DESA, UNSD, the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) in collaboration with the Indonesian Geospatial Information Agency (Badan Informasi Geospasial - BIG) designed, coordinated and conducted the international training on toponymy, featuring 'Geographical Names as Cultural Heritage' from 19-23 June 2023, at the Padma Resort in Bali, Indonesia. The course was attended by 78 participants (34 females and 44 males), seven trainers, and 15 teaching assistants. Course participants were from the following seven countries: - Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Oman, Saudi Arabia and Vietnam and represented a cross section of disciplines including education, surveying, cartography, information management, linguistics, land administration and geospatial information management.

This 5-day training consisted of 32 hours of lectures, exercises and group discussions and 12 hours of field work (including travel time) and covered topics such as the principles and concepts of geographical naming and the standardization of a country's toponyms, national names agencies models and procedures, geographical names data collection using modern methods, geographical names as cultural heritage, and geographical names data processing and management.

This training was done in fulfillment of one of the goals set out in the UNGEGN Asia South-East (ASE) Division Work Plan 2019-2022 to be achieved during Indonesia's chairmanship. Initially, the training should have been held in conjunction with the 8th Divisional Meeting of the UNGEGN ASE Division in 2020. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, the training had to be postponed for safety reasons. Indonesia's chairmanship of the Asia South East Division ended in April 2022, however, they remained committed to convening the International Training on Toponymy in 2023.

The training was opened by Prof. Muh. Aris Marfai, head of BIG, who leads Indonesia in actively participating in both UNGEGN and UN-GGIM. A major highlight of the course was the names collection field exercise at cultural heritage sites within Bali, they were: Pura Tirta Empul, Pura Goa Gajah, and Garuda Wisnu Kencana Cultural Park. The training ended with an assessment and evaluation exercise, followed by a closing ceremony with speeches from Mr. Peder Gammeltoft, convenor of the UNGEGN Working Group on training and Mr. Arif Syafii the deputy of Basic Geospatial Information-BIG. Participant will receive e-certificates via email.

• Concept Note
• International Training on Toponymy web page