EU CONTINUES TO PROVIDE SUPPORT TO THE AGENCY FOR LAND RELATIONS AND CADASTRE OF THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

The first three months of the year 2022 brought about a challenging, but productive period for the EU-funded Twinning project for the Agency for Land Relations and Cadastre of the Republic of Moldova “Improving spatial data services in the Republic of Moldova following EU standards”.

The project’s experts focused on drafting the framework for designing different type of licences in scope needed for spatial data sharing, which would be applicable in the Moldovan national spatial data infrastructure (hereinafter – NSDI). At the same time, work was targeted at reviewing the institutional framework of NSDI in the country and issuing recommendations meant to improve the activity of NSDI Council and thematic Working Groups (technical WG, data sharing WG and capacity building WG).

In addition, the Project developed a methodology for identification of NSDI benefits, based on the experience and best practice from EU-member states. This methodology was further applied during several interviews and discussions with NSDI institutions in the Republic of Moldova (altogether 11 institutions). The aim of this work was to detect benefits arising in the Republic of Moldova from the implementation of NSDI both from the data producer’s and data user’s perspective. Not in the least, preparatory works and discussions focused on the governmental services to be integrated with the new NSDI Geoportal were organised.

The Project’s experts produced also a high-level plan for the harmonisation of the spatial data existing in the country, with specific recommendations on the criteria and priorities to be considered while beginning this huge process of spatial data sets’ harmonisation.

Following discussions with the Centre of Excellence in Constructions and College for Ecology and Tiraspol State University, the Project’s experts made a review of the educational programmes in the field of NSDI. Croatian and Polish experience was shared with the teaching staff, so within this activity recommendations were offered for the input of ALRC staff to educational programmes at in total three universities and two colleges in R. Moldova, offering courses in the field of project main topics.

At the same time, a series of missions were organised on the preparation of amendments to the legal framework concerning metadata creation and updating, as well as drafting of a Collaboration Agreement model for sharing spatial data in the country.