David Mitchell

David is an Honorary Associate Professor at RMIT University specializing in land administration and management. His internationally recognized research focuses on the impact of climate change and natural disasters on land tenure, as well as the role of responsible land administration and governance in addressing these challenges. Through high-quality scholarly publications and major international collaborations, David explores how secure land tenure rights and effective land use planning contribute to climate-resilient pathways and societal resilience. With over 25 years of experience in land administration consulting for multilateral institutions such as the World Bank, UN-FAO, UN-Habitat, and GLTN, David brings unparalleled expertise to his work. Highly regarded for teaching abilities, David leads undergraduate courses in cadastral surveying, land development, and other Geospatial subjects. His strong foundation in academic teaching and research is complemented by skills in curriculum development, student mentorship, and scholarly publication. Recognized with the RMIT SEH College Award for Teaching Excellence in 2013, David's adaptability and ability to deliver measurable results aligned with institutional goals demonstrate his commitment to excellence.

Over 70 publications including books, international multi-lateral reports, journal papers, and conference papers.

Supervised 6 PhD completions.

Over 20 funded research grants and international consultancies including recently:

• Short Term Consultant (World Bank) supporting the land team implementing urban upgrading and

  land administration projects in Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands – April 2024 – present.

• Lead consultant on project funded by the Council of Reciprocating Surveyors Boards of Australia

  and New Zealand to review the University Degree Program Accreditation Process (2023 to present).

• Land Administration Expert supporting the regular assessment cycles of the Dubai Land

  Department between 2020 and 2022.

• Land Administration and Climate Expert leading the development of a land tool and report on land

  rights and climate change for the Global Land Tool Network and UN-Habitat, 2020 – 2022.

Various academic leadership roles including:

• School of Science Work Integrated Learning Lead.
• Higher Degrees by Research Convener for Geospatial Science

• McEvoy, D., Mitchell, D., and Trundle, A., (2020) Land Tenure and Urban Climate resilience in the South Pacific, Climate and Development, Vol.12(1), pp.1-11.
• David Mitchell and Darryn McEvoy (2019) Land Tenure and Climate Vulnerability, GLTN and UN-Habitat, Nairobi, Kenya, https://unhabitat.org/land-tenure-and-climate-vulnerability.
• David Mitchell, Stig Enemark, Paul van der Molen: (2010) Climate Resilient Urban Development: Why Responsible Land Governance is Important. Land Use Policy06/2015;48:190-198., DOI:10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.05.026
• Muhibuddin Usamah, John Handmer, David Mitchell, Iftekhar Ahmed (2014) Can the Vulnerable Be Resilient? Co-existence of Vulnerability and Disaster Resilience: Informal Settlements in the Philippines. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction12/2014;10, DOI:10.1016/j.ijdrr.2014.08.007.
• 1. McEvoy, D., Barth, B., Trundle, A., and Mitchell, D., (2020) Reflecting on a Journey from Climate Change Vulnerability Assessments to the Implementation of Climate Resilience Actions: Honiara, Solomon Islands, in “Urban Resilience Asia Pacific: Challenges and Opportunities for Addressing Disasters and Climate Change in the Built Environment”, Urbanisation at Risk in the Pacific and Asia, (4), pp.53-73, Routledge,1st Edition.
• 2. McEvoy, D., and Mitchell, D., (2019) Climate Resilient Land Governance in the Global South, The Routledge Companion to Environmental Planning, (3), pp.225-237, Routledge,1st Edition.
• 3. David Mitchell (2017) Flipping the Learning of Subdivision Design for Surveying Students. The Flipped Classroom: Practice and Practices in Higher Education, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-3413-8_15 edited by Carl Reidsema, Lydia Kavanagh, Roger Hadgraft, Neville Smith,02/2017: pages245-256; Springer Singapore.

• Australian delegate to International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)1, Commission7: Cadastre and Land Management (2007-present).
• Visiting Expert to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) (October/November2009).
• Co-Chair of FIG Working Group7.2 (with Prof Jaap Zevenbergen): “Land Tenure, Climate Change and Natural Disasters” (2011-2014).
• Member of the FIG Taskforce on Surveyors and Climate Change (2011-2014).
• Member of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN)2 International Advisory Board.2016 – present.
• Co-Chair of GLTN Research and Training Cluster2 (with Prof Siraj Sait) -2016-2019.
• Board Member of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Foundation (2019-2020).
• Chair of Commission 2 (Professional Education) of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) (2019-2022).
• Sessional Member of Planning Panels Victoria. Appointed by the Minister for Planning to sit on panels and ministerial advisory committees that consider changes to planning schemes throughout Victoria,2009-2015.
• Organised and coordinated various land subdivision workshops for the Victorian Department of Planning, and for Public Land Consultancy.

• Twenty-three years of experience in designing and delivering undergraduate and postgraduate courses (subjects) in survey measurement science, cadastral surveying, and land development in the Surveying and Geospatial Science Degree. I was awarded the2013 RMIT College of Science, Engineering and Health Award for Teaching Excellence.
• Lead author of an E-learning curriculum on land tenure and natural disasters, for the UN FAO Voluntary Guidelines on the Responsible Governance of Tenure of Land, Fisheries and Forests in the context of National Food Security. Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (UN FAO) – “VG8: Addressing Tenure Issues in the Context of Natural Disasters”.
• Supervision and management of a Global Land Tool Network Project to develop teaching materials to support an International Curriculum on “Responsible Land Administration”. The result is six Modules published by GLTN in2019.

• David has 20 years’ experience in international research and consulting in the area of land tenure, natural disasters and climate change. He has undertaken field activities in the Solomon Islands, Indonesia, Philippines, Lao, Cambodia, and Nepal. His research focus is on facilitating land administration systems to support climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction and resilience building in developed as well as developing countries. This work is informed by the Climate Resilient Land Administration tool that David developed for the Global Land Tool Network. This tool aims to link land and climate actions through a process of vulnerability, risk and tenure assessment supporting the development of land and climate interventions.
• Key funded research projects include:
• 2012 $95,050 AusAID Pacific Public Sector Linkages Grant – “Training and Capacity Building in Addressing Land and Natural Resource Issues in Disaster Risk Management”
• 2013 $10,780 Royal Institute of Chartered Accountants (RICS) Education Trust – “Understanding Land Issues in Climate Change Adaptation Decisions for Informal Settlements in Fiji and PNG”.
• 2014 $26,400 UN-HABITAT – Land Tenure Initiative in the Asia Pacific – Phase1.
• 2015 $39,400 UN-HABITAT – Land Tenure Initiative in the Asia Pacific – Phase2.
• 2016 $229,000 UN-Habitat - Global Land Tool Network Phase2 Programme (2012-2017).
• 2017 $46,207 UN-Habitat – Research Study on Land Tenure, Climate Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity.
• 2018 $5,133 UN-Habitat – Study on Land Tenure, Climate Vulnerability and Adaptive Capacity.
• 2019 $50,000 UNFCCC Adaptation Fund, Climate Resilient Honiara.
• 2020 USD50,000 UN-Habitat and Global Land Tenure Network – development of climate-resilient land administration tool.

• Supervision of Degree students major projects for 23 years, as well as Ph.D. Supervision that focuses on land tenure and land administration in the context of natural disasters and climate change with the following completions.
• Year Candidate Thesis
• 2014 Muhibuddin Usamah Land Tenure Security and Resilience to Multiple Disasters: A Study of Camalig Municipality, Province of Albay, the Philippines.
• 2014 Seyedhossein Pourali Developing a Spatial Approach to Support Local Flood-risk-based Land Use Planning.
• 2017 Mau Duc Ngo A Policy Framework for a Provincial User-centric SDI to Support Land Administration in Vietnam: Case Study of Vinh Long Province.
• 2019 Nasrin Sultana Baby Spatial Decision Support System for Coastal Flood Management in Victoria.
• 2020 Ahmad Mohammed O. Fallatah Mapping Informal Settlements in a Middle Eastern Environment Using Remote Sensing Techniques.
• 2022 Mulyadi Mulyadi Integrating Land Administration and Disaster Risk Reduction for Improved People-Land-Disaster Outcomes: A Case Study of Informal Settlements Along Jakarta’s Ciliwung River.

• Australian delegate to International Federation of Surveyors (FIG)1, Commission 7: Cadastre and Land Management (2007-present).
• Visiting Expert to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UN FAO) (October/November 2009)
• Co-Chair of FIG Working Group 7.2 (with Prof Jaap Zevenbergen): “Land Tenure, Climate Change and Natural Disasters” (2011-2014).
• Member of the FIG Taskforce on Surveyors and Climate Change (2011-2014).
• Member of the Global Land Tool Network (GLTN)2 International Advisory Board. 2016 – present.
• Co-Chair of GLTN Research and Training Cluster3 (with Prof Siraj Sait) - 2016-2019.
• Board Member of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) Foundation (2019-2020).
• Chair of Commission 2 (Professional Education) of the International Federation of Surveyors (FIG) (2019-2022).
• Sessional Member of Planning Panels Victoria. Appointed by the Minister for Planning to sit on panels and ministerial advisory committees that consider changes to planning schemes throughout Victoria, 2009-2015.