Friday, September 18, 2009
Applications of GIS in Community Forestry: Linking Geographic Information Technology to Community Participation
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Head teacher Julius Sangogo reports on the usefullness of a Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) in Nessuit, Kenya
Head teacher Julius Sangogo reports on the usefullness of a Participatory 3D Model in Nessuit, Kenya from CTA on Vimeo.
Three years after the completion of a Participatory 3D model in Nessuit Kenya, head teacher Julius Sangogo recalls the uses of the model by local, national and international agencies and more importantly by the pupils of the local primary school.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) of Chivoko village, Solomon Islands
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Qualitative GIS: A Mixed Methods Approach
Geographic Information Systems are an essential tool for analyzing and representing quantitative spatial data. Qualitative GIS explains the recent integration of qualitative research with Geographical Information Systems
With a detailed contextualising introduction, the text is organised in three sections:
Representation: examines how researchers are using GIS to create new types of representations; working with spatial data, maps, and othervisualizations to incorporate multiple meanings and to provide texture and context. This section includes a chapter by Jon Corbett and Giacomo Rambaldi dealing with participatory mapping by the title: "Geographic information technologies, local knowledge, and change (pages 75-91).
Analysis: discusses the new techniques of analysis that are emerging at the margins between qualitative research and GIS, this in the wider context of a critical review of mixed-methods in geographical research
Theory: questions how knowledge is produced, showing how ideas of 'science' and 'truth' inform research, and demonstrates how qualitative GIS can be used to interrogate discussions of power, community, and social action
Making reference to representation, analysis, and theory throughout, the text shows how to frame questions, collect data, analyze results, and represent findings in a truly integrated way. An important addition to the mixed methods literature, Qualitative GIS will be the standard reference for upper-level students and researchers using qualitative methods and Geographic Information Systems.
Available from Amazon.com (US) and Amazon.co.uk (Europe)
Monday, May 04, 2009
Participatory 3D Modelling in Bale, 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.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Written In the Land, the Life of Queenie McKenzie
The story is told often in Queenie’s own words and shows the many ways that indigenous people are connected to the land, it discusses issues such as mining of sacred sites, dreaming sites, skin groups - the Australian indigenous governance system, rainbow snake, massacres and parts of the history of growing up as an indigenous child during the impacts of white settlement. As Queenie was an acclaimed artist it also contains many images of her artwork, her maps of her country and sacred sites.When Queenie passed away these traditional ‘law’ practices ceased. Many years before Queenie had revived these annual practices after they were stopped during the settlement time, it was in the 1980’s that she insisted that they begin again. It has been 10 years since her death and the work on the book began between the author and the female elders, to keep Queenie’s legacy strong. Funds from the book are returned to the community for that purpose. It is a tragic reality that Queenie’s generation are the last remaining elders of the area who hold the land based knowledge of sacred sites, these people will all be gone within 2 years yet this is not seen as an urgent need in Australia by the Government, to provide resources and training to indigenous people to map these sacred locations and the associated knowledge.
For more information about the book go to http://www.writtenintheland.com/ or http://www.culturalmapping.com/
Monday, December 22, 2008
Video documentary "Giving Voice to the Unspoken: now available with subtitles in Arabic, Fijian, Italian, Swahili and Turkish.
Thanks to voluntary translations :-) the video is now available with subtitles in Arabic, Fijian, Italian, Swahili and Turkish. More languages to come soon.
If you are interested to embed this video on your web site or blog, follow this link.
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/
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Digital Mapping Advocacy Project - Call for Volunteers
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
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Innu Place Names Website
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
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Indigenous Peoples and Protected Areas: Conservation Through Self-Determination
Annual Meeting of the Association of American Geographers
Las Vegas, Nevada; March 22-27, 2009
Co-sponsored by the Indigenous Peoples Specialty Group, the Cultural and Political Ecology (CAPE) Specialty Group, and appropriate regional specialty groups
Session(s) organized and chaired by Stan Stevens, Associate Professor of Geography, Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 01003
Contact: sstevens@geo.umass.edu
Deadline to contact session chair with abstract: October 9, 2008
Conference registration and abstract deadline: October 16, 2008
Papers are invited for an AAG session on the interwoven politics and political ecologies of Indigenous rights and protected area-based conservation. This is the sixth consecutive year that the Indigenous Specialty Group has sponsored and organized such sessions at the AAG annual meetings. These sessions provide a continuing venue at the AAG for discussion of conservation, difference, and social justice and for analyses of the diverse political ecologies created by the establishment of protected areas by Indigenous peoples, states, and NGOs in Indigenous peoples' territories. Participants in this year's session are invited to join previous participants in contributing theoretical and case study chapters to an edited book. Both theoretical and case study contributions are welcome.
The organizer is particularly interested in papers on the following topics:
- New Paradigm Protected Areas. Establishment, operation, and effectiveness of inclusive, participatory, new paradigm protected areas. These may include diverse types of protected areas in which Indigenous peoples' land use and participation in management is recognized.
- Critiques of Old Paradigm Protected Areas. Analyses of coercively imposed exclusionary "wilderness" or Yellowstone-model protected areas and "fortress conservation" from the standpoints of violations of human/indigenous rights; displacement; loss of access to and/or management of natural resources, cultural resources, and cultural sites; accompanying changes in land/water use and management; and consequent ecological change.
- "Hand-backs," "Hand overs," and other Reconciliation and Restitution. Case studies of redress, compensation, or restitution for past injustices against Indigenous peoples caused by the creation or management of protected areas.
- False Representations of "Progressive" Protected Areas. Analyses of protected areas which have inappropriately represented as participatory and community-based by states, intergovernmental agencies, or NGOs .
- Rights-Based Conservation. Analyses of protected area governance and management in cases where this is explicitly based on recognition of constitutional, human, and/or Indigenous Rights.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
African Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on effective use of GITs and ICTs in advocacy
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.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
African Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on effective use of ICTs in environmental advocacy
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
PPGIS.net on LinkedIn to foster community development among pgis/ppgis practitioners
Since DGroups, the platform hosting [ppgis] offers limited opportunities for members to learn about each other and to e.g. get together on a country basis. Considering this limitations and the opportunities offered by emerging web 2.0 applications, I have created a parallel peer2peer space on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social- networking site used by professionals.
Joining this new space will allow you to easily identify and establish contact with other [ppgis] members.
The goal of this new space is to help [ppgis] members:
To easily identify members of the [ppgis] network, learn more about them and eventually establish personal contact;
Accelerate careers/business through referrals from [ppgis] Group members;Put a face and a professional curriculum behind a name or an e-mail address
Below is a short vide explaining how LinkedIn works:
Friday, June 06, 2008
PGIS Curriculum Development Workshop
The output of the initiative is intended to increase the capacity of indigenous and other marginalised peoples to engage in effective policy dialogue and advocacy on issues related to the territory. Skills acquired through the deployment of the kit would ensure that indigenous and other marginalised communities are more effective in documenting, representing and communicating their spatial knowledge, while taking a high degree of control over the processes. The initiative is co-funded by CTA and IFAD. Development partners which committed additional resources to the project include the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC); International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), the University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBC), UNOSAT and the Ford Foundation Brazil.
The direct beneficiaries of the project are technology intermediaries working in multidisciplinary teams and operating within institutions or organisations already committed to practicing participatory mapping and who are or would be required to deliver training on the practice, or facilitate the process in the field. Ultimate beneficiaries will be adopters from community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, research institutions, academia, multilateral and bilateral development agencies and other development actors.
The English version of the kit is expected to be available in 2009 followed by versions in other languages.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Launch of the Participatory Mapping Training Kit announced
Participatory mapping and development practitioners, activists and researchers identified the lack of training materials as a major constraint in the spread of good participatory mapping / PGIS practice. An initiative launched by CTA and other development partners will lead to the production of a modular, multimedia and multilingual training kit for trainers. The kit will ensure that participatory mapping and communication practices evolve and spread in an ethically conscious manner, ensuring that indigenous and other marginalised communities are effective in documenting, representing, and communicating their spatial knowledge, while taking a high degree of control over the process. It is understood that good practice would add value and authority to local knowledge, facilitate inter-generational knowledge exchange, contribute to building and supporting a cohesive community identity, and support sustainable planning through collaborative decision-making.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Small Grants Program - Anthropology & Environment
For more information have a look at Funding opportunities for NGOs and researchers
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Mapping is Power
Earth Island Institute’s Sacred Land Film Project
Monday, April 07, 2008
Journey of our Life
A 14-minute participatory video production by PAFID - Mindanao documenting a journey to the land of the ancestors of Higaonon Indigenous Peoples living in Portulin, Bukidnon, Philippines. The virtual journey recreates experiences lived up by the members of the community in using a physical participatory 3D model (P3DM) to document, share across generations and safeguard their intangible cultural heritage.