From 5 to 8 November, the representatives of the National Land Service (NLS) took part in the LANDNET International Conference "Territorial Development – Challenges and Opportunities", held in Spain, where representatives from 38 countries shared experiences and sought for the best ground management decisions. At the event of the city of Santiago de Compostela, NLS was represented by Algis Bagdonas, Deputy Director, Daiva Mikalauskiene, Director of Land Administration and Management Department and Odeta Jogmine, chief specialist of the Land Management Division.

The Conference discussed the links between rural development and land management measures, major topics related to public-private land management and planning. The event dealt with the main problems of land abandonment in various countries of Western and Eastern Europe and their solutions. Participants learned about the forthcoming FAO Land Consolidation Legal guide and discussed the envisaged provisions.

During the event, several countries, including Armenia, France, Serbia and Turkey, shared their knowledge and experience on the problems of land abandonment, the importance of land consolidation projects.

The four-day conference ended with a trip to one of the sites of the land clean-up project organised by the Xunta de Galicia Rural Development Agency (AGADER).