Neil Sorensen joined the Land Portal as its Communications Specialist in October 2015. He has extensive experience leading communications for international organizations and developing relationships with civil society, donors, intergovernmental agencies, the media and the private sector. Previously, Neil worked for the International Fund for Agriculture Development (IFAD) as a Governing Bodies Officer and Strategic Adviser to the Secretary of IFAD. He has also led communications for three international organizations, including the International Land Coalition, the International Federation of Agricultural Producers (IFAP) and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). He holds a Master’s degree in Global Diplomacy from the University of London School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as well as a Bachelor’s degree with a double major in German and Sociology from St. Cloud State University.
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Tim Berners-Lee: The next Web of open, linked data
20 years ago, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web. For his next project, he's building a web for open, linked data that could do for numbers what the Web did for words, pictures, video: unlock our data and reframe the way we use it together.
TED
TED is a nonprofit devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks (18 minutes or less). TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment and Design converged, and today covers almost all topics — from science to business to global issues — in more than 100 languages. Meanwhile, independently run TEDx events help share ideas in communities around the world.
Our Mission: Spread ideas
Protecting Community Lands & Resources in Africa: Grassroots Advocates' Strategies & Lessons
In 2013, a group of 20 expert advocates from across Africa gathered for a three-day symposium to share experiences and practical strategies for effectively supporting communities to protect their lands and natural resources. The symposium illuminated many similarities between the types of threats to communities’ land and natural resource claims, as well as underlying factors that drive and exacerbate the threats.
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
The Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo) is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to foster global adoption of open geospatial technology by being an inclusive software foundation devoted to an open philosophy and participatory community driven development.
The Economic Costs and Benefits of Securing Community Forest Tenure: Evidence From Brazil and Guatemala
Evidence is growing that tenure-secure community forests are associated with avoided deforestation and other ecosystem-service benefits. There are also economic and social benefits connected to communal management. But securing community forest tenure also involves costs, including costs to establish supportive legislation, to demarcate and register the lands, to monitor and protect the lands as well as opportunity costs.
Supporting Communities to Document and Protect their Land Rights: A New Step-by-Step Guide for Facilitators
Namati is launching an unprecedented new resource, unlike anything published in the field of land tenure security to date: a hands-on, step-by-step, practical “how to” guide for practitioners supporting communities to document and protect their land rights.
LANDac Annual International Conference 2016
Large-scale land acquisition in the context of urban sprawl and climate change: Linking the Rural and the Urban
Tenure Analyst, Strategic Analysis and Global Engagement
The Tenure Analyst is responsible for conducting and managing original, high-quality research on forest and land tenure, women’s land rights, climate, and conservation in the world’s developing and forested countries, maintaining and advancing RRI’s global tenure methodologies and databases, coordinating collaborative work on RRI priority themes, and contributing to other aspects of the Strategic Analysis and Global Engagement Program (SAGE) and the RRI Coalition.
An examination of China’s New Urbanization Strategy
Jun Yang
Tsinghua University, China
In the last three decades, urbanization in China moved ahead at an unprecedented speed. Between 1978 and 2014, the urbanization rate increased from 17.9% to 53.7% (Chinese Government Network, 2015 [In Chinese]). During that time, more than five hundred million people moved from rural areas into cities. Rapid urbanization, along with industrialization, has propelled social and economic development not only in China, but globally as well.
Women for Women International
Our Mission
In countries affected by conflict and war, Women for Women International supports the most marginalized women to earn and save money, improve health and well-being, influence decisions in their home and community, and connect to networks for support. By utilizing skills, knowledge, and resources, she is able to create sustainable change for herself, her family, and community.