Thirteenth Plenary Meeting of UN-GGIM: Europe

The Thirteenth Plenary Meeting of UN-GGIM: Europe, held in Geneva on 23 –24 June, brought together almost 60 participants from 24 Member States and 11 international bodies and observer organisations.

The annual session of the Regional Committee provided  two days of productive dialogue, where participants reviewed and discussed the foundations of the new Regional Work Plan 2026–2030, providing input and strategic guidance on its priorities and implementation. Conversations also focused on the use of geospatial information to address global challenges, with insightful presentations from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR). A dedicated session focused on harnessing  geospatial data for sustainable housing and land management, clearly framing how geospatial information, integrated land data and statistics support housing policies and relevant SDGs. Updates from the global working groups were also shared, highlighting Europe’s contribution to the wider UN-GGIM agenda and its role in supporting its implementation.

The Regional Committee welcomed and adopted the revised UN-GGIM: Europe Work Plan 2026–2030, including the renaming of two existing Working Groups on the UN-IGIF and the Geodetic Reference Frame to better reflect the current scope and focus of the work. And established a new Working Group on Data in response to global agendas, thus setting a clear strategic direction for the years ahead.

The Plenary confirmed re-nominations of Ingrid Vanden Berghe and Tomaž Petek to the Executive Committee, welcomed Francesca Kay, Naneh Ghazaryan and Ömer Alan as new members, and endorsed the nomination of James Norris and Darko Vucetic as Co-Chair of the UN-GGIM: Europe Executive Committee.

Furthermore, the Plenary expressed its appreciation to Ingrid Vanden Berghe for her leadership and contribution to the Executive Committee UN-GGIM: Europe, recognising her valued guidance and knowledge to the Regional Committee during her time as acting Chair of the UN-GGIM: Europe Executive Committee.

Our thanks go to UNECE for hosting the Thirteenth Plenary and to the UN-GGIM: Europe Secretariat, through EuroGeographics, for organising the event.