Where is Surveying Heading – Issues in Educating the Public?

It has been clear for some time, at least from the evidence presented at a number of FIG events, that the profession is changing with a huge number of recognised competencies. This raises fundamental questions for the global surveying profession that include: what core subjects should be encompassed in educational curricula; how can we attract and educate new recruits into the profession; how should we market the core surveying competencies; and how can we address the demographics of an aging profession? Different parts of the world report a range of major challenges, including low student numbers, closure of surveying courses, an aging teaching profession, inadequate job opportunities in some locations with an insufficient supply of graduates to fill the vacancies in others. Overarching these is the lack of any clear international recognition of definition of the profession of “surveyors’ ’ for the 21st century. Thus we risk failure to promote, at a global level, the full range of surveying skills to both our clients and to the broader public, thereby constricting both the supply of and demand for surveyors. This paper argues that there is need for a review of the core competencies that one might expect of a surveyor and the establishment of a focused marketing programme that influences national and international agencies and overcomes the relative ignorance about the nature, structure, education and regulation in the profession in different countries. This paper identifies and discusses these issues, and challenges the whole of FIG to contribute to developing a range of global solutions to ensure the survival and future of our profession