Lars H. Backer Prize 2017

The Lars H. Backer Prize in memoriam of Lars H. Backer will be awarded for major contributions to the development of a geospatial foundation for official statistics or for significantly improving the relevance of geospatial statistics for evidenced-based decision making.
Relevant activities include eminent work for the development of geospatial statistics, improving the access to geospatial information for statisticians, preparing relevant ground-breaking legislation, conducting high quality research on territorial development using geospatial statistics, development of innovative tools and software, or major achievements in training and education on creating and using geospatial statistics.

Candidacy Criteria
Both individuals and organisations are eligible.

Submission
In order to remain open to the various ways in which the qualities of a candidate may be conveyed, the Nomination Committee has introduced  no special nomination submission form. The nomination need not be lengthy, but should include:

  • the name of the candidate,
  • an explanation of why the individual or organisation is considered by the nominator to be a worthy candidate for the Lars H. Backer Prize in light of the above criteria,
  • and the name, title and academic or professional affiliation of the nominator.

Submission Methods
Nominations should be sent to the President of the EFGS Janusz Dygaszewicz by email (the title of the email should contain phrase ‘Lars Backer prize’).

Process of Nomination and Selection
Deadline for nominations is the 19th of October. A nomination is considered valid if it is submitted by National Statistical Institutes, National Mapping Authorities or their employees.
The Steering Committee of the European Forum for Geography and Statistics (EFGS) is responsible for the selection of eligible candidates and the choice of the Lars H. Backer Prize Laureate.

The prize will be presented at the 2017 EFGS conference that will take place from 2nd and 3rd of November 2017 in Dublin.