New America’s Future of Property Rights Program (FPR) is looking for a ‘Frontier Fellow’! Deadline for application: 10th January 2020. More information below.
About the Future of Property Rights Program:
New America’s Future of Property Rights Program (FPR) was founded to answer the following question: Why is a quarter of the world’s population unable to exercise their fundamental right to property, despite advances in technology and human development?
They believe a disconnect between policymakers and technologists is hindering progress in the global fight for land and property rights.
FPR aims to help solve global property rights challenges by shrinking the gulf between technologists and policymakers. Through research, writing, and convening, we strive to bring these two constituents into the same room. Our goal is to act as a translator between the world of drones, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, and the world of politics, laws, and institutions.
At the same time, we aim to preempt emerging property rights challenges by thinking critically about the paradigms that govern new spaces, from cyberspace to outer space.
About the Position:
The ideal candidate is a self-motivated thought leader with experience in both technology and policy or international development. The candidate should be a good multi-tasker, capable of managing day-to-day project operations and contributing to the long-term goals of FPR through coordination with New America and external colleagues, writing short articles and white papers, and speaking at events.
The fellow will primarily research and write on the intersection of land policy and technology, with a focus on ICT and the emerging power of digital data trails to prove land and property rights. As part of this role, FPR expects the fellow to stay abreast of emerging tech trends and developments that may be applicable to property rights; write short articles and research papers; liaise with stakeholders in both the property rights and tech communities; and possibly to help pilot the introduction of a new technology to solve a property rights challenge in a developing country context. Should resources materialize for a pilot, the fellow would be expected to help manage the project. Finally, the fellow must be an engaging speaker and networker, able to represent FPR to new audiences in new geographies.
Experience with innovative tech, grounding in policy and/or international development, intellectual agility, and strong organizational, research, writing and communication skills are essential for this role. This is an ideal position for someone who is familiar with international development and technology, and is able to translate that experience into a dynamic role that is part project manager, part technologist, part ambassador, and part journalist.
It is expected that the fellow will work remotely, with 1-2 trips to Washington D.C. during the course of the fellowship. The fellow may need to maintain a flexible work schedule to facilitate participation in cross-timezone meetings, within reason.
Responsibilities:
- In collaboration with FPR, research and write on the intersection of land and technology. The fellow will be expected to produce blogs or articles monthly, as well as one to two longer research products.
- Network with stakeholders in the property rights and technology sectors to stay abreast of new developments and flag opportunities for FPR engagement.
- Possibly help develop and explore resources for a pilot; should resources materialize, the fellow would help manage the project.
- Work closely with FPR to take advantage of media opportunities –print, social, broadcast, or otherwise.
- Serve as an ambassador and advocate for the Future of Property Rights Program.
Qualifications:
- A bachelor’s degree or higher.
- Minimum 10 years experience in international development or technology, with preference for experience in both disciplines.
- Experience working in a developing country context.
- Strong research, writing and editing skills in English. Preference for experience with both short-form journalistic writing, and longer-form research.
- High attention to detail.
- Excellent organizational skills and the ability to prioritize work and manage time in order to meet deadlines.
- Strong interest in the mission of the Future of Property Rights Program.
- Familiarity with new and emerging technology, project design, and project management.
- Ability to complete assignments and problem solve with minimal supervision.
- Interest in working on a team and with a diverse group of stakeholders.
Application Process:
Please submit a resume, a professionally written one-page cover letter, and a short writing sample (2-5 pages). Fellowship compensation is commensurate with experience and is competitive.
The position will be open until January 10, with an anticipated start date of mid-February 2020
For more information, vist New America’s website here.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
LANDac 2020 Conference | Call for Sessions Extended!
Land Governance Challenges
and Climate Change:
Handling Pressures, Upholding Rights
2-3 July 2020
Muntgebouw Utrecht, The Netherlands
The LANDac Annual International Conference offers a podium for researchers, practitioners and private sector representatives interested in land governance for equitable and sustainable development. The 2020 Conference looks at the challenges that climate change poses for land governance systems, processes and actors and at relevant lessons that can be drawn from experiences with land governance to date.
Last Updated: 12th December 2019 by Coordinator
New America | Future of Property Rights Program: Call for “Frontier Fellows”
About the Future of Property Rights Program:
New America’s Future of Property Rights Program (FPR) was founded to answer the following question: Why is a quarter of the world’s population unable to exercise their fundamental right to property, despite advances in technology and human development?
They believe a disconnect between policymakers and technologists is hindering progress in the global fight for land and property rights.
FPR aims to help solve global property rights challenges by shrinking the gulf between technologists and policymakers. Through research, writing, and convening, we strive to bring these two constituents into the same room. Our goal is to act as a translator between the world of drones, artificial intelligence, and blockchain, and the world of politics, laws, and institutions.
At the same time, we aim to preempt emerging property rights challenges by thinking critically about the paradigms that govern new spaces, from cyberspace to outer space.
About the Position:
The ideal candidate is a self-motivated thought leader with experience in both technology and policy or international development. The candidate should be a good multi-tasker, capable of managing day-to-day project operations and contributing to the long-term goals of FPR through coordination with New America and external colleagues, writing short articles and white papers, and speaking at events.
The fellow will primarily research and write on the intersection of land policy and technology, with a focus on ICT and the emerging power of digital data trails to prove land and property rights. As part of this role, FPR expects the fellow to stay abreast of emerging tech trends and developments that may be applicable to property rights; write short articles and research papers; liaise with stakeholders in both the property rights and tech communities; and possibly to help pilot the introduction of a new technology to solve a property rights challenge in a developing country context. Should resources materialize for a pilot, the fellow would be expected to help manage the project. Finally, the fellow must be an engaging speaker and networker, able to represent FPR to new audiences in new geographies.
Experience with innovative tech, grounding in policy and/or international development, intellectual agility, and strong organizational, research, writing and communication skills are essential for this role. This is an ideal position for someone who is familiar with international development and technology, and is able to translate that experience into a dynamic role that is part project manager, part technologist, part ambassador, and part journalist.
It is expected that the fellow will work remotely, with 1-2 trips to Washington D.C. during the course of the fellowship. The fellow may need to maintain a flexible work schedule to facilitate participation in cross-timezone meetings, within reason.
Responsibilities:
Qualifications:
Application Process:
Please submit a resume, a professionally written one-page cover letter, and a short writing sample (2-5 pages). Fellowship compensation is commensurate with experience and is competitive.
The position will be open until January 10, with an anticipated start date of mid-February 2020
For more information, vist New America’s website here.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
WUR | Public Lecture An Ansoms: Land Lost – Land Regained in Transforming Rural Landscapes?
Public Lecture Prof An Ansoms: Land lost – land regained in transforming rural landscapes? Smallholder farmers navigating Rwanda’s agrarian land reforms.
Date: December 18th 2019
Time: 15:00 – 17:00
Location: room C62, Leeuwenborch, Wageningen University, The Netherlands
In her lecture, An Ansoms will reflect on how different discourses on land reform -centred on rights, conflictuality or efficiency- have played a role in the reorganisation of Rwanda’s rural economy. Since 2007-2008, Rwandan authorities embarked upon an ambitious project to reorganise the entire agrarian sector. Instead of counting on subsistence-based family farming, the Rwandan government elaborated a Green Revolution strategy, aiming to promote productive farming through the modernisation and professionalization of the entire agrarian sector. This involved the creation of a centrally-organised land registration system, a Crop Intensification Policy and a system of performance contracts. Professor Ansoms will reflect on how the various land governance discourses were mobilised by authorities at all levels, and how they culminated in a concrete reconfiguration of the rural landscape. She will also point to how other actors involved (civil society, farmer organisations, private sector), and in particular smallholder farmers have navigated and continue to navigate within Rwanda’s agrarian and land reforms. Interestingly, the space for criticism towards the ‘modernising’ orientation of the reforms is opening up. Forms of contestation by smallholder farmers are being picked up by Rwandan policy makers, and ten years after the introduction of the New Green Revolution, this is resulting in renewed opportunities for smallholder farming.
An Ansoms is professor in development studies at the Université Catholique de Louvain (Belgium). She coordinates an interdisciplinary action-research project, titled ‘Land Rush’ (www.land-rush.org), on natural resource conflicts in conflict-prone settings in Central Africa. The interdisciplinary team is composed of African and European scholars who engage in in-depth prolonged field research in Eastern DRC, Rwanda and Burundi. They actively engage in generating scientific knowledge, but also participate in societal debates, and in reflections around the ethical and emotional challenges of research in conflict settings.
Find An on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AFiJ_5YG_U
All welcome. Registration is not necessary. This event is organised by the Conflict@WUR cluster of the CSPS.
PhD students are invited to join a Masterclass with An Ansoms in the morning of December 18th. For further information (or registration for the Masterclass) please contact Lotje.devries@wur.nl.
Posted: 9th December 2019 by Coordinator
LAND-at-scale | Vacature Programma-adviseur
Vacancy in Dutch
RVO’s LAND-at-scale is op zoek naar een nieuwe programma-adviseur.
Functieomschrijving
Betere landrechten zijn cruciaal voor resultaten op verschillende ontwikkelingssamenwerkingsthema’s. Denk maar eens aan voedselzekerheid, integraal waterbeheer, klimaatadaptatie en duurzaam bos- en grondstoffenbeheer. Maar ook aan het bevorderen van inclusieve economische groei en betere vrouwenrechten. Als programma-adviseur help je mee om veel ontwikkelingsdoelen van de Verenigde Naties te behalen.
Je zet je als programma-adviseur in voor het team Mondiale Vraagstukken Voedselzekerheid, Energie en Klimaat. Dat team is onderdeel van de afdeling Internationale Ontwikkeling binnen de Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland. Jouw inzet spitst zich toe op het programma LAND-at-scale. Dit programma versterkt essentiële land-governance-componenten die bijdragen aan structurele veranderingen in focus- en partnerlanden.
Het LAND-at-scale-programma biedt essentiële handvatten voor landbestuur aan mannen, vrouwen en jongeren die kunnen bijdragen aan structurele, rechtvaardige en inclusieve veranderingen in ontwikkelingslanden. Wij werken programmatisch en ondersteunen gevalideerde aanvragen voor technische assistentie en strategische investeringen.
Jouw taken
Voor deze taken onderhoud je intensieve contacten met overheidsinstanties in de betrokken landen, de ambassades en de bedrijven, kennisinstellingen en/of ngo’s die de projecten uitvoeren. Ook bezoek je regelmatig deze landen en zie je daar toe op de uitvoering van de projecten.
Het team Mondiale Vraagstukken Voedselzekerheid, Energie en Klimaat is ontstaan uit een splitsing van het team Mondiale Vraagstukken in twee teams: één met focus op water en één met focus op voedselzekerheid, energie en klimaat. De afdeling Internationale Ontwikkeling voert diverse programma’s uit voor het ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken en het ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat. Deze zijn gericht op armoedebestrijding, onder meer door de toegang tot energie te verbeteren en de voedselzekerheid te vergroten. Bekende programma’s zijn:
Deadline: 13 december 2020
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
EADI/ISS Series | Solidarity for People Displaced by Large-Scale Investment Projects
LANDac and UU colleagues Kei Otsuki and Griet Steel recently posted a blog for the EADI/ISS Series on Solidarity for People Displaces by Large-Scale Investment Projects.
Read the blog here!
You can still join the panel by submitting an abstract before the 15th of December.
Posted: 19th November 2019 by Coordinator
Shelter City Netherlands | Call for temporary relocation in 2020
Orginal post here.
Justice and Peace Netherlands is launching a new call for human rights defenders at risk to participate in the Shelter City initiative around March 2020. The deadline to apply is 29 November 2019.
Shelter City offers human rights defenders (HRDs) at risk a possibility for rest and respite by letting them escape temporarily from a threatening situation. The initiative can benefit human rights defenders that are threatened or under intense pressure due to their work. Shelter City is an initiative coordinated by Justice and Peace Netherlands together with municipalities in the Netherlands, local partners, and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
How does Shelter City work?
Through temporary relocation, human rights defenders will be offered a shelter for 3 months in one of the Shelter Cities in the Netherlands, during which they can rest, continue their work in safety, build up capacity (including compulsory training on holistic security), extend their network and raise awareness about the situation in their country. Activities can include meetings with NGOs and public officials, public lectures, rest or leisure, treatment for work-related problems, continuing working remotely on human rights in their country, raising awareness of human rights with the Dutch public or participating in local initiatives organised by the municipality and/or the host organisation. At the end of the programme, participants are expected to return with new tools and energy to continue their work at home. A monthly stipend sufficient to cover costs of living, accommodation, health insurance, visa and return flight tickets to The Netherlands are provided. In addition, participants receive personal accompaniment throughout their stay in the Netherlands.
Who can apply for Shelter City?
For the purposes of Shelter City, the term HRD is intended to refer to the broad range of activists, journalists, scholars, writers, artists, lawyers, civil rights defenders, independent media professionals, civil society members, and others working to peacefully advance human rights and democracy around the world.
Applicants must fulfil the following conditions:
In order to be eligible to the Shelter City programme, HRDs must meet the following conditions:
*By conversational English we mean that participants’ level of English allows them to actively participate in a training, speak about their work, communicate with the host city, etc.
Note that additional factors will be taken into consideration in the final round of selection, such as the added value of a stay in The Netherlands as well as gender, geographic, and thematic balance. Please note that we can only accept HRDs currently residing in a third country under exceptional circumstances.
To apply or submit the application of a human rights defender, please fill in the form by clicking ‘Apply Now’ below. Application forms must be completed by 29 November 2019, at 23:59 CET (Central European Time). An independent commission will select the participants.
Apply Now for Shelter City 2020
Note that the selected human rights defenders will not be automatically allowed into the Shelter City programme as Justice and Peace is not in control of issuing the required visas to enter the Netherlands.
For more information, please contact us at sheltercity@justiceandpeace.nl
Last Updated: 15th November 2019 by Coordinator
Cadasta | Land Rights Challenge Fund
The Land Rights Challenge Fund is available to help Cadasta’s partners better leverage Cadasta’s innovative technical tools and services to document and secure land and resource rights worldwide. The Land Rights Challenge Fund will feature multiple grant programs through 2021, each designed to advance land rights and tenure security for vulnerable populations around the world.
The first opportunity under the Fund is the Data Accelerator Grant to help partners overcome challenges and barriers to their data collection efforts. For more information, download Cadasta’s brochure here!
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
EADI/ISS 2020 | Call for Abstract: Solidarity for investment-induced displacement and resettlement
Kei Otsuki and Griet Steel (Utrecht University, the Netherlands) are convening a panel at the 2020 EADI/ISS Conference Solidary, Peace and Socal Justice: HP059 – Solidarity for investment-induced displacement and resettlement.
In this panel, they address what solidarity actually means in often contested land-based investments that induce displacement and resettlement in rural and urban areas. They are particularly interested in papers that analyze cases in which various actors’ roles and chains of effects unfold in processes of displacement and resettlement in the Global South. They are also interested in discussing methodological issues pertaining to our responsibilities of doing research on this issue.
Deadline to submit an abstract to this particular panel and the EADI/ISS Conference in general 15 December. For more information on the panel, click here. For more information on the conference, click here.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
CFS 46 | LEGEND | Findings and Key Lessons from LEGEND’s Work on Responsible Land Investments
At the 46th Edition of the Committee on World Food Security, LEGEND (Land: Enhancing Governance for Economic Development) partners presented their key findings and lessons-learned from LEGEND’s work on responsible land investments.
You can download the presentation here.
Last Updated: 31st July 2020 by Coordinator
LANDac | Launch Blog Series Professional Learning Programme
In the newly lanched blog series, LANDac fellows from the Professional Learning Programme share their experiences in the field.
‘”This plot is not for sale!”: Land Administration and Land Disputes in Uganda‘ is the first blog in the series, a contribution by Teddy Kisembo, researcher and urban planner at the Urban Action Lab at Makerere University.
Would you like to know more about the programme, the research projects or get in touch with one of the fellows? Have a look here or contact coordinator Romy Santpoort (r.m.santpoort@uu.nl).