Participatory 3D modelling for disaster risk reduction in the Philippines

Participatory 3D Model (P3DM) of the  Municipality of Paracale in Camarines Note in the Philippines produced by local communities with support provided by the Center for Disaster Preparedness Foundation (CDP) and the Philippine Geographical Society in the framework of a UNICEF funded project.

The Iwokrama International Centre recently released this video recording of the participatory three dimensional mapping (P3DM) exercises conducted by the village of Fair View in the Iwokrama Forest in Guyana. The three dimensional map of Fair View builds on inputs from the residents and Iwokrama, and was refined through the knowledge of the elders. The 3D model represents all the important features of Fair View which covers 22,000 sq km, including the residential, protection, harvesting, wells and other areas. Iwokrama is grateful to the Technical Centre for Agriculture and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Tropenbos International Suriname (TBI Suriname) for their technical advice and assistance, and to Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Limited (EEPGL) for financial support.

Participatory 3D Modelling in Western Samoa triggers behavioural changes and climate change resilience

Since 2012 the local government together with local communities in Western Samoa have carried out a total of 19 participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) exercises in the context of agroforestry management, water management and tourism development.

A participatory research was conducted between February and April 2016 to explore the effectiveness and potential of P3DM in the region. The study was done by Barbara Dovarch, PhD candidate at the Department of Architecture Design and Urban Planning, University of Sassari, Italy, sociologist and independent researcher, in partnership with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) and Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE).

This participatory impact evaluation involved diverse members of local communities and MNRE technical staff. It focused particularly on the capacity of P3DM to generate deep-seated and long-lasting behavioural changes.

The results of the study demonstrates that P3DM contributes to natural resource management and climate change resilience and showed the transformative power of the process at various levels, such as community, NGO and governmental level.

Through the P3DM process, meaningful interactions between government representatives and community members resulted in greater collaboration and mutual learning. While government representatives have changed the way they approach local communities – from ‘teaching’ to ‘listening’ – communities have also changed their attitude towards land management and development.

Download the full report via: http://bit.ly/p3dm-ws

Participatory 3D modelling as a socially engaging approach in ecosystem service assessments among marginalized communities

Land use decision making in the Suriname Upper Suriname River area knows a history of dis-

empowerment and marginalization of the Saamaka communities inhabiting the area. Non-recognition of land rights is at the origin of this problem. This is aggravated by the increasing over-exploitation of timber resources by powerful stakeholders and the unfair distribution of timber benefits. This has left Saamakans marginalized, causing distrust and opposition among themselves and towards outsiders. Furthermore, as a result of deforestation, Saamakans face detrimental changes in the ecosystem services (ES) that support their traditional livelihoods, with important effects for their well-being.

This environment of distrust, opposition and marginalization makes it difficult to assess these concerns. Hence, an ES assessment approach that would generate salient ES knowledge while generating trust, communication among stakeholders and local capacity building was needed. In this paper we evaluate whether Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is an effective approach for ecosystem services assessments in such disabling environments. We evaluate this by using empirical data from an ES assessment in the Saamaka region using a P3DM approach. Results show the efficient identification and evaluation of 36 ES representing provisioning, cultural and regulating service categories with crops, fish, wild meat, timber and forest medicines identified as most important.

The authors of this paper found a decrease in the demand and supply of crops, fish and wild meat associated with ecosystem degradation, out-migration and changes in lifestyles. Further, the findings of the research show an increasing demand and decreasing supply for timber related to over-exploitation. The research provided evidence of the usefulness of P3DM to foster multi-functional landscape development among a range of communities.

In the paper the authors discuss the usefulness of the approach and the conditions needed for the P3DM process to address the needs of the local communities as well as the need for a broader P3DM implementation strategy beyond the engagement, screening, and diagnostic phases of ES assessments when the aim is to enhance ES outcomes for marginalized communities.

Download PDF version of the paper

Related posts:

• Saamaka peoples upscale the use Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling along the Upper Suriname River, 8 August 2015
• Suriname - 15 July, 2015. Mapping the livelihoods of the Saamaka people.
• Saramakan’s forests: watercourses at the core of a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise along the Upper Suriname River
• The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan Peoples of Suriname (Video, final version)
• The film “The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan People of Suriname” launched at CWA2014

Life on the move - Pastoral life and livestock cross-border trade in Northern Uganda through the lens of participatory mapping

Cross-border livestock trade in dryland eastern Africa significantly contributes to the enhancement of food security and generation of wealth. It supports the livelihoods of a wide range of actors including pastoralists, livestock traders and processors.

In this context the International Institute of Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) with finalcial and technical support provided by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), organised a P3DM workshop to identify key spatial characteristics of the livestock trading routes and marketing practices and bring the different stakeholders (including local authorities) around the same table, share information, discuss challenges and envisage mutually beneficial solutions.

The participatory mapping activity took place in Amudat in August 2016 and focused on the Achorichori Micro-catchment in Karamoja which includes Achorichor, Loroo, Amudat and Moruita Parishes. The area falls within the belt of livestock migratory movement, farmlands, cross-border livestock trade, grazing lands and water points. The mapped area covers approximately 546 sq. km.

The mapping exercise helped identify and locate wet and dry season grazing areas, farmland, forests and patchy pastures. Point items include schools, functional and non-functional boreholes, heath facilities, market places, maize mills, police posts but also churches, shrines and small gardens. Community representatives located on the 3D map all features they consider as important to the ir livelihoods. Their feedback about the mapping process are captured in the film.

Other participating organisations included:

ERMIS Africa, Kenya (P3DM facilitation)
ESIPPS International, Uganda (GIS support)
Vision Care Foundation (VCF), Uganda (community mobilizing)

French version of the film:

Mapping local knowledge to drive sustainable natural resource management, influence policy-making and promote climate change adaptation

A new publication from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) illustrates how local communities in a range of developing countries have developed a bird’s-eye perspective of their land and water resources through Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM). This innovative technique is proving a valuable tool for often voiceless groups, helping them to manage and protect their habitats, influence decision-making and take control of their future.

Improving natural resource management, mapping community rights and bolstering climate change adaptation – participatory 3D modelling can help to do all this and more. Developed in the early 1990s in Southeast Asia, the technique offers communities a tangible way of visualising tacit knowledge, producing stand-alