CTA Open Seminar: "Participatory Data: Public or Private?"

The seminar "Participatory Data: Public or Private? is organised by CTA in anticipation of the forthcoming International Open Data Day

"Within Participatory mapping processes participatory data are usually generated to serve the process itself as the communities learn by doing and to empower knowledge holders in interfacing with higher authorities. Sharing of such data is strategic and meant to serve purposes set (ideally) by the knowledge holders. On the other hand the process allows for traditional and scientific knowledge systems to come together and make use of or build on the best of the two worlds."

When? Wednesday, 21 January,  2015, 10:00 – 12:00
Where? CTA, Agro Business Park 2, 6708 Wageningen, The Netherlands;
What?: get the flyer
Who? all those interested.
How? you are free to join. Here is our location on Google Maps

Community Mapping of Cultural Heritage in the Solomon Islands

In the Solomon Islands, a place of rich cultural heritage, there are many threats to historical cultural sites including logging, climate change and sea-level rise. Solomon Island local community members joined a training workshop in 2011 run by Professor Richard Walter of The University of Otago (New Zealand), and learned the skills required to recognise, identify and map out and document their cultural heritage to preserve these special places for the future.

ICTs for Climate Change Adaptation: Introduction of innovative technologies in the Caribbean

Starting at the end of this week Tobago will host a very interesting event. Close to 200 residents of the island will come together in a two-week workshop to build a physical three-dimensional model of Tobago.  The process will contribute to formulating responses and develop action plans addressing the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.

The 3D model will cover a total area of 1,188 sq km at a 1:10,000 scale.  Once completed, the model will display a wide range of terrestrial and marine features and landmarks which will help communities articulate their concerns, needs and aspirations in terms of development and disaster risk reduction.  In the process, facilitators will use methods known as Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) and Participatory Video (PV) which will help in documenting and adding value to the input of local and traditional knowledge from communities.

The workshop will take place at the Blenheim Sheep Multiplication & Research Center in Tobago (29 September - 11 October, 2011). 

View Participatory 3D Modelling Workshop in Tobago in a larger map

The activities will culminate in the presentation of an impressive relief model (measuring 4.9 m x 2.4 m) and a participatory video by representatives of the local communities and project facilitators at a handing over ceremony which will take place on Friday 12th October 2012 at the auditorium of the Trinidad and Tobago Hospitality and Tourism Institute - Tobago campus (by invitation only).

P3DM of Manus Island, Papua New Guinea. Photo credit: J. Hardcastle

The project will pilot, for the first time in the region, the use of P3DM. P3DM is a participatory mapping method that can be used across the Caribbean islands to facilitate effective participation by local communities and other stakeholders in the identification of general policy priorities, as well as specific policies and actions needed on the ground at the landscape and site level to address land management issues, including the impacts of climate change and extreme climatic events.  This method will allow inclusion of relevant local and traditional knowledge, increase capacity, facilitate coordination and collaboration across sectors, and build buy-in for implementation of plans for resilience to climate change and extreme climatic events.

Twenty-two trainees from the region (including five from Tobago) will be trained to facilitate P3DM and PV processes in this project, and nearly fifty observers from the region will visit during the construction of the model.

The process is facilitated by the Caribbean Natural Resources Institute (CANARI), the University of the West Indies (UWI), the Tobago House of Assembly (THA), Division of Agriculture, Marine Affairs, Marketing and the Environment (DAME) and the Partners with Melanesians (PwM). Funding and expertise is provided by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA) and the United Nations Development Programme and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP).

In the forthcoming months CTA will support capacity building in the domain of Web 2.0 and social media. In the forthcoming months, CTA will support capacity building in the domain of Web 2.0 and social media.  In addition, CANARI has secured funding from the Federal Republic of Germany to facilitate the production of a civil society agenda addressing climate change issues in the island as a follow-up activity to this project.

If you are interested in having a look at "work in progress" please contact Mrs. Neila Bobb-Prescott (e-mail: neila@canari.org; phone: 001-868-789-9917 or 001-868-302-3739 to get more information.

Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge: Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) in Theory and Practice

The phenomenon of volunteered geographic information is part of a profound transformation in how geographic data, information, and knowledge are produced and circulated. By situating volunteered geographic information (VGI) in the context of big-data deluge and the data-intensive inquiry, the 20 chapters in this book explore both the theories and applications of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production with three sections focusing on 1).  VGI, Public Participation, and Citizen Science; 2). Geographic Knowledge Production and Place Inference; and 3). Emerging Applications and New Challenges.

This book argues that future progress in VGI research depends in large part on building strong linkages with diverse geographic scholarship. Contributors of this volume situate VGI research in geography’s core concerns with space and place, and offer several ways of addressing persistent challenges of quality assurance in VGI.

This book positions VGI as part of a shift toward hybrid epistemologies, and potentially a fourth paradigm of data-intensive inquiry across the sciences. It also considers the implications of VGI and the exaflood for further time-space compression and new forms, degrees of digital inequality, the renewed importance of geography, and the role of crowdsourcing for geographic knowledge production.

Daniel Sui (Editor), Sarah Elwood (Editor), Michael Goodchild (Editor)

Publisher: Springer; 2013 edition (August 9, 2012)

ISBN-10: 9400745869 | ISBN-13: 978-9400745865 | Edition: 2013

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: