Introducing a series of guest posts by OKCon 2013 speakers that we will publish over the coming weeks. This first post is by Laura Meggiolaro, Land Portal Coordinator, International Land Coalition, who will be speaking on the main stage during the Open Development and Sustainability session on Wednesday 18th September at 10:15.
There is a wealth of information and data online about land governance. However, much of this content is fragmented and difficult to locate, and often it is not openly licensed to enable wide dissemination and reuse. Bringing this information together in one place, actively addressing gaps in the available information, and providing a range of ways for the information to be accessed and shared does increase use of the available information. This supports more informed debates and policy making, and greater adoption and scaling up of best practices and promising innovations, leading to improved land governance practice. Through a focus on localisation of content creation and use, the Land Portal aims at tipping the balance of power towards the most marginalised and insecure, promoting greater social justice in land tenure practices across the world.
Access to knowledge is essential for individuals and communities seeking to secure land rights, particularly for women. Stronger networks between government agencies, CSOs, the private sector and emerging social movements are needed to support more just, equitable and gender-aware land governance. Over recent decades, land governance groups have come to use the Internet in their practice, but its full potential is by no means realized. The land Portal can support land advocacy and governance, drawing on learning from current practice, and highlighting emerging frontiers of relevance to the field.
Over the last several years, we discovered that online discussions, in particular, are an effective means of promoting inclusion, knowledge sharing and promoting social changes, while giving a voice to those who need it most. Online discussions bring together actors who are not likely to meet elsewhere. It can also help to promote strategic coordination and operational partnerships among initiatives
A recent online dialogue focused on monitoring women’s land rights in Madagascar, demonstrating that the Land Portal offers a collaborative approache to land governance as a platform for open content and open data.
Since Madagascar recently began debating its new progressive tenure reform, it provides an interesting case study to show how internet-based tools such as the Land Portal gives the opportunity to enhance participation and allow for a diversity of insights and perspectives on questions like “is land reform in Madagascar a model for replication?” or “how legal pluralism may restrict or promote women’s access to land?”.
The objective of the discussion on land reform was to generate involvement of civil society in debating experiences during the implementation of land reform policies and exploring key lessons that could be transferred to other countries. The discussion provides an interesting perspectives on how women’s access to land might be affected by legal pluralism, Including insights from Malagasy people or land experts in region who aim to revise and improve data on the FAO Gender and Land Rights database (GLRD).
A lesson we’ve learned from the online discussion about Malagasy women’s land rights is that some key people didn’t have access to the discussion due to difficulties to connect to the Internet. Computer skills may serve as a discriminatory factor towards effective and equitable access. Based on this lesson, we are exploring the idea of “discussion nodes”: each discussant group with the same interest will choose a local facilitator (= the one with computer skills) and others will develop common or personal messages to post. Discussion nodes will help CSOs not only to access the web, but also to better organize and structure consolidated advocacy. Each post to the discussion will be the output of active and consensus-based debate before posting.
In so doing, in addition to documenting land rights, the Portal would encourage social
exchange, debate and networking, while supporting more inclusive and informed debate and action on land governance, which may increase adoption and scaling up of best practices and emerging innovation on land tenure.
A partnership project supported by a network of international and grassroots land organisations focused on land governance, development and social justice, the Portal promotes an innovative approach by engaging stakeholders on this issue and ensures that stakeholders and users who are actively involved in land issues from far and wide coordinate, manage and populate it with content.
The LP is based on open source, open data and open content, and applies principles of openness in its governance, its use of technology and in its outputs. Through the pursuit of more transparent and open information on land governance, the Portal seeks to become a leading example of open development in action. However, the Land Portal does not adopt openness uncritically, but instead focuses in particular on identifying where openness can help tip the balance of power in favour of the marginalised, rather than where openness could ‘empower the already empowered’ (1.). The Land Portal seeks to ensure that a diversity of knowledge is included and represented, and that those best placed to act in the interests of those with the most insecure land rights and the greatest vulnerability to landlessness have effective access to the open data and knowledge that is made available.
(1.) Gurstein, M. (2011). Open data: Empowering the empowered or effective data use for everyone? (2.) Link to article
With almost 10 year work experience in the land governance sector collaborating with both UN Agencies and Civil Society Organizations in information and knowledge management, partnerships building and communication for development, Laura is strongly committed towards social change and the improvement of life conditions of disadvantaged groups within societies, focusing in particular on gender dynamics.
Since she has been assigned the overall Land Portal coordination in 2012, she has been promoting a major re-development of the Portal to better address its main target audiences, respond to the ever-evolving technological innovations and opportunities for better quality and reach, but also to increasingly make the Portal a hub for Open Data and a clear example of open development in action contributing to open land governance information and knowledge in order to increase transparency on land related issues.
