Day 3: Participatory Mapping and Community Empowerment for Climate Change Adaptation, Planning and Advocacy

23 May, 2012, HONIARA - Day 3 started with the visit to the nearby hall where the blank 3D model was on display. At that time six community representatives from Naro location were already working on it taking into account the legend items they previously identified and listed. Assisted by a facilitator they were using colour-coded pushpins, yarns and paint to populate the land-and seascapes of the 3D model. Small labels were used to name settlements, mountain peaks, river courses and other landmark features used by community members to orient themselves in the area. Before start working, the facilitator Patrick Vuet invited Naro representatives to explain the process undertaken so far. “We have been working at the preparation of the legend since yesterday” Joseph Salima from Naro explained. “At the very beginning we experienced some difficulties in recognizing our area on the 3D map. After a short while it became clear to us and now we are able to recognize the entire area. But” he continued “we would like to ask you to help us in case we would not do things properly”.

Looking at the blank model, he seemed challenged by the task and not confident about his capabilities.
However, when the workshop participants asked Joseph to identify the location of the Naro village and the protected marine area, he did not hesitate and pointed his finger to specific locations on the blank 3D model. The immediate response of Joseph was the demonstration of what the workshop participants had learned during the previous days, namely that deeply rooted knowledge needs the right channel to surface. In fact Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) is known for facilitating reflection and for eliciting tacit knowledge, and for making people aware of the precious knowledge they hold.

While community representatives started populating the model with coloured yarns and pushpins, in the main hall Giacomo Rambaldi opened the morning session addressing the main topic of the day: attitudes, behaviours and ethics in practicing participatory GIS (PGIS). By running a map reversal exercise and showing images focusing on body language, Rambaldi argued that external factors influence our beliefs, values and attitudes. In turn the latter manifest through our behaviours and affect our facilitation work among rural communities. Indeed, acceptable behaviours and ethics can vary from culture to culture. To highlight this aspect, Dave de Vera and Senoveva Mauli facilitated a group exercise focusing on the definition of ground rules for community workers or technology intermediaries entering a community.

Five working group were formed based on the geographical origin of the participants. Although the final outputs differed based on cultural traits and target beneficiaries, some crosscutting elements could be singled out. These included (i) the need for building a trustful relationship, (ii) being open and transparent on intended and possibly unintended consequences, (iii) the need for obtaining free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) from participating knowledge holders on data capturing and handling, (iv) the need for ensuring respect of intellectual property rights (IPR) and (v) the need for involving local authorities and community leaders from the very early stages of the process.

Following the projection of the inspiring video “Localisation, participation and communication: an introduction to good PGIS practice” where the main does and don’ts in the facilitation of participatory mapping processes are addressed, Giulia Pedone interviewed a panel of experts on attitude, behaviours and ethics in the context of community-based activities. Jacob Zikuli, Adaptation Fund SWoCK Project Manager; Simon Albert, researcher at the University of Queensland; Neila Bobb-Prescott, Senior Technical Officer for the Caribbean Natural Resource Institute (CANARI) and Dave de Vera, PAFID Executive Director, composed the panel.

Jackob Zikuli was invited to comment about good practices for building trust between intermediaries and community. “Building trust is a very important part of the work” he said. “I follow four principles: first, introduce your work to the community, to build confidence. Second, be honest and clear about what you do and about the implications of your work. Third, you have to be careful with the benefits people might expect from your work (don’t raise false expectations); only when people evaluate benefits and risks they can be able to say “yes” or “no”. And forth, a long term commitment with communities, showing that your work will build capacities and strengthen them”.

The sensitive issue of intellectual ownership of knowledge holders on the information provided during scientific research was raised with Simon Albert. “This is a very sensitive issue I have been confronting with several times while working in Melanesia.  It is important to ensure equal access to information and get Free, Prior and Informed Consent from the knowledge holders before making use of the collected data” he said. However “the real key issues are the human behaviour and the internal attributes of the person” Simon Albert added. This relates with integrity and sensitiveness of the researcher. Indeed, some recommendation can be also drawn: the establishment of a long-term, strong bond and friendly relationship with communities, the use of local language to ensure mutual understanding among parties and avoid miscommunication and a deep comprehension of the cultural context; all are key elements that can facilitate a trusted relationship between researchers and communities, and that should mitigate risks of misappropriation of local knowledge.

