benefit of member associations and in support of the on-going interaction between FIG and other NGOs such as the WTO and UNESCO.

Members of the task force are: Stig Enemark, Denmark (chair); Frances Plimmer, UK (secretary); Tom Kennie, UK (Vice-President of FIG); John Parker, Australia; Pedro Cavero, Spain; Davis Coleman, Canada; Heinz Reuther, South Africa; Vaclav Slaboch, Czech Republic; Teo Chee Hai, Malaysia.

Main Activities
  • Co-operation with the WTO headquarters in Geneva. This includes exchange of information and relevant material regarding production of guidelines for mutual recognition in the service sector. The Task Force Chair maintains a regular and direct contact with the WTO officials.
  • A research project has been carried out by Dr. Frances Plimmer to investigate the nature of Mutual Recognition in the European Region. The research was funded by CLGE and undertaken in co-operation with the FIG task force on Mutual Recognition. The objectives of this research were to develop a methodology to assess professional competence for the different areas of surveying and to develop threshold standards of professional competence for the different areas of surveying. The preliminary results were discussed at the joint FIG/CLGE seminar held in Delft, The Netherlands, 3rd November 2000. The final results will be presented in final report from the seminar to be published by the end of April 2001
  • The outcome from this joint FIG/CLGE seminar should form the basis the development of a world-wide model. This is developed in parallel and the key issues will be developed in the paper on Mutual Recognition to be presented in Seoul. These issues as well as a draft for the structure of the final Task Force report will be discussed at a working session in Seoul.
  • Development of the aim and the profile of the task force report. The report will be based on the papers produced by the Task Force. These papers are available at Task Force home page at the FIG web site. Furthermore, the report should include a number of case studies from around the world to present the problems as well as best practice in the area of Mutual Recognition. And finally, it should also include a FIG policy statement that will be developed for adoption by the Bureau.

Globalisation of services is not a threat. It should be seen as an opportunity and as a demand for FIG to develop new means and tools to meet the challenges of the future. The principle has been established and we have the change to develop a framework which suits us. We should take it.


Prof. Stig Enemark
Chair of FIG Task Force on Mutual Recognition of Qualifications
Email: enemark@land.aau.dk

23 February 2001



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