With the Call for Sessions for the 2025 LANDac Annual Conference just out, the LANDac team is happy to close the year 2024 putting some of our founders into the spotlight. We could say we are closing an era… In 2024, we said goodbye first to Guus van Westen, then to Annelies Zoomers (both IDS, UU) and just recently to Frits van der Wal (MFA), all three of them moving into a next phase of life: retirement. All three were key in developing LANDac from the very beginning, from the very first idea of creating a “ Academy on land governance for equitable and sustainable development”, to making it the lively network (and, we hope, reference point), it is today. Here are some words of appreciation for each of them, in chronological order. Thank you all three for your hard work, bright ideas, and commitment, not just to LANDac as such, but to the cause of land rights for those who most need them, as a key building block in constructing social and environmental justice.
Guus van Westen:
Guus, we said goodbye to you in May. From the start of the idea of LANDac (even before it was a reality), you were invaluable as the sidekick to Annelies. You brought in expertise on a range of topics, including (peri-)urban land issues, food systems transformation, but your most important contribution to LANDac was around responsible investment, always appreciative of the challenges private sector actors may face when trying to do “the right thing” but not hesitant to put the finger on the sore spots. Many in the network will remember and appreciate your tireless efforts in support of the LAND dialogue. You took up as a co-chair in 2019 (with Gemma van der Haar as the other half of this “tandem”) for what turned out to be a bumpy ride: first, the challenging period of COVID, then the adventure of developing the LAND-at-scale knowledge management programme. In the last years, you became very interested in land registration and land tenure security and contributed to opening the space to discuss these issues critically. Thank you for all this, Guus!
Annelies Zoomers:
Annelies, as the “founding mother” of LANDac, you leave a big hole. You effectively brought together a great range of people to put in the bid for LANDac. The rest is history…. Your efforts to put land on the agenda go back a long time, with a conference and two books at the end of the 1990s. You were ahead of your time: colleagues would tell us at the time that land was “out of fashion”. They were wrong. That conference was a success and ten years later the “land grab debate” took off with full force, motivating the creation of LANDac. In this debate you were always alert to new opportunities, which allowed LANDac to grow and build not only a network worldwide but also to build the expertise of many who today are working in the land and development sector in the Netherlands and beyond. Your primary commitment throughout has been with pro-poor land rights. You have remained critical of “false solutions” that look good on paper but fail to protect people on the ground. Thank you Annelies, we need this kind of tenacity!
Frits van der Wal:
Frits, we now also say goodbye to our “founding father”. This really means the closing of an era. You and Annelies were a powerful team, bringing what was necessary to not only conceive of the idea of LANDac, but to bring it to life. Throughout, you remained the pater familias. With your expertise and energy you were an invaluable ally in the Ministry. After paving the way for LANDac, you initiated the LAND dialogue and, next, you masterminded the “next generation” of Dutch land policy: the LAND- at-Scale programme. This created a “family”, of people who developed their talents and found their way to the Ministry, to RVO, to NGOs… You were tireless in connecting people, signaling new trends, creating enthusiasm, drawing up catchy phrases… One of these was: “Be with the troops and ahead of the troops”. This is a great motto for LANDac in the years to come. Thank you Frits for the productive collaboration!
To conclude:
Guus, Annelies, Frits: Your expertise and commitment has been invaluable in the development of LANDac. We plan to bring this legacy forward in the coming years: to keep building connections, to keep asking the questions that need to be asked, and to keep inspiring through our Annual conferences. We wish you all the best in this new phase of your lives. Let’s hope our paths will continue to cross. Safe journey!
On behalf of the LANDac team and network,
Gemma van der Haar
Posted: 19th December 2024 by Coordinator
LANDac Year closing & Happy Holidays
With the Call for Sessions for the 2025 LANDac Annual Conference just out, the LANDac team is happy to close the year 2024 putting some of our founders into the spotlight. We could say we are closing an era… In 2024, we said goodbye first to Guus van Westen, then to Annelies Zoomers (both IDS, UU) and just recently to Frits van der Wal (MFA), all three of them moving into a next phase of life: retirement. All three were key in developing LANDac from the very beginning, from the very first idea of creating a “ Academy on land governance for equitable and sustainable development”, to making it the lively network (and, we hope, reference point), it is today. Here are some words of appreciation for each of them, in chronological order. Thank you all three for your hard work, bright ideas, and commitment, not just to LANDac as such, but to the cause of land rights for those who most need them, as a key building block in constructing social and environmental justice.
Guus van Westen:
Guus, we said goodbye to you in May. From the start of the idea of LANDac (even before it was a reality), you were invaluable as the sidekick to Annelies. You brought in expertise on a range of topics, including (peri-)urban land issues, food systems transformation, but your most important contribution to LANDac was around responsible investment, always appreciative of the challenges private sector actors may face when trying to do “the right thing” but not hesitant to put the finger on the sore spots. Many in the network will remember and appreciate your tireless efforts in support of the LAND dialogue. You took up as a co-chair in 2019 (with Gemma van der Haar as the other half of this “tandem”) for what turned out to be a bumpy ride: first, the challenging period of COVID, then the adventure of developing the LAND-at-scale knowledge management programme. In the last years, you became very interested in land registration and land tenure security and contributed to opening the space to discuss these issues critically. Thank you for all this, Guus!
Annelies Zoomers:
Annelies, as the “founding mother” of LANDac, you leave a big hole. You effectively brought together a great range of people to put in the bid for LANDac. The rest is history…. Your efforts to put land on the agenda go back a long time, with a conference and two books at the end of the 1990s. You were ahead of your time: colleagues would tell us at the time that land was “out of fashion”. They were wrong. That conference was a success and ten years later the “land grab debate” took off with full force, motivating the creation of LANDac. In this debate you were always alert to new opportunities, which allowed LANDac to grow and build not only a network worldwide but also to build the expertise of many who today are working in the land and development sector in the Netherlands and beyond. Your primary commitment throughout has been with pro-poor land rights. You have remained critical of “false solutions” that look good on paper but fail to protect people on the ground. Thank you Annelies, we need this kind of tenacity!
Frits van der Wal:
Frits, we now also say goodbye to our “founding father”. This really means the closing of an era. You and Annelies were a powerful team, bringing what was necessary to not only conceive of the idea of LANDac, but to bring it to life. Throughout, you remained the pater familias. With your expertise and energy you were an invaluable ally in the Ministry. After paving the way for LANDac, you initiated the LAND dialogue and, next, you masterminded the “next generation” of Dutch land policy: the LAND- at-Scale programme. This created a “family”, of people who developed their talents and found their way to the Ministry, to RVO, to NGOs… You were tireless in connecting people, signaling new trends, creating enthusiasm, drawing up catchy phrases… One of these was: “Be with the troops and ahead of the troops”. This is a great motto for LANDac in the years to come. Thank you Frits for the productive collaboration!
To conclude:
Guus, Annelies, Frits: Your expertise and commitment has been invaluable in the development of LANDac. We plan to bring this legacy forward in the coming years: to keep building connections, to keep asking the questions that need to be asked, and to keep inspiring through our Annual conferences. We wish you all the best in this new phase of your lives. Let’s hope our paths will continue to cross. Safe journey!
On behalf of the LANDac team and network,
Gemma van der Haar
Category: LANDac News, News