Neila Bobb-Prescott presented some participatory tools she uses in her work with communities in the Caribbean to facilitate participatory processes. Tools like the stakeholder analysis can identify who should be involved in the process, at what stage and taking which responsibilities. This exercise should be done at the very early stage of the process in order to ensure fair participation of community members and avoid that few people take control over it. In addition, according to Ms. Bob-Prescott, the presence of a skilled, independent facilitator is also crucial for promoting equal participation.

How to ensure that people are aware of the potential consequences of undertaking participatory processes and how to avoid to expose people to danger, especially when working in conflict areas, was the question addressed to Dave de Vera. “In my experience, people that choose to get involved in participatory processes, especially mapping,  are already aware of the risks”, he replied.  Participatory mapping processes may touch on sensitive issues but might also be used to address conflicts. The role of the facilitator is to provide an even basis of understanding spatial issues upon which to build and elaborate diverse scenarios, be honest about opportunities and risks, and enable community members to take informed decisions.  “90% of facilitation is about sensitivity”, he added. “It is like having a third eye, able to read between lines, being sensitive to the circumstances”, independently from the educational background the person has.

The last questions addressed to all panellists focused on “who gains and who loses” and “who is empowered or disempowered” within participatory processes. “If not done properly” Dave de Vera replied, “everybody loses. The facilitator will loose his/her credibility. At the same time the community will also loose because it will be misrepresented. On the contrary, if done properly, both sides would win. Facilitators learn, and the community gains. I have been involved in participatory mapping during the last 20 years and I am still learning. Every P3DM is something new; I always learn from people”, he concluded.

The panel was followed by a Q&A session which generated a vibrant debate about those sensitive issues.

The panel was followed by a presentation of Neila Bobb-Prescott on facilitating grassroots participation in decision making processes in the Caribbean. She kick-started her slot animating an energising game among participants. The game helped raising awareness on key factors that influence participatory processes, such as the spontaneous emergence of group leaders in crisis situations, the diversity of power relations within groups, and the need to strategize and foster collaboration to address complex situations. In line with the core thrust of the workshop, Neila Bobb-Prescott presented two case study: The first one was on the formulation of Trinidad and Tobago forest and protected areas policies through collaborative processes. The second one focused on participatory video used as an advocacy tool to help a fishing community communicate their challenges and develop partnerships to address them. According to Neila, in both cases the deployment of trained, independent facilitators emerged as a key success factor. This could help building trust and understanding of issues among the parties. Communities need to develop clear messages to communicate their needs. Use participatory tools to plan how communities will be engaged and what role you want them to play so it is clear what participants from the community are expected to do. Involve communities and their intermediaries in policy development to build support, capacity and interest in management.

The last part of the day was dedicated to participatory video as tool for community empowerment and advocacy.

Video, in fact, allows communities to express their vision from their own perspective, document their stories and traditions, communicate and raise awareness about the main challenges they are facing and share their experiences.

Kat Gawlik, a freelance media producer attending the workshop on behalf of TNC, described how in participatory processes, multimedia can be used for enabling marginalised people to speak out, raise concerns and gain public attention.

One of the videos produced by coastal communities in the framework of a TNC-supported initiative in the Solomon Islands provides evidence on climate change impacts and documents how affected communities had planned to best manage their environment.

During the course of the whole day, community representatives from Naro worked towards the completion of their 3D model.

Primary and secondary forest, coconut plantations, coastal protected areas, swamps, river courses, roads, logging concessions’ boundaries and other landmarks gradually populated the map.

An initiative supported by:

Read more:

• Day 01 blogpost
• Day 02 blogpost
• Day 03 blogpost
• Day 04 blogpost
• Day 05 blogpost
• Day 06 blogpost

Day 2: Participatory Mapping and Community Empowerment for Climate Change Adaptation, Planning and Advocacy

22 May, 2012, HONIARA - During the  second day of the workshop participants were exposed to the main phases of the map-making process. Morning presentations by Giacomo Rambaldi, CTA senior programme coordinator, accompanies by the featuring of a series of video productions, provided detailed information on the steps to follow in order to produce a stand-alone, scale and geo-referenced relief model.

