Oslo 2017

UNGEGN Norden Division Meeting, Gardermoen, 24. March 2017

Present

Peder Gammeltoft, Denmark, chair
Jens Bo Rykov, Denmark
Ulla Onkamo, Finland
Kjetil Ringen, Norway
Anne Svanevik, Norway
Karsten Lien, Norway
Katriina Pedersen, Norway
Botolv Helleland, Norway
Ingvil Nordland, Norway
Staffan Nyström, Sweden
Ebba Berling Åselius, Sweden

Agenda

1. Chairman’s welcome
2. Election of Keeper of minutes
3. Acceptance of Meeting Agenda
4. News from the Norden Division area
5. The 11th UNGEGN Conference
6. The 30th UNGEGN Session
7. Election of the Norden Division chair for 2017-21
8. Relationship between UNGEGN and UN-GGIM
9. News from ELF, INSPIRE and EGN
10. Norden Division homepage
11. Next Norden Division Meeting
12. Any other business
Minutes

1. Chairman’s welcome

The Division chair welcomed all participants of the Norden Division meeting. Since there were some new participants, the chair suggested a short presentation round before moving ahead. The chair also stated that the number of participators for this meeting is relatively high considering the short notice. Unfortunately, Lisa Monica Aslaksen from The Saami Parliament of Norway was caught in a storm last night, and was prevented from coming.

2. Election of keeper of minutes

Ingvil Nordland was elected as keeper of minutes.

3. Acceptance of minutes agenda

The agenda minutes were accepted.

4. News from the Norden Division Area

a. Sweden

Staffan Nyström informed that the booklet ’Good Place-name practice’, which was first published in 2001, has now been revised and updated. Most of the work has been done by Leif Nilsson, Annette Torensjö and himself with comments from Ebba Berling Åselius and others at Lantmäteriet. They have tried to show and to explain what the geographical name law in its latest version means, and have tried to give advice to people handling geographical name standardization at the local as well as the national level. Linguistic and onomastic aspects of geographical names are considered here as well as administrative and cultural.

A new edition of SOL = Svenskt ortnamnslexikon ’Swedish Geographical name dictionary’ has also been published. All the individual articles (a bit more than 6000) have been checked and updated according to the latest research. Some 60 new entries have been added. 2000 copies were sold out in just a few months, and another 2000 copies were printed.

The Institute for language and folklore has taken part in a discussion concerning the two concepts landsting and region, which are used today in the administrative division of Sweden. There has been much talk about transforming today’s 21 län into a smaller number of larger areas – according to the latest proposal, 6 new areas. These could still be called län of course, but sometimes and by some people they are called regioner, ’regions’. The problem is that some of the existing län/landsting already call themselves region: Region Gotland, Västra Götalandsregionen etc. The Institute has been asked to produce a written evaluation and discussion concerning the two terms, and also to discuss other terms that might be possible to use in the future. They are also instructed to give advice on the names of these landsting/län/regioner in order to follow the rules of consideration concernning good place-name practice in the Historic Environment Act (kulturmiljölagen). Annette Torensjö and Leila Mattfolk are working with these issues at the moment.


Ebba Berling Åselius informed about the ongoing work in presenting and consolidating minority language geographical names in Sweden. Several state authorities cooperate in this field, which includes maps, road signs and addresses. Lantmäteriet is now reviewing the national geographical name database to ensure that the correct language and officially approved orthography is associated to each geographical name in Saami, Finnish and Meänkieli.

Since 2015, statistics from Statistics Sweden (Statistiska Centralbyrån (SCB)) concerning urban areas, i.e. localities, are produced by using an automated method. Statistics Sweden´s localities are intended for statistics only, but in this process SCB is proposing names on “their” localities by using map material from Lantmäteriet. These names should not be regarded as established names, only as representative names for the marked areas constituting a locality as perceived by Statistics Sweden. Upon the latest publication in October last year, the automated method detected over 190 new localities. The proposed names for these areas are currently being examined by Lantmäteriet and will be confirmed later on.

b. Norway

Kjetil Ringen of the Norwegian Mapping Authority (Kartverket), presented a model of the structure of the updated version of Norwegian geographical names register (SSR = Sentralt stedsnavnregister). He demonstrated how data from SSR is available through the service Norgeskart.no.

In July 2015, a revised Place Name Act came into force. The most important change in the Act is that the owner of a single holding has the right to decide the spelling of the name concerning his or her property. The owner must however document that this spelling has been in official use, and Kartverket is still the formal decision maker. Since July 2015, 253 names of single holdings have been determined. Out of them, the owner decided the spelling of 73 names. The revised Act has led to fewer cases than feared.

The earliest version of the Norwegian Place Name Act did not distinguish between farm names and names of single holdings. Until 2006, both the names of farms and names of single holdings were registered in SSR as single holdings. From 2016, the Ministry of Cultural Affairs has funded a project that aims to separate the names of farms and single holdings in SSR. In 2016, this work was completed for 59 out of 426 municipalities. In 2017, so far, Kartverket have corrected another 12 municipalities.

Ingvil Nordland reported that, due to delays within the Ministry of Cultural Affairs, we are still waiting for the guidelines for the revised Act. The Norwegian Language Council is working on updated detailed principles for the spelling on Norwegian (but not Saami) language geographical names. This work however cannot be completed until the formal guidelines have been announced. A possible restructure of the four name consultancies services for Norwegian geographical names, administrated by The Language Council, is also expected.

Botolv Helleland informed about names of the new administrative divisions in the ongoing local government reform in Norway. The majority in the Norwegian Parliament, which consists of a coalition between the Conservative Party and the Progress Party, backed by two other parties, agreed to implement a local government reform after the election in 2013. The idea of the reform is to transfer more power and responsibility to the municipalities when they are larger units. The government has encouraged municipalities to discuss merges locally with neighboring municipalities. During this parliamentary term, which ends in 2017, the names of new municipalities have been much debated, particularly in local newspapers all over Norway. After a meeting with The Ministry of Cultural Affairs and Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation in January 2016, The Norwegian Language Council agreed to offer guidance in questions regarding the naming of new municipalities. The municipalities however are not obliged to obtain a statement from the toponymic expertise, and only a limited number have consulted The Language Council for advice. The first request came from Vestfold County, and concerned the merge between the two municipalities Tjøme and Nøtterøy. Both municipalities wanted the name Færder, which originally is the name of a group of islands outside Tjøme. Botolv Helleland was involved in the responding letter, and expressed his concern about choosing names that have no tradition as names of administrative units. The choice of the name Færder shows a trend of municipal branding that compromises the Norwegian name tradition.

The local government reform also includes a reduction of counties, fylke in Norwegian. Similar to the outline by Sweden, above, there is an ongoing discussion in Norway about the use of the terms fylke and region. Botolv Helleland and Åse Wetås, the director of The Norwegian Language Council, have written a chronicle about the subject, which also includes the naming of new counties. The article was published in Aftenposten 1.4.2017.

Katriina Pedersen informed about the white paper on Saami language, Hjertespråket - Forslag til lovverk, tiltak og ordninger for Saamiske språk. The white paper also discusses the safeguarding and use of Saami geographical names. The Norwegian Language Council was invited to the hearing.

c. Finland

Ulla Onkamo informed about the digitalization of the name archives in Finland. Finnish, Swedish and Saami geographical name cards and data capture maps have been scanned into picture format. The content of the scanned geographical name cards of the Finnish geographical name cards is converted into database format and this job is almost completed. The defining of the point coordinates is also proceeding. The aim is to start converting the Swedish geographical name cards into database format this spring. Discussions with Saami societies about converting the Saami geographical names cards into database format started in the beginning of March. One possibility is that students of Saami language could check the material converted in database form. User interface is being planned at the moment. The objective is to open the digital archive by the end of 2017. However, everything depends on how the project manages to get funding. The Ministry has not granted funding for this year, so complementing funding has been applied from municipalities, associations and foundations. Unfortunately, the needed amount has not yet been covered.

