ARD Human Settlement Specialist Mr. Ivan Laughlin was invited to deliver a guest lecture at the prestigious Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, USA to post graduate students enrolled in the course:

“Sustainable Development and Practice in the Context of the Insular Caribbean.”

Mr. Laughlin joined the ARD in July 2005 at which time he established the Human Settlement Task Force, which comprises representatives of all land related agencies in Grenada. The Task Force has embarked on the remapping of Grenada and the establishment of a national Cadastre.

During his three-hour lecture on Friday (April 7), Mr. Laughlin will focus on the positive impact the Human Settlement Task Force is having on the reconstruction process in Grenada, as well as his Human Settlement work in Montserrat in 1995 following the eruption of the Soufriere Volcano and in Pakistan in 1987 following the war in Afghanistan.

Human Settlement, according to Mr. Laughlin, is an all-embracing approach to the sustainable development of the living environment, incorporating shelter, housing, land use, land ownership, land development and people participation into the planning process.