Saturday, September 06, 2008
Information and Communication Technology and Peacebuilding: Summary of a Workshop
On December 14, 2007, the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) convened a group of experts in diverse fields to consider the role of ICT in promoting peace and conflict resolution. The one-day workshop was designed to consider current and emerging technologies and strategies for employing them in conflict management and diplomacy. Giacomo Rambaldi presented a case study on "GIS and Participatory 3-D Modeling in Land-Use Negotiation" . The workshop also aimed to explore how organizations with a role in promoting peace, like the U.S. Institute of Peace, can most effectively leverage technology in carrying out their missions.
"Information and Communication Technology and Peacebuilding: Summary of a Workshop" reviews the group's discussions on number of key issues, illuminates certain practitioner needs, and suggests possible next steps.
The proceedings can be downloaded for free via this link.
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
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Rebecca Moore from Google Earth Outreach, Geneva layer showcase
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:
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
Ethics and Anthropological Research and Practice
Friday, July 04, 2008
African Indigenous Peoples’ Workshop on effective use of GIT/ICTs in environmental advocacy
IPACC partner organisations will give feed back on P3DM application in three mountain forest communities. Southern Africa will relay experiences of using Cybertracker. Cameroon will give a presentation on forest mapping by communities and Botswana and Namibia will present their experience of mapping land use and natural resources.
There will be a report emanating from the meeting which will be made acailable on IPACC and CTA web sites. The workshop will take place from 26 to 28 August in Namibia. Indigenous delegates will be coming from Morocco, Algeria, Niger, Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon, Cameroon, Burundi, Botswana, Namibia and South Africa.
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.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Participatory Ethics - Special Thematic Issue of ACME
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.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Participatory 3D Modelling among Ogiek Indigenous Peoples in Kenya
Monday, May 12, 2008
Google Maps and San Diego wildfires
Giving Voice to the Unspoken: Video on Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Small Grants Program - Anthropology & Environment
For more information have a look at Funding opportunities for NGOs and researchers
Friday, April 18, 2008
2008 Call for grant applications from indigenous peoples’ organizations and their communities
Grants range from US$10,000 to US$30,000. Applicants must meet specific requirements and their proposals should respond to the needs of indigenous peoples in any of IFAD’s Member States.
E-mail and mail your applications to IFAD. The closing date for applications is 30 June 2008. IFAD will not accept applications after that date.
A panel made up primarily of indigenous members will work closely with IFAD staff to review proposals and make final recommendations on grant awards. The panel will review grant proposals on the basis of project relevance, feasibility and institutional capacity and make final recommendations on awards.
Activities likely to be considered for funding will build on indigenous culture, identity, knowledge, natural resources, intellectual property and human rights. Projects should improve indigenous peoples’ access to decision-making processes, empower indigenous peoples to find solutions to the challenges they face and promote collaboration in the public and private sectors.
Over the years IFAD has learned that entrusting direct management of resources and funds to indigenous communities and their institutions is an effective way to build capacity, self-determined development and ownership of programmes and projects.
To apply for a grant, read the call for proposal, the guideline for completing the application form and complete the application form.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
A Primer of GIS: Fundamental Geographic and Cartographic Concepts By Francis Harvey
Aboriginal Communities in Google Earth
Monday, April 14, 2008
Through the Eyes of Hunter-Gatherers: Participatory 3D Modelling among Ogiek Indigenous Peoples in Kenya
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.
Geo-visualisation for participatory spatial planning in Europe
Friday, April 04, 2008
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
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.
Intangible Cultural Heritage in Fiji - video clip featured at the WSA 2007 award winners ceremony
The World Summit Award (WSA) Awarding Ceremony has been the highlight of the entire WSA process 2005-2007 and a unique ceremony to honour excellence in multimedia and e-Content creation. Up to 40 winning Teams from all over the world were present at the event and were handed out the awards by highest level international dignities.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Difference between Google Maps and Google Earth
Google Earth Outreach
Sunday, February 24, 2008
An Atlas of Radical Cartography
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Panel on Mapping Cultural and Biological Diversity; April 5-7, New York, USA
Remote Sensing and GIS Conference, May 5 - 6, 2008, Kupang, Indonesia
As part of Charles Darwin Universities AUSAID funded Public Service Linkages Program a GIS and Remote sensing Conference will be held at Nusa Cendana University in Kupang 5-6 May.
The conference will act as a forum to discuss the following: (i) current applications, projects and research in NTT using remote sensing and GIS technology; (ii) the development of formal and informal data and skill sharing networks; (iii) protocols for collecting and archiving data. A provincial wide conference is very important at this time when a range of regional initiatives are being developed to support good governance through data collection, archiving and analysis. The effecting sharing of capacity and aspirations within NTT will assist in the development of a coordinated approach in the development of spatial planning.
This is an advanced notice and call for presentations. It is proposed that presentations from the conference be published as proceedings. The organisers have currently identified the following broad topics:
- Critical land assessment in the Assesa catchment in Ngada
- Fire mapping and monitoring in Sumba
- Deforestation monitoring in Timor
- GIS for land capability assessment – development planning
- GIS for analysis of health and education data
- Community GIS and Participatory 3D Modeling (P3DM).
- Standards for data collection and storage
- Arrangements for data sharing
- Accuracy assessment
For further information you may contact: Dr. Marthen R. Pellokila (UNDANA) Email: rpellokila[at]yahoo.com and Rohan Fisher (CDU) Email: cycadmedia[at]bigpond.com
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Participatory 3D modelling applied also in the Sagarmatha National Park and World Heritage Site, Nepal.
Friday, January 11, 2008
New Social Cartography Project of the Amazon - Self-cartographing of people and tradicional communities
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)
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Volunteered geographic information
Reference: Goodchild MF (2007). Citizens as sensors: the world of volunteered geography. GeoJournal (DOI 10.1007/s10708-007-9111-y)
Position paper presented by Dr. Goodchild at the Workshop on Volunteered Geographic Information, December 13-14, 2007, Santa Barbara, California, USA
All papers presented at the workshop are available via this link
Saturday, December 08, 2007
Dr. Nigel Crawhall, director of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) thoughts about P3DM
Saturday, December 01, 2007
Locating Participatory 3D Models on Earth
View Larger Map
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Participatory Geographic Information Systems: More than maps
In their Call for Papers the session organisers wrote: "Most activities that we undertake, either as academics or practitioners, require producing tangible outputs as part of the work process. Outputs serve as metrics to evaluate progress and determine future direction. Mention of a Participatory Geographic Information System (PGIS) invariably elicits numerous requests to see the maps, and fewer questions regarding the process that went into their development. The "P" in PGIS has its roots in the development literature and in Participatory Rural Appraisal and Participatory Learning and Action in particular, which stress the importance of process. The relationship is not one way however, and in this session we would like to draw attention to the contributions that PGIS experiences offer to the larger development community. Our objective is to reflect on a variety of experiences with PGIS and focus the discussion on positive externalities and the intangible benefits that arise through process."
The theme for the Annual Meeri is The Public Sphere and Engaged Scholarship: Opportunities and Challenges for Applied Anthropology. The full description can be found at http://www.sfaa.net/sfaa2008.html .
Friday, November 16, 2007
Conflict and Natural Resources Book Recommendations
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Participatory GIS — a people's GIS?
Sunday, November 11, 2007
World Summit Award 2007 - Report Back on the session on e-Culture
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.
Friday, November 09, 2007
Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) receiving the 2007 World Summit Award in the category e-culture
Friday, October 26, 2007
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.
Sunday, September 30, 2007
The World Summit Award has announced the Winners of 2007
Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) for Resource Use, Development Planning and Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage in Fiji has been proclaimed as one of the five the winner for the e-culture category.
Preserving and presenting tangible and intangible cultural heritage in line with the challenges of the future; demonstrating valuable cultural assets clearly and informatively using state-of-the-art technology.
Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) integrates people’s knowledge and spatial information (contour lines) to produce stand-alone scale relief models that have proved to be user-friendly and relatively accurate data storage and analysis devices and at the same time excellent communication media.
P3DM works best when used jointly with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a Participatory GIS (PGIS) context.
PGIS is the result of a spontaneous merger of Participatory Learning and Action (PLA) methods with Geographic Information Technologies and Systems (GIT&S) to compose peoples’ spatial knowledge in the forms of virtual or physical, 2 or 3 dimensional maps used as interactive vehicles for discussion, information exchange, analysis and as support in advocacy, decision making and action taking. PGIS practice is usually geared towards community empowerment through measured, demand-driven, user-friendly and integrated applications of GIT&S, where maps become a major conduit in the process.
The project objective was to support community based biodiversity conservation for ensuring food security and sustainable livelihoods.
Whilst PGIS started in the late 1980s it has become much refined and more accessible due to the decrease in cost of soft and hardware. The deployment of this product and its adaptation to the Fijian context has been strongly appreciated by the local communities and other stakeholders involved in the process, which resulted in the development and adoption of community-based natural and cultural resources management plans.
The exercise has been made possible by the coordinated effort of the following organisations: WWF South Pacific Programme (WWF-SPP), Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), Native Lands Trust Board (NLTB), Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), National Trust of Fiji, and the Lomaiviti Provincial Council of the Ministry of Fijian Affairs and Provincial Development.
Recommended readings:
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Multilingual CD Rom: Mapping for Change: practice, technologies and communication
The Participatory Mapping for Change CD-ROM is an exciting multi-lingual project available from the Participatory Learning and Action series.
Co-published by IIED and CTA, the CD-ROM contains PDF versions of the theme articles from Participatory Learning and Action 54: Mapping for change: practice, technologies and communication, in the following languages: Arabic, Bangla, Chinese (traditional and simplified), English, French, Hindi, Persian-Dari, Portuguese, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil. http://www.iied.org/NR/agbioliv/pla_notes/pla_54_CDRom.html It also includes other key resources (mainly in English) – all presented in an easy-to-use format: (i) a glossary of terms; (ii) practical ethics for PGIS practitioners and researchers; (iii) the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions, (iv) the UNESCO Convention Safeguarding Intangible Cultural Heritage; (v) an overview of experiences from the International Land Coalition (ILC) network; (vi) links to online resources; (vii) a video reportage on the 2005 Mapping for Change conference in Nairobi; (vii) a 20 min video on Participatory 3D Modelling, and (viii) past articles which have appeared in PLA and which are relevant to the theme.
Copies of the CD are available from Earthprint Ltd, priced US$40 plus postage and packaging, or free on request to customers from countries in the South.* To order, contact orders@earthprint.co.uk or visit http://www.earthprint.com/
Alternatively, subscribe to the series and receive a free copy with your first issue.
How to subscribe
To subscribe, contact Participatory Learning and Action subscriptions, Research Information Limited, Grenville Court, Britwell Road, Burnham, Bucks, SL1 8DF, UK. Tel: +44 1628 600499; Fax: +44 1628 600488; Email: info@researchinformation.co.uk
Subscriptions are available both online and in hard copy. Subscriptions are free to individuals and organisations from the South* and to community/voluntary groups from the North* with limited or no funding for resources. We ask individuals and organisations from the North (including those based in the South) to pay a modest subscription. This helps support the cost of free subscriptions in the South. For more information, including our current subscription rates, visit www.iied.org/NR/agbioliv/pla_notes/subscribe.html
Tuesday, July 03, 2007
Search the best web-based resources on PGIS, PPGIS and Community Mapping
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Funding opportunities for CBOs, NGOs and researchers
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
International Symposium on Digital Earth
Monday, April 23, 2007
Canada's New Government Provides Free Online Accessto Digital Mapping Data
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Establishment of the GeoEye Foundation (potential source for acquiring satellite imagery for research)
The GeoEye Foundation has already begun providing satellite imagery to support students and faculty studying urban sprawl in Mexico, land-use planning for Jerusalem and a polar ice study in Antarctica to better understand the impact of climate change.
UNESCO’s programme on Mapping of Indigenous Cultural Resources
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Participatory Learning and Action (PLA)
Monday, April 02, 2007
Participatory GIS for Effective Land Management under Transitional Conditions
Rural and regional socio-economic spaces and their land resources are increasingly dynamic due to changes in space-economies under conditions of changing land and resource tenure. Sound sustainable land resource management is essential during the transition phases of common property under customary regimes, to cooperative property tenure and various mixes of privatised and state property regimes. These different regimes do and will co-exist and there is movement between them, so there needs to be effective methods for good land management and planning.
In addition the rural areas in Southern Africa are developing in a context of globalisation, political transformation, resource pressures, and growing concerns over environmental degradation and natural and man-induced disasters.
There are conflicts between local and regional actors, in civil society, government and commercial sectors that affect planning and management for sustainable land and resource development. This requires skills in facilitating participation and communication of information, which come together in participatory spatial planning and management (PSP).
Where issues involve spatial management, especially of communal space under transitional tenure regimes, the participatory use of scientific spatial information and local spatial knowledge plays an important role in ensuring the effective involvement of actors. Participatory mapping & Participatory-GIS, together with appropriate visualisation techniques, are appropriate techniques for understanding and dealing with spatial conflict issues in land management.
The course is intended for NFP alumni who work in institutions with an on-going involvement in land planning and management or in natural resources management, and in spatial information use and analysis, having preferably GIS competence in-house.
For more information click here
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) in the Mau Forest, Kenya
In response to a request made by the Elders it will be extended to cover approximately 2,000 sq. km in April 2007. The community has started using the model to define the best way forward in terms of improving the safeguarding of its traditional knowledge, the sustainable management of natural resources and advocacy actions aimed at regaining recognitions of ancestral rights.
CyberTracker
CyberTracker Conservation is a non-profit organisation whose mission is to promote the development of a worldwide environmental monitoring network.
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Participatory GIS
Participatory GIS and Community Mapping Literature
http://ppgis.iapad.org/ppgis_literature.htm
Google SkectchUp 6
http://sketchup.google.com/
Google Earth 4 released
http://earth.google.com/
Community mappers warned!
China Daily, 27 January 2007
A new regulation restricting surveying and mapping by foreigners will be implemented in China on March 1 2007. "The regulation will strengthen China's management of surveying and mapping by foreign organizations and individuals, protect national security, and promote economic and scientific cooperation between China and other countries," said an official from the State Bureau of Survey and Mapping on Thursday. Foreign organizations and individuals who intend to engage in surveying and mapping must obtain approval from the central government and accept supervision from local governments, according to the regulation.
Collaborative search engine launched for PGIS/PPGIS practice and science)
URL: http://ppgis.iapad.org/customsearch.htm
Friday, September 29, 2006
Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD)
Participatory Avenues is run by "Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD)"
Wednesday, October 06, 2004
Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) WebRing
In building a community of practice around the concept of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS), the WebRing aims at stimulating exchange of information on progress made in visualizing community-based knowledge and perceptions to provide stakeholders and less-favoured community members added stake in designing and owning development and natural resource management initiatives.
Webmasters may consider joining the ring by including the (automatically generated) HTML code on their home page.More information on the PPGIS WebRing is found at http://t.webring.com/hub?ring=ppgis
Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies.
In building a community of practice around the concepts of Participatory-GIS (PGIS)/Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) the network aims at stimulating exchange of information on progress made in bringing the power of geospatial information management systems at community level. The network supports the vision of participatory geospatial information management linking different knowledge systems and improving multi-party communication on spatially defined issues.
Members of the network are able to share information and lessons learned and post questions, resource documents and announcements which are relevant to the practice.