The index of inhabited places in Finland was published free of charge (http://kaino.kotus.fi/asutusnimihakemisto/) in December. It contains over 20 000 names of Finnish towns, villages and other inhabited places. The idea of the index is to give guidelines on how to inflect the names of inhabited places. For example whether to use the internal locative cases (Oulu : Oulussa) or external locative cases (Tampere : Tampereella). The principle is, that names should be declined the same way as the local people do. This means that similar or even same names are inflected differently in different parts of Finland. The index also includes the names of inhabitants of municipalities, e.g. Helsinki > helsinkiläinen.

As reported earlier (in Bangkok 2016), the Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry organized a meeting in May 2014 concerning the need of an act on geographical names. It was agreed that the Ministry of Education and Culture should continue to promote the proposal. However, in May 2016, our institute learned that the proposal has not gotten support in the Ministry of Education and Culture. They said they are awaiting an initiative from the Ministry of Justice instead. In June 2016, the Ministry of Justice asked for expert opinions on how the language legislation has been practiced and the Institute for the languages of Finland reminded in its statement of the need for an act on geographical names.


d. Denmark

Peder Gammeltoft gave a status update on the digitalization of Danish geographical name archives. As a retrenchment measure, the Institute has decided to place the archives, which occupy physical space, into storage in the basement. The archive however will still be available, as a physical archive in the basement and as a digital archive. Peder has been organizing the digitalization project, which includes 15 part time student workers. Between 100 000 and 150 000 slips are digitalized a week (500 000 document scans by 24. March, 2 million by 1. june). A big issue still is publication, mainly because the amount of metadata registration per item is limited. In a few years, optical handwriting programs might help solve this problem of retrieving the information from the index cards.

Bente Holmberg and Bent Jørgensen have retired but have both been offered emeritus positions at The Name Research Section.

Jens Bo Rykov informed about the new law on place defined information which also includes geographical names. This act aims to secure and provide accurate and reliable geospatial information, and the need for well defined geographical names connected to named objects is essential in this context. Contact with the geographical name researchers at the Name Research Section at University of Copenhagen is crucial.

The Danish geographical names register, Danske Stednavne, is an integrated part of The Basic Data Programme, which is a Danish Infrastructure Model for Public Data. An application to the service gives the public the possibility to report and suggest local names, for instance names of streams and parks.


5+6. The 11th UNCSGN Conference and the 30th UNGEGN Session

Botolv Helleland announced that Helen Kerfoot kindly has asked for a short report on the history and activity of the Norden Division for presentation at the forthcoming Conference. Botolv handed out a draft of some UNGEGN milestone. He will try to compile some material but needs help from others in the Division. Any suggestion and idea would be welcome, also from previous members of the Norden Division.

Peder Gammeltoft said that the conference this year would be of great importance because of the suggested new meeting structures. Until now, there have been conferences every 5 year and sessions every 2 year, in addition to the session held concurrent with the conference. For more efficient and effective meetings, and to optimize the resources available, the UNGEGN Bureau is proposing a new operational model for review and, when finalized, for adoption at the 11th UNCSGN in 2017. UNGEGN sessions would be held for 5 days every 2 years. The “UNCSGN” as such would be discontinued in its present format. UNGEGN sessions will take on the dual role of a technical discussion forum and a body that sets strategic initiatives and makes resolutions to ECOSOC. This new arrangement would also lead to considerable time and cost savings.

Submittal of technical papers to the 11th UNCSGN Conference must be done no later than 29 May 2017, in accordance with the procedures outlined in document E/CONF.105/INF/1. This document has not been issued yet, but will not differ significantly from that issued at the 10th UNCSGN Conference. Revised versions of Toponymic guidelines are also to be submitted. Country reports should focus on general aspects of geographical names work in the country, on progress of initiatives previously reported, and on minor legislative or procedural changes.

For the UNGEGN session, the technical papers should follow the guidelines. These have not been issued either, but will follow the guidelines set out for the 29th UNGEGN Session. The deadline is the same for submittal of papers for the UNGEGN session as for the UNCSGN Conference, so in order to be able to submit the Norden Division report in time, please submit your material for the report to Peder Gammeltoft (gammelt@hum.ku.dk) no later than 15th of May. Divisional reports should preferably focus on divisional matters only, including new areas of interest for the whole division, multinational projects, and other matters that are less suitable for reports from individual countries. Hence, Divisional reports are thematically structured, not nationally.

Please note that the Secretary-General would be grateful to receive as soon as possible details concerning the names of the delegates designated by the Governments of the Permanent Representatives to attend the Conference. At least 10 delegates from Norden Division are planning to attend (Sweden 4, Finland 2, Denmark 1 or 2, Norway 3).

7. Election of the Norden Division chair for 2017-21

Peder Gammeltoft has been division chair in two periods. The Norwegian Language Council – Språkrådet – has now decided to take on the Norden Division chairpersonship. In that relation, the current chair and representatives from Norway had a pre-meeting Thursday 23rd of May. Ingvil Nordland from The Norwegian Language Council has agreed to take over the chair on the next Norden Division meeting in New York in August 2017. Normally, the secretary is appointed from the country that holds the chair. However, it is necessary that the person in this role also attend UNGEGN conferences and sessions. Peder has kindly agreed to step in to the role as secretary in August and to maintain the Norden Division homepage.

8. Relationship between UNGEGN and UN-GGIM

The United Nations Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM) was established by ECOSOC in July 2011. In both communities, UNGEGN and UN-GGIM, geographic information, as an underpinning enabling infrastructure, is used in general or with a distinct relation to geographical names. UN-GGIM has a broader scope when it comes to geospatial information, and operates on top level in national mapping authorities. UNGEGN Bureau’s proposal for a cooperation model between UNGEGN and UN-GGIM has been circulated. The idea of a fusion seems no longer an option, but there is a potential for a closer collaboration. The new UNGEGN meeting structure will also support better cooperation. However, it is important to underline that these two committees should be operating independently. In Norway, Kartverket and The Ministry of Local Government and Modernization,
have taken initiative to discuss this collaboration in a meeting early in April.

9. News from ELF, INSPIRE and EGN

Ebba Berling Åselius reported on Sweden’s Member State Report: INSPIRE Sweden 2013-2015, published in June 2016. The report concludes that in total 70 % of the datasets have view-services that fulfill the INSPIRE-requirements and that 25 % of the reported datasets are harmonized so far. Sweden has drafted an action plan on how to identify the remaining implementation gaps in fulfilling the INSPIRE- directive (September 2016). The major implementation gap occurs with regards to network services. Sweden will intensify the efforts to close the gaps in communication with each authority. 

In 2015 the Swedish government assigned to Lantmäteriet to draw up a national geodata strategy for 2016-2020 in cooperation with the Geodata Council. The overall goal is to make geodata usable and accessible and to create a uniform geodata based on standardization, harmonization and combinability. Another aim is to make more geodata open and free of charge. The purpose of the strategy is not only to communicate with location-specific information but also to improve social planning, digitization of public administration, climate adaption and to increase the readiness of society at various contingencies. https://www.geodata.se/sv/Vad/nationell-geodatastrategi/

Ulla informed about The National Land Survey of Finland, which has recently implemented both the INSPIRE/GN (Geographical Names) WFS Data Specification and the Eurogeographics ELF/GN WFS Data Specification.

More information and technical details on NLSFI/INSPIRE/GN can be found here.

More information and technical details on NLSFI/ELF/GN can be found here

10. Norden Division homepage

The list of participants needs to be updated. Each country should report to Peder or Ingvil if there are anything missing on the homepage.
Botolv suggested that the homepage also should include toponymic guidelines.

11. Next Norden Division Meeting

The next Norden Division Meeting is planned in New York on 8. August 2017 at the 11th UNCSGN Conference. Peder has booked a meeting room for a lunch meeting.

12. Any other business

a. 52nd UNGEGN Bulletin

The special theme of the 52nd UNGEGN Bulletin will be Making geographic names accessible and available. The objective is for national geographic names authorities to write and share the measures/means that are being used to publish and disseminate their geographic names databases/registers and who are their main users. In addition, the other usual contributions such as reports on divisional activities, working groups activities and major events are also welcomed.

Submittal of articles should be before Friday, 14th April 2017. Contributions must be sent in Microsoft Word format and should not exceed 4 pages (with supporting pictures and / or diagrams). Please email your contributions to the UNGEGN Secretariat.