News in 2023

Global Surveyors Day:  FIG President Diane Dumashie invited by FGF to attend the 2023 Global Surveyors’ celebrations in Paris

21 March, 2023, Order of Expert Surveyors Regional office, Paris, France

2023 nominated Global Surveyors Jean-Baptiste Delambre and Pierre Méchain

FGF President Marc Vanderschueren (The Federation of French Speaking Surveyors) invited FIG President Diane Dumashie to attend the 2023 celebration of Global Surveyors Day held in Paris. To mark 2023 Global Surveyors Day, FGF nominated two French mathematicians and astronomers, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre (1749- 1822)astronomer, historian, and geodesist and Pierre François André Méchain (1744- 1804).

FGF President Marc Vanderschueren, FIG President Diane Dumashie, CLGE President Vladimir Krupa

Paris engineering icon Eifel Tower

The celebration event was kindly coordinated by  FGF who also collaborated with the Liaison Committee of European Surveyors (CLGE) and FIG.  It was organized and held at the Regional Council of the Order of Expert Surveyors of Paris (OGE- Paris) in partnership with the two French professional organizations: the Order of Expert Surveyors (OGE) and the Francophone Association of Topography (AFT)
Global Surveyors Day is an annual celebration to bring global recognition to the pioneers, individuals and industry who shaped the history of Earth measurement and who continue to be the foundation of the surveying community.

It is important that we reflect together in recognition of those whose shoulders we stand upon; because measurement is the foundation upon which our broad family of surveyor practices in land administration, land management and land governance has emerged. The global surveyors day compliments the work of the FIG Permanent International Institution for the History of Surveying and Measurement. Where the members continue to work tirelessly to document the history of our profession. 

We are all well aware that the issues of land administration and management are in the heart of the global 2030 agenda in terms of the sustainable development goals. And we as the professionals in the land, built environment and natural environment have a responsibility to respond to this global agenda and to contribute to improving the living conditions in our societies. So in the context of our reflections on the 21st march 2023, Jean-Baptiste Joseph Delambre  and Pierre François André Méchain are amongst the worthy pioneers with noteworthy contributions perhaps popularly remembered for their work as the inventors of the metric system.

Impressively, the day was formatted to include a small gathering in Paris involving the presenters, local surveyors and overseas guests as well as outreaching in different time zones, importantly organized in 2 sessions to ensure global participation. The first one at 8:00 am CET (essentially for the audience of the Asia-Pacific regions and Europe,) and the second one at 8:00 pm CET (for the audience of the Middle and Near East, Africa, Europe, South America and North America and Caribbean regions).

Presenters left to right: Jean-François Dalbin , Diane Dumashie, Françoise Duquenne (at front), Bertrand Juompan (at rear), Bernard Flacelière (at rear) , Marc Vanderschueren

The 1.5 hour program opened with welcome remarks from   President Marc Vanderschueren and FIG President Diane Dumashie  followed by well-articulated and impactful presentations.  These highlighted the historical context of Delambre & Méchain and their expedition stories complimenting the technical detail of measurements and, calculations.  Above all to bring a current day perspective of the impact on our work and global topics, we also heard about past and present resistance to the metric system. And, nicely leveraging on the parallel celebration of Women’s History month, (March) we heard and celebrate; Therese, Elizabeth and the Invisible Wise Women in the lives of our nominated Surveyors.  Definitely a call to us to identifying, from the past and celebrating other pioneering and path maker women in our  profession.

Rounding off nicely the event, closing statements were made by Vladimir Krupa, President of the Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (CLGE) Joseph Pascual, President of the Higher Council of the Order of Surveyors and Françoise Duquenne, President of the Association francophone de topographie (AFT).

Supper to celebrate Global surveyors day with colleagues who contribute so much to the survey profession

It was a great day meeting to celebrate surveyors day from our past history but also a celebration to meet with current members of our own surveyor network who contribute so much.

The day is increasingly becoming a recognition of surveyors in the past from around the world. FIG is pleased to support and acknowledges CLGE for initiating this annual event starting over a decade ago, originally as a European surveyor celebration it is now reaching out and identifying impactful surveyors from across the world. In 2022, the second Global Surveyor of the Year, after Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss in 2021.

The call to action is for all FIG member associations is to identify the legacies of their own national surveyors and to bring their names to the fore for both global surveyors day and documenting in the FIG permanent institution.

The detailed programme is available here: Global Surveyor's Day 2023 - Council of European Geodetic Surveyors (clge.eu)

Video communications are now available on the FGF website.

Read more about Global Surveyors Day celebrations

 

 

Diane Dumashie
4 April 2023