By Cadasta Staff

Around the world, millions of people live and work on land that is not formally documented in systems that governments can easily recognize or use. Community knowledge about land and resource boundaries often exists only in paper maps, hand-drawn sketches, ancestral lore, PDFs, or disconnected spreadsheets, making it difficult to validate claims, plan effectively, or ensure that communities are represented in decisions that affect their futures.

When land data is incomplete or inaccessible, the consequences are significant. Communities face greater risk of displacement. Governments lack reliable information for planning and investment. Climate and conservation initiatives struggle to align with local realities. And opportunities to strengthen livelihoods and resilience are missed.

Bridging the gap between community knowledge and trusted geospatial data is essential to advancing secure land and resource rights.

Cadasta and long-time technology partner, Esri Inc., invite you to a special webinar exploring how geospatial technology and collaborative workflows are helping partners transform local land knowledge into actionable data that supports more transparent, inclusive, and effective land governance.

Title: From Ground to Cloud: Geospatial Innovations for Secure Land Rights
Date: April 8, 2026
Time: 9:00 am EDT | 16:00 CEST
Click here to register

Connecting Community Knowledge to Decision-Making

Around the world, communities, governments, and practitioners are working to ensure that locally generated land information can inform policy, planning, and investment decisions. But integrating diverse data sources—from sketch maps to spreadsheets—into usable geospatial systems remains a persistent challenge.

In this webinar, Cadasta and Esri will demonstrate how participatory mapping approaches and modern geospatial technology are helping partners map land and resource claims in areas with limited connectivity, digitize and integrate community data, and produce information that institutions can recognize and use.

Through real-world case studies from Cadasta’s work with local partners, we will explore how technology-enabled, community-driven mapping strengthens land governance, improves data transparency, and supports better tenure outcomes.

Participants will gain insight into how collaborative workflows can help bridge the divide between local knowledge and formal systems—ensuring that communities are visible in the data that shapes decisions about land, climate, and development.

Bringing this work to life is a group of practitioners and technical experts working at the forefront of geospatial innovation and participatory land documentation. Their combined experience spans land administration systems, geospatial engineering, program implementation, and partnership development—offering a practical perspective on how technology and collaboration can support more inclusive and effective land governance.