Dec 15, 2015 -- UN-GGIM: Europe has granted observer status to a further two organisations as part of its engagement with the wider geospatial community.

Requests from the European Spatial Planning Observation Network (ESPON) and European Forum for Geography and Statistics (EFGS) were approved by Member States at the 2nd Plenary of UN-GGIM: Europe.

“Only by working together can mapping and cadastral authorities, statistical institutes, European Institutions and associated bodies contribute to the more effective management, availability and integration of geospatial information in Europe,” said Bengt Kjellson, Chair of UN-GGIM: Europe Executive Committee.

“We are therefore delighted to welcome ESPON and EFGS as observer organisations and look forward to working with them to realise this ambition and meet user needs and requirements.”

The 2nd Plenary, held in Belgrade and hosted by the Republic Geodetic Authority, Serbia, included a review of the past year’s activities and approved the 2015 to 2018 work plan. It was attended by 110 delegates from 34 UN Member States and nine observer organisations.

 Guest speakers included Ms Irena Vojáčková-Sollorano, UN Resident Coordinator & UN Development Programme Resident Representative in Serbia and Dr Linus Bengtsson, Executive Director of not-for-profit organisation, Flowminder who spoke on the use of anonymous mobile operator data in disaster response.

 ESPON and EFGS join the European Environment Agency, EuroGeographics, EuroSDR and the European umbrella organisation for Geographic Information (EUROGI) as observer organisations. The European Commission, is granted permanent observer status in the Articles of UN-GGIM: Europe.

For more information on UN-GGIM: Europe, visit http://un-ggim-europe.org.

Notes to Editors