The method is the result of a merger of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) and Geographic  Information Technologies GITs). Prior to the realization of the model there is the need to work with the knowledge holders to clearly define the purpose, the geographical scope and the scale of the map. Technology intermediaries may play a role in favouring a fair representation of all sectors of society in the process, including women and less favoured strata. The selection of the scale is an important factor, since the smaller the scale is, the less the people will relate to the 3D model.

While presentations and Questions and Answers were enfolding in the main hall, students from the Selwyn College were busy manufacturing a 1:5000 scale model of Naro a rural area located west of Honiara . As reported by the facilitator, Patrick Vuet, the model covers an area of 5 km x 6 km or 30 km2, includes coastal and terrestrial components, a traditional marine protected area and raises from sea level up to 490m elevation. To complete the blank model the students had to cut 49 layers of carton board to match the 10 m contour interval used on the base map.

The blank model offers the reference base for adults to transfer their mental recollections (spatial knowledge) in the day to come. As outlined in his presentation by Dr. JC Gaillard from the School of Environment, The University of Auckland, participatory 3D models offer the opportunity for integrating local spatial knowledge with scientific data; Gaillard argued that P3DM is a powerful tool that can be used to combine different knowledge systems and that this could help foster dialogue between stakeholders and improve participation of “voiceless” groups in decision-making processes. Gideon Solo from TNC shared his experience in using P3DM for CC adaptation planning. His intervention was followed by a contribution offered by Ringko Kodosiku, a representative from Boe Boe village who shared his insider’s experience in the use of the method, which – he stated – went by far beyond map-making. In fact he reported that the model his community manufactured in 2011 is now used for planning reforestation activities, address livelihood options and improve local agricultural practices.

However, to be ready for interpretation, a map needs a key to interpret its symbols: the legend. “A map is mute without its legend” pointed out Jacob Zikuli, AF-SWoCK Project Manager. As participants highlighted today, the legend making process is a fundamental step in any participatory mapping process. The “talkative” capacity of a map, in fact, rests in the capability of different users to interpret and understand what it is meant to reproduce; particularly when a map is used to support intercultural dialogue, it is essential that its graphic vocabulary is fully understood by all parties involved.

The preparation of the legend precedes the plotting of features on the model. Six representatives (3 men and 3 women) of Naro presented their draft legend to the workshop participants. The legend items included point data (school, church, houses..), lines (rivers, roads) and areas (forest conservation, logging areas, coconut plantation, reforestation areas, home gardens, fishing areas, different types of forest, etc).

P3DM has proven to be effective to elicit people’s tacit knowledge on their environment:  While working on the physical model, people internalise its landscape and are progressively at ease in navigating it and in locating features. Stimulated by intense discovery learning processes and intra-generational knowledge exchanges, tacit knowledge tends to emerge.

According to several presenters, the P3DM process is characterised by a unique pattern of excitement and willingness to complete the tasks, leading knowledge holders to work late in the night to thoroughly populate the model with their mental recollections. According to Giacomo Rambaldi such excitement is linked to the fact that mapmakers realise to know more than they were aware of (i.e. emergence of tacit knowledge), to the fact that such knowledge is valuable for them and for their community as a whole and to the celebration of its inter and intra-generational transfer.

The process of map-making also gives people the chance to analyse their own situation, identify problems on the territory and their root causes, and frequently to come up with potential solutions. Hence the P3DM process is considered as a catalyst in taking informed decisions about future intervention on land and waters. Dave de Vera reported that P3DM is an excellent method for observing the changes in the resource base over time, for planning their future uses and for monitoring purposes.  “Through P3D-Modelling communities can find the relationship with their environment by themselves and they will be able to make informed choices”, Don Wilfred pointed out. “P3D-Modelling is a strategic tool for planning”, he said.

Participants concluded that P3DM can be used for a range of purposes including land tenure, community-based environment conservation and rehabilitation, planning agricultural activities and contributing to the design of interventions having a social infrastructure component. In the Philippines, for instance, P3DM were used to draft intervention plans for gravity fed irrigation systems.

The second day came to an end with a group exercise. Participants were asked to share their reflections based on feedback featured on the Democracy Wall.

Before joining the Pacific Adaptation to Climate Change (PACC) project, as Project Manager, Mr Taito Nakalevu, was working for his government in the domain of geomatics. Recognizing the power of P3DM for community empowerment he stated that “P3DM  takes community participation at a higher level”

Brilliantly facilitated by Senoveva Mauli from TNC Solomon, the workshop came to an end on a series of remarks made by Dave de Vera: “P3DM is a picture of the reality produced by the people to show who they are. It communicates the point of view of the people, the way they relate with their environment, the way they want to live their life. P3DM encompasses all these aspects“.

An initiative supported by:

Read more:

• Day 01 blogpost
• Day 02 blogpost
• Day 03 blogpost
• Day 04 blogpost
• Day 05 blogpost
• Day 06 blogpost

Retour sur l'expérience en P3DM à Boeboe, îles Salomon, à travers les yeux d’une femme

HONIARA, le 25 mai 2012  - Nous avons demandé à Winifred Pitamama, laquelle a pris part à un exercice de modélisation participative en 3D qui s'est déroulé en février 2011 dans le village de Boeboe, province de Choiseul dans les îles Salomon, de nous faire part de son expérience et des leçons apprises. Ci-dessous figure son récit.

« Je m'appelle Winifred Pitamama du village de Boeboe, province de Choiseul dans les îles Salomon. Je suis enseignante. Au nom des habitants de Boeboe, et notamment des femmes et des enfants, j'ai le très grand honneur et le privilège de me tenir devant vous, partenaires très ingénieux ayant participé à cet atelier, pour partager notre expérience concernant l'exercice de modélisation participative en 3D qui s'est déroulé dans mon village en février 2011. Je vais vous parler de la participation des femmes et des enfants au démarrage du projet, de leur réaction une fois le modèle achevé, des leçons qu'ils ont tirées du modèle, de leur expérience du modèle P3D s’agissant de l'environnement et de l'exploitation minière, de mon point de vue en tant qu'enseignante et des mesures que nous devrions prendre concernant les changements climatiques.

Lorsque ce modèle P3D a été réalisé, les femmes et les enfants étaient très excités et ont consacré beaucoup de temps à sa confection. Ils ne voulaient pas rentrer chez eux, ni s'arrêter pour déjeuner. Certains continuaient même de travailler jusqu'à 3 heures du matin ! Ce faisant, nous avons réussi à achever le modèle P3D de notre village, sans savoir l'importance qu'il allait revêtir pour nous.

Mais une fois le modèle terminé, nous avions sous les yeux le tableau exact de notre terre natale. Nous étions vraiment heureux, parce que tout le monde ne savait pas lire une carte ni même ce qu'étaient des lignes de contour. Et c'est ainsi que nous avons beaucoup appris, rien qu'en construisant et en regardant la carte en 3D. Elle nous donne de nouvelles informations sur le paysage, les ruisseaux, les rivières, les mangroves marécageuses, les sites culturels, les zones de conservation et bien plus encore. Même les zones de prospection minière ! Elle donne de la valeur à notre lieu de vie.


Modelling the Future in Boe Boe Community, Solomon Islands from CTA on Vimeo.

Toutefois, nous avons aussi remarqué les effets des changements climatiques sur l'environnement. Comme nous dépendons beaucoup des ressources marines, nous avons réalisé que la plupart des endroits où se trouvent des coquillages comestibles sont maintenant recouverts d'eau de mer et que le niveau ne cesse d'augmenter. On peut également voir que certaines régions qui jusque-là restaient au sec sont effleurées par la hausse du niveau de la mer. Désormais, les femmes et les enfants comprennent que les changements climatiques suivent leur cours. Cela est dû aux activités humaines.

Par conséquent, nous avons besoin de considérer l'exploitation minière avec soin, et notamment ses effets à long terme. Nous pouvons prédire que, si l'extraction a lieu, nos ressources, notamment en termes d'alimentation, seront menacées. Et pas seulement cela. Nos forêts et nos sites culturels devraient aussi être respectés. Autrement, nous perdrons tout !

De ce fait, nos enfants d'âge scolaire ont besoin d'être informés du modèle P3D. En effet, en tant que professeur de sciences sociales, je dois reconnaître que ce modèle m'a été très utile dans mes leçons sur les lignes de contour et les paysages et même les changements climatiques. J'ai aidé mes étudiants à prendre cette information au sérieux, car nous avons besoin du développement, afin que tout le monde ait la possibilité d'augmenter son niveau de vie. Ainsi, les gens de mon village commencent à s'éloigner des zones côtières pour gagner des terres plus élevées mais cela prend du temps et il faut de l'argent pour une telle réinstallation.

Toutefois, lorsqu'on veut, on peut.

Sur ces quelques remarques,

Merci à tous ! »

Day 1: Participatory Mapping and Community Empowerment for Climate Change Adaptation, Planning and Advocacy

21 May, 2012, HONIARA - “Of course we know a lot about our land and sea, but we didn’t realise just how much we do actually know ...” representatives of Chivoko community of Choiseul province, Solomon Islands, pointed out after the Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) exercise was completed. As we discovered today, P3DM goes far beyond making a map; it is a process that, if efficiently and correctly used, can become a powerful tool to give voice to those people that over time have being excluded from decision-making processes within the mainstream society.

The “Participatory Mapping and Community Empowerment for Climate Change Adaptation, Planning and Advocacy, an Orientation and Project Planning Workshop” opened today in Honiara, Solomon Islands.

Organized by the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in partnership with The Nature Conservancy UNDP Solomon, Partners with Melanesia (PwM) and three UNDP Co-funded projects, namely Strengthen Environment Management and Reducing the Impact of Climate Change (SEMRICC); Strogen Waka lo Community fo Kaikai (SWoCK) and Pacific Adaptation for Climate Change (PACC), the event brought together more than 80 people from 17 countries, including Australia, Cook Islands, Federated Sates of Micronesia, Fiji, Italy, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Solomon Islands, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, UK, USA and Vanuatu.

Hon. Rense Sore, Permanent Secretary of MECDM
opens the event

The workshop was opened by Rense Sore, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change, Disaster Management and Meteorology (MECDM).

His intervention was followed by the one delivered by Dr. Douglas Lee, Director Climate Change Division (MECDM) who introduced the recently developed National Climate Change Policy for Solomon Islands and the one by David Hiriasia, Director Meteorology (MECDM).

The sessions of the day combined presentations on participatory mapping methods and their use, with group exercises and open spaces for interactive information sharing; a practical session on P3DM enfolded in parallel: assisted by a facilitator,  students from the Naro community started assembling a 1:5000 scale model of their village. Once completed, the model will be populated by elders coming from the village. Once finalised the model will include a traditional coastal conservation area (tambu area) located in front of the main settlement.

This activity will allows workshop participants to have a factual experience of what a participatory 3D mapmaking process is all about, students to acquire a new skill, and finally villagers to gain access to an updated, scaled and geo-referenced replica of their territory for further development and use .

The today’s focus of the event was on opportunities and challenges of practicing Participatory GIS in developing countries, especially when assessing climate change impacts and adaptation measures.

As different experiences of P3DM carried out around the world reveal, participatory mapping can be a key instrument for local and indigenous communities to document and express their local knowledge and to communicate it through a visual language easily understandable for outsiders. In this sense, the power of the maps embraces at the same time the risks of doing mapping itself: if, on the one hand, participatory mapping process can enable local communities to give visibility to their valuable knowledge and thus to increase their contribution in influencing decision-making processes, on the other hand, the translation of local knowledge into public information, and out of local control, might lead to undesired exploitation or generate conflicts.

If misused, in fact, information shown on maps might open up the door to outsiders to take control over local resources. This is why it is fundamental to carefully consider risks and benefits and to set clear objectives with communities before carrying out participatory mapping activities, as Giacomo Rambaldi (CTA) pointed out. This will help to find ways to safeguard local knowledge, keeping some of the sensitive information confidential, and to mitigate risks.


Over time, participatory mapping activities in general, and P3DM in particular, have been undertaken in different parts of the world to address different issues, from self-determination of local communities to the management of territorial conflicts, from land titling to community based planning and management, including participatory watershed planning and management, hazard management and climate change adaptation, among others.

Among the P3DM experiences presented today, those in the Pacific Region mostly focussed on climate change adaptation. For many communities, participatory 3D models have been important tools to understand their land and the gradual impacts of climate change on traditional territories, as well as to envisage possible future scenarios and take informed actions. Over time, indigenous and local communities have developed climate change adaptation practices based on existing knowledge and on observation of the natural phenomena. In this context, P3DM can be used as a tool to merge indigenous knowledge with available science and technology to best deal with and mitigate climate change impacts. In the case of the community of Boe Boe, Solomon Islands, as its representatives reported, the model helped villagers to identify the raise of the sea level and the progressive erosion of the coastline; based on this observations, the community decided to not longer build houses on the coast while moving to the inland instead. The P3DM exercise in Boe Boe, supported by The Nature Conservancy, was successful in facilitating community land use planning and the sustainable management of natural resources. But this was not the only outcome the P3DM activity achieved.

As Winifred Pitamama, Boe Boe’s representative, stressed out "during the P3DM process women and children learned a lot about our area. The model showed our sacred places, our inland before our ancestors moved to the coast, where to collect shell, where to fish (…). But, especially it helped women to best plan for the future. At the beginning it was a bit challenging for women, because they don’t raise their concerns, they are generally quite (…). This has been a tool to share our views”. As a teacher, Winifred is using the model for educational purposes in her work with children. “They learn to recognize their places” she said. As in Boe Boe, other communities made use of the participatory 3D models to better understand their territories, what was affecting them and to raise awareness about those issues.

This is the case of Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines, that were able to visualise the potential impact of a large scale mining operation scheduled to take place within their ancestral domains and to induce the local government to stop the intervention, as Dave de Vera (PAFID) reported.

Therefore, P3DM becomes a powerful tool to visualise the past, the present and the future, to analyse the movement of natural resources and to design action plans to protect or stimulate the restoration of resources, appointing people to monitor the process in the future.

An initiative supported by:

Read more:

• Day 01 blogpost
• Day 02 blogpost
• Day 03 blogpost
• Day 04 blogpost
• Day 05 blogpost
• Day 06 blogpost

Combining Traditional Knowledge and Technology for Community led Climate Change Adaptation

21 May 2012, HONIARA. Pacific Islanders will now have a greater voice in climate change decision making and a more direct input in adapting their communities to climate change using a combination of traditional knowledge and technology. This will be made possible through the week-long awareness raising and planning workshop on Participatory Mapping and Community Empowerment for Climate Change Policy Making that started in Honiara today.

Organised jointly by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and Partners With Melanesians (PwM), the workshop aims to promote the adoption of innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) tools and approaches to help address development challenges.

Around 80 participants, including community leaders, representatives from non government organisations (NGOs), community based organisations, regional, national and local bodies as well as researchers and technical experts will attend the workshop at the Kitano Mendana Hotel in Honiara.

Participatory three-dimensional modeling (P3DM) is a community based mapping method that used local knowledge with scientific data like the elevation of the land and depth of the sea to produce stand-alone, scaled and geo-referenced relief models.

This method, integrated with more sophisticated tools can enhance resilience to climate change by adding value to traditional knowledge and promoting its integration in adaptation planning and advocacy processes.

“The combination of traditional and scientific knowledge not only allows farmers and fishers in Small Island Developing States to have voice in climate change decision-making but can also ensure the implementation of more effective adaptation strategies,” said Giacomo Rambaldi, Senior Programme Coordinator of CTA.

During the workshop, expert presenters and facilitators working in the region will share case studies and lessons learned and discuss the benefits, challenges, and ethical considerations involved in the process. Representatives from Mboemboe village in Choiseul Province (who have already been through the process of manufacturing a coastal P3DM and used it for planning purposes),  will share their experience at the workshop.

Local community members from Honiara will be engaged in the construction of a mini-model. While students will take care of the physical construction, elders will populate the model with spatial data drawn from memory. Participants in the main session will be given the opportunity to interface with the parallel session and get a hands-on experience of P3DM.

The workshop concludes on 26th May.

More information on the event are available here.

An initiative supported by: