Participatory 3D Modelling in Bale, Ethiopia

MELCA Mahiber, an Ethiopian NGO member of the African Biodiversity network (ABN), facilitated the construction of a large Participatory 3D Model covering 1,575 sq. km (at a 1:12,500-scale) in Bale and West Arsi, Ethiopia.

The exercise has been done to assist local communities in planning out a more sustainable management of the area, reviving local bio-cultural diversity and supporting local environmental education.

More information on the exercise is found here.

2009 PGIS / PPGIS Photo Competition launched by CTA

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) has launched a Photo Competition. Participants can win prices up to a maximum of EUR 900! CTA and partners are creating a multimedia multilingual training kit to support the spread of good participatory mapping practice. The training kit will promote examples of participatory mapping from around the Globe. A collection of images will be included in the photo library of the kit.

The competition has been launched to enrich the library with a wide variety of examples and applications from around the world. The competition allows development practitioners and researchers to share photographic records of their experiences with other peers and contribute to a product (the training kit) which will be freely available in different languages in 2010. More about the competition, its legal conditions, guidelines for submission and procedures of selection and awarding is found on the recently launched CTA web site dedicated to Participatory GIS (PGIS) practice.

PGIS/PPGIS Global Forum - Year's end summary and greetings

The PGIS/PPGIS Global Forum [ppgis] has steadily grown, reaching a total of 1346 members as of today. Approximately 560 messages have been posted this year. The Spanish [ppgis-sp] chapter launched in 2007 has grown to a total of 113 members, while the French [ppgis-fr] and Portuguese [ppgis-pt]-speaking communities have been languishing (sorry!). Each chapter operates independently and is managed by groups of 4-6 moderators. All chapters can be reached and joined via the PGIS/PPGIS gateway http://www.ppgis.net/

On the PGIS/PPGIS Global forum [ppgis] postings and debates have been rich in terms of content and innovation. Year 2008 started with a debate on PGIS / PPGIS practice for conflict management. Amidst announcements and postings for sharing information or seeking advice, debates focused the use of PGIS practice in the development sector, understanding of PGIS vs. PPGIS, partnerships and success in PGIS, PPGIS and Vulnerability, PGIS/PPGIS indicators, fundraising for PGIS projects, P-mapping certification, PGIS for disaster response, measuring the appropriateness of PGIS, free and open source desktop GIS, land tenure before and after disasters, confidentiality of data, climate change & Google Earth, mapping with Mobile Indigenous Peoples, using P3DM, community-based mapping courses, participative methods for SDI construction, PPGIS as a participatory health promotion strategy, and CyberTracker, amongst others.

In 2008, CTA initiated a project entitled “Support the spread of good practice in generating, managing, analysing and communication spatial information”. The project is financially supported by CTA, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), IKM Emergent and the Ford Foundation Brazil. The project The project’s overall objective is to increase the capacity of indigenous and other marginalised peoples to engage in effective policy dialogue and advocacy. The output of the initiative will consist in a freely available Multilingual, Modular, Multimedia Training Kit to be used in face to face capacity building events. The kit will be published in English and Spanish. Brazilian-Portuguese and French versions will follow. In the context of this project, CTA will soon launch a Photo Competition. More information on the project and the competition will soon be published on http://pgis.cta.int/

Here are a some other initiatives where members of this list are invited to participate and contribute:

• PPGIS/PGIS Group on LinkedIn (LinkedIn is a social- networking site used by professionals);
• http://www.ppgis.eu/ : a highly specialized Custom Search Engine reflecting knowledge and interests in PGIS/PPGIS practice and science;
• P3DM Where? is an interactive world map based on Google Map technology operated collaboratively by participatory mapping practitioners and serves for locating "participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) exercises" worldwide;
• A Participatory Translation Initiative has been launched among members of this list last October for translating the subtitles of a video on P3DM. So far translations have been completed by volunteers for the following languages: Arabic, Fijian, Italian, Swahili and Turkish. Other 18 languages are currently being translated. The video with subtitles can be embedded on any blog of website using a code which can be obtained on the video page under the heading “share”;
• “Palawan Endangered” this recently launched initiative consists in a campaign aimed at raising awareness on the in the ongoing and planned mining activities in Palawan (and the whole of the Philippines). The campaign will make use of web 2.0 tools including Google Earth, Google Docs and Video Sharing sites and seeks volunteer contributions. Interested parties should contact palawan.endangered[at]gmail.com;
• On PPgis.Net there is a regularly updated collection of books dealing with PGIS/PPGIS practice. If you would like to recommend additional titles you should write to ppgis[at]ppgis.net
• The PGIS/PPGIS Web Ring is a “ring of websites” sharing common interests in collaborative geospatial information management practice aimed at supporting conservation and development, sustainable natural resource management, customary property rights and peer-to-peer communication. If you run a site dealing with PGIS/PPGIS practice and are interested in joining the ring, please follow this link (for webmasters).

Please note that DGroups, the platform hosting this list, is in the process of being transferred to a more up-to-date environment (Dgroups 2.0). This may cause some temporary disruption in the service. At present all postings are found here . (This may change when this list will be migrated on the new platform).

Selected collections of annotated links are found on http://www.ppgis.net/ You can use all features of this community platform after login (join) by entering your e-mail address and password. In case you forgot your password, you can retrieve it via this link.

The [ppgis] forum and related web site http://www.ppgis.net/ are run and moderated on a voluntary basis with no external financial support. Many thanks to all contributors and moderators. Thanks again for all contributions, messages behind the scene, encouragements and suggestions for improvement. Best regards and best wishes to all of you for a successful and exciting year 2009.

Giacomo Rambaldi
Moderator and List Administrator
http://www.ppgis.net/
http://www.iapad.org/
http://participatorygis.blogspot.com/

Digital Mapping Advocacy Project - Call for Volunteers

The Philippines is one of the 17 countries in the world with the richest biodiversity. In March 2006, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called for a revitalization of mining nation-wide. As of the present, approved mining claims already cover almost half a million of hectares of land. Open-pit and strip mining for nickel results in the flattening of mountain tops, in the plundering of forest and in the production of vast amounts of tailings that contaminate freshwater sources and the sea.

Recently, from a premiere tourist destination, Palawan - the richest biodiversity hot spot in the country - has become one of the most attractive mining investments destinations.

The island is part of the "Man and Biosphere Reserve" program of UNESCO and hosts 49 animals and 56 botanical species found in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. As of now, there are more than 300 mining applications also covering forested watersheds and protected areas customarily managed by indigenous communities belonging to three main ethnic groups: Pälawan, Tagbanua and Batak. The other communities affected are fisher folks and farmers. A mission of the Centre for Biological Diversity (CBCD) of the University of Kent (UK) with the support of the Christensen Fund (TCF) and of the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI) visited Palawan between July and September 2008. Audiovisual documentation on the impact of mining, including interviews and discussions with indigenous people, farmers, NGOs representatives and politicians was acquired.

Initial plans were discussed with relevant stakeholders on how to bring the case of Palawan to international attention. As a result of these discussions, a request has been made to Peoples and Plants International (PPI) -- a US based non-profit organization - to provide additional expertise and institutional backing to this project, while establishing linkages with Google Earth Outreach .
We are now inviting volunteers experienced in working with Google Earth and interfacing it with Google Docs to help us developing an awareness raising layer. Geo-coded data compiled on the ground in the form of multimedia, images and reports and other data like the boundaries of mining applications, protected areas, and other should be visualized on Google Earth.

The resulting mashup would serve to raise awareness among a wider international audience, on the impact of mining on the forest environment and 'traditional' communities of Palawan Island.

This is to facilitate connections and networking between global advocacy initiatives and locally grounded efforts. It is expected that this project will ultimately lead to more effective strategies for opposing irresponsible mining, while amplifying the impact of Palawan grass-root and indigenous people's voices both nationally and internationally.

Interested volunteers should send an e-mail to: palawan.endangered@gmail.com

Source: PPgis.Net list

Innu Place Names Website

Labrador Innu launched the first comprehensive cultural website dedicated entirely to Aboriginal place names. Called Pepamuteiati nitassinat (‘As We Walk Across Our Land’), the website gives access to over 500 Innu place names in Labrador, as well as stories, photos, and video clips associated with the names. The website can be explored at http://www.innuplaces.ca/ . Innu Nation Grand Chief, Mark Nui, said, “Place names are very important to our people because they are a gateway to our history on the land. Many younger Innu who have gone through the provincial educational system have never learned these names. We hope that the website will help them learn about their culture and history.”

Lots of place names in Labrador come from the Innu (e.g. Minipi-Lake from Minai-nipi,
meaning ‘burbot lake’), but others were given by pilots, mining companies, settlers and outfitters and were imposed on places that already had Innu names. The website will enable the Innu and members of the general public to start using the Innu place names, to learn about the meaning of the names and how to pronounce them.

Other Aboriginal groups have been doing place name research over the years, and some are in the process of publishing their own websites (e.g. James Bay Cree and Norwegian Sámi). However, Pepamuteiati nitassinat is the first, comprehensive one put on line to date.

Grand Chief Nui pointed out that “Over thirty years of research with our Elders went in to this website. It’s a gift from our Elders to younger Innu people. It’s part of our Elders’ legacy. It’s also an important part of our intangible cultural heritage that will help educate people about the richness of our history and traditions.”

The website was made possible by contributions from many institutions and agencies including multimedia company Idéeclic, Environment Canada, Parks Canada, Memorial University Linguistics, and Canadian Boreal Trust. The Innu Nation wishes to acknowledge the generous financial support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through Canadian Culture Online.

History of the website project

• The Innu place names available on the website were collected in the context of a number of research projects going back to the mid-1970s.
• The biggest source of place names for the site is a 1980 mapping project. Over 500 maps at 1:50,000 scale were cut and taped together to form two giant maps. One was laid on the gym floor at Peenamin McKenzie School in Sheshatshiu and the other in the parish hall in the former community of Davis Inlet. Older hunters were invited to walk about on these maps to point out the locations of place names as well as old travel routes, camp sites, caches, birth places and good hunting and fishing places.
• Only seven of the 34 older hunters who worked on the 1980 mapping project are still living.
• A great deal of validation work was undertaken with respect to the places names which was done by ethnolinguist, José Mailhot, and anthropologist Peter Armitage, with the collaboration of Marguerite MacKenzie, Sebastien Piwas, George Gregoire, Jean-Pierre Ashini, Basile Penashue, Tony Penashue, and several Innu Elders.
• Project managers for the website project were Kanani Penashue and Peter Armitage.

What’s on the website

• The site features a searchable database of over 500 Innu place names.
• Each place name record in the database contains information about the meaning of the name, how to pronounce it, and its location. Site users can click on an audio icon to hear the pronunciation of each place name.
• The site has an interactive map showing the locations of the place names.
• Background information on how Innu place names are constructed is presented.
• Video clips and photographs show people what the named places look like or document land use activities there.
• Audio narratives from Innu Elders and youth tell stories about events and people associated with certain place names.
• Future phases of the website will add more place names, video clips, photos, and audio stories.

Source: Press relase by Natuashish (Labrador), 21.11.08

Management Change at UNOSAT

According to Alain Retiere, Director of UNOSAT, the programme has reached the required maturity to become independent from the administrative management of UNOPS and become fully part of the new United Nations Institute for Training and Research that the Secretary-General has entrusted ASG Dr. Carlos Lopes to lead together with the United Nations Staff College, in full coordination with the United Nations University. This process will bring to UNOSAT further training activities, which will increasingly be carried out by the United Nations under a unified management. UNOSAT will enjoy the additional opportunity of developing applied research on satellite solutions, and consolidate the UN training offer on satellite applications for key issues ranging from emergency response to sustainable recovery.

In parallel, UNDP has decided to mainstream satellite applications throughout its network of 166 country offices supported by its 40 regional technical centers to help face the main development challenges. A new trend is emerging within the “territorial approach to development”, where a more local and decentralized way of supporting development efforts in most vulnerable countries is being applied. Although all dimensions of the UNDP development agenda will benefit from mainstreamed satellite applications, environment and energy is the area that has been selected as key entry point, considering the urgent need to help local communities to face climate change challenges with the most appropriate tools including satellite and GIS applications.

African Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on effective use of GITs and ICTs in advocacy

I have just come back from Namibia where I attended the "African Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on effective use of GITs and ICTs in advocacy" (Windhoek, 25-28 August 2008)

The workshop has been organised by the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) with technical and financial assistance provided by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), ERMIS-Africa, Cybertracker Conservation, Shalin Ry and the Rainforest Foundation UK.

Indigenous African leaders and technology intermediaries have shared experiences on how geo-spatial information technologies (GIT) are used by indigenous peoples to express their traditional ecological knowledge to decisions makers for the purposes of securing recognition and rights. Key case studies presented included participatory mapping by ToCADI and San groups in Botswana, Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling (P3DM) by hunter-gatherer peoples in Kenya, GPS-based mapping experiences from Cameroon, DR Congo, Namibia and South Africa.

The workshop included also capacity building sessions on the use of Cybertracker and online mapping (Google Earth and Google Maps) and web 2.0 (web2fordev) applications like blogging, online video sharing, and use of electronic discussion groups including [ppgis]).

Web 2.0 applications have been presented and adopted as adds-on to GIT in support to networking, communication, alliance building and remote collaboration for advocacy.

Rebecca Moore from Google Earth Outreach, Geneva layer showcase

Rebecca Moore, Head of Google Earth Outreach, demos 2 partner layers at the launch of Google Earth Outreach in Geneva: UNHCR's refugee layer and the Elders' "Every Human Has Rights" layer.

A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts By Francis Harvey

This pragmatic book introduces key concepts and skills to prepare students to understand and use geographic information systems (GIS). The text thoroughly explains what geographic information is, how it is represented and analyzed, and what it communicates about human and environmental activities and events that take place on our planet. Basic principles of map making and map reading are integrated with discussions of relevant information technologies and applications. Written in an accessible style, the text is organized into four parts that can be used in any sequence in entry-level and more specialized GIS courses. User-friendly features include practical examples and exercises, engaging vignettes, and helpful Internet resources.

Aboriginal Communities in Google Earth

Aboriginal Communities in Google Earth is a virtual globe program that is made freely available from the Google Corporation. The program maps the earth by superimposing images obtained from satellite imagery, aerial photography and GIS over a 3D globe. In an effort to better acquaint people with the Aboriginal communities of Canada, Google Earth has created a placemark file that, when used in conjunction with the Google Earth, allows users to virtually visit these communities.

Geo-visualisation for participatory spatial planning in Europe

The principle of public participation in policy-making and policy implementation features in many European Union directives and policy documents. It is also undeniably connected to the rise of what can be called the European e-society, in which digital technologies are expected to strengthen public involvement in democratic processes. One broad group of such technologies are commonly referred to as geo-visualisations.This book contains the results of a European project that explored the potential for using innovative geo-visualisation techniques in public participation processes for spatial planning. The approach taken in the project involved continual interaction between concept development, the technological possibilities, and their practical application in case studies conducted in Belgium, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands. The structure of the book mirrors this procedure. Three chapters discuss the general concepts of spatial planning and participation, e-interaction, and innovation in organisations. Two chapters present the results of research into the communicative potential and the usability of 3-dimensional geo-visualisations. The translation of these concepts and findings into practice is reported in five chapters devoted to the case studies.The project generated greater understanding of the ways in which geo-visualisation can help to improve public participation in the process of finding solutions to spatial planning issues. This book and accompanying DVD with extra information, is therefore a valuable resource for professionals and practitioners already working with geo-visualisations in participatory spatial planning as well as those looking to do so. They can turn to this book for insights and inspiration.

2008 Indigenous Planning Conference "Leading Change: Blending Indigenous and Western Planning Tools" (1-3 October 2008, Anchorage, Alaska, USA)

The Leading Change conference (1-3 October 2008, Anchorage, Alaska, USA) is sponsored by the American Planning Association’s (APA) Alaska and Hawaii Chapters and the Indigenous Planning Division. The three-day conference will bring together planners, tribal leaders, and community members to share local experiences, planning tools and practices that reflect a commitment to honoring history, cultural identity, tradition, and land tenure. Conference participants will share stories from their own communities organized around general topic areas including land use and natural environment; governance, nation building and leadership; local control, community sustainability, and resilience; culture, education, and community services; economy; and infrastructure, public services, and facilities.

Putting People on the Map: Protecting Confidentiality with Linked Social-Spatial Data

Precise, accurate spatial information linked to social and behavioral data is revolutionizing social science by opening new questions for investigation and improving understanding of human behavior in its environmental context.
At the same time, precise spatial data make it more likely that individuals can be identified, breaching the promise of confidentiality made when the data were collected.
Because norms of science and government agencies favor open access to all scientific data, the tension between the benefits of open access and the risks associated with potential breach of confidentiality pose significant challenges to researchers, research sponsors, scientific institutions, and data archivists. Putting People on the Map finds that several technical approaches for making data available while limiting risk have potential, but none is adequate on its own or in combination. This book offers recommendations for education, training, research, and practice to researchers, professional societies, federal agencies, institutional review boards, and data stewards.

Difference between Google Maps and Google Earth

The first question many nonprofits ask is: should we use Google Earth or Google Maps? The answer is both. Google "Earth" and "Maps" can be used in parallel to mazimise outreach (via your web site) and usefulness for the user as there are many tools that allow you to enter data once, and then create both custom Google Maps and Google Earth content overlays (KML files).To know more click this link.

Google Earth Outreach

Hundreds of millions of people now use Google Earth and Google Maps to explore the world around them. Google Earth Outreach gives non-profits and public benefit organizations the knowledge and resources needed to perform participatory mapping activites online. Click here to see how other organizations have benefited from Google Earth Outreach, then learn how to create maps and virtual visits to your projects.

An Atlas of Radical Cartography

An Atlas of Radical Cartography published by The Journal of Aesthetics and Protest, makes an important contribution to a growing cultural movement that traverses the boundaries between art, cartography, geography and activism. It pairs writers with artists, architects, designers and collectives to address the role of the map as political agent (rather than neutral document). Ten mapping projects dealing with social and political issues such as migration, incarceration, globalization, housing rights, garbage and energy issues, are complemented by 10 critical essays and dialogues responding to each map. The maps themselves are printed as posters, unbound for leisurely perusal. Among the contributors are artists Trevor Paglen, John Emerson, Ashley Hunt and Pedro Lasch, and essayists Avery Gordon, Heather Rogers, Alejandro De Acosta and Jenny Price.

New Social Cartography Project of the Amazon - Self-cartographing of people and tradicional communities

The associated interests of woodcutters, cattle farmers and mineral enterprises have increased the rate of deforestation and contamination of rivers, and they seriously damage the forms of social organization and the modes of production of indians, marrons and other agents who depend on land and water resources in Amazonia. The actions intented to reduce the pressure on wooden species have been very ineffective. Under the effect of world market, iron and steel production increases the exploitation of coal made from trees. The forests are on the aim of many woodcutting companies and illegal charcoal mines, what increases the destruction of wood resources, and this causes impacts on rivers and igarapés (the small rivers common in the Amazon). Soy cultivation conquers more land and expands quickly according to the dynamics of the commodities market. Those projects have a very intense predatory component and they follow the logics of general price raising of commodities as fresh meat, soy, paper and cellulose, pig iron, cast iron and wood. The growing-up of these businesses is helped, simultaneously, by huge projects directed to cattle breeding, soy cultivation, dendê cultivation (a tree with fruits containing a vegetable oil, which is intensely used in the industry), eucalyptus cultivation, wood exploitation, besides many mining and metalurgical activities, provocating a massive destruction in the Amazon. The State-builded infrastructure in order to support those projects (docks, roads, hydroelectric plants, rocket launch sites) affects in the same way the inhabitants of the area, in addition to this we have the so-called areas of environmental protection that make the access to territories and their resources more restricted. The New Social Cartography Project of the Amazon (PNCSA) – executed by UFAM, UNAMAZ, CNPQ, FORD FOUNDATION and many political organizations representing social agents – proposes to elaborate a series of fascicles which show phenomena and make it possible to produce a critical review of the social, economical and ecological situation in the experience of social agents.
Cartographing research practices and self-cartographing help the affected social agents (marrons, indians, small farmers, settlers, fishermen, artisans, coal miners) to appropriate the results of these techniques and to guide their action of social and environmental changing. The meaning of affronting economical, environmental and political interventions that may interfere harmly on the life conditions, social and physical reproduction shows up the content of many actions.
The elaboration of the fascicles, the discussions and correlated activities (researching, identifying, codifying, mapping, cartographing) correspond to the positions and interests of the agents who formulate these activities and all this results in an appropriation of knowledge by those who produced it.

Project coordinators: Alfredo Wagner Berno de Almeida (Universidade Federal do Amazonas, Manaus, Brazil) and Rosa E. Acevedo Marin (Universidade Federal do Pará, Núcleo de Altos Estudos Amazônicos, Belém, Brazil)

Participatory GIS — a people's GIS?

In a recently published paper Christine Dunn argues that recent years have witnessed a burgeoning of applications of GIS which grant legitimacy to indigenous geographical knowledge as well as to `official' spatial data. By incorporating various forms of community participation these newer framings of Geographical Information Systems as `Participatory GIS' (PGIS) offer a response to the critiques of GIS which were prevalent in the 1990s. This paper reviews PGIS in the context of the `democratization of GIS'. It explores aspects of the control and ownership of geographical information, representations of local and indigenous knowledge, scale and scaling up, web-based approaches and some potential future technical and academic directions.

World Summit Award 2007 - Report Back on the session on e-Culture

The session on e-Culture took place at the World Summit Award Winners' Conference in Venice, Italy on 3 November 2007 and included the presentation on the award winning product "Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) for Resource Use, Development Planning and Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Fiji".

This short video documents the feedback on the session provided by the rapporteur, Dr. Paul Hoffert, Chairperson of Bell Cabada Fund, Canada and Fellow at the Berkman Centre for Internet and Society, Harvard University, USA.



Other sessions of the WSA 2007 Winners' Conference covered the following categories: e-Entertainment, e-Inclusiveness, e-Governance, e-Science, e-Business, e-Health and e-Learning.

Participatory 3D Modelling in Fiji for Safeguarding Cultural Heritage and Natural Resources

In 2005 a Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) exercise took place in Levuka, Ovalau Island. The exercise has been made possible by the coordinated effort of the Fiji Locally-Managed Marine Area (FLMMA) Network, the WWF South Pacific Programme (WWF-SPP), the Technical Centre for Agricultural & Rural Cooperation (CTA), the Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB), the National Trust of Fiji, the Development of Sustainable Agriculture in the Pacific (SPC-DSAP) Project and the Lomaiviti Provincial Council of the Ministry of Fijian Affairs and Provincial Development.

The PGIS exercise resulted in the production of an island wide management plan addressing both cultural heritage and natural resources management issues. Based on the analysis done using the 3D model as reference, Tikinas (districts) have now produced and implemented their district-wide management plans.

The 2 min video illustrates the process and is nurtured by the fantastic voices of the inhabitants of Ovalau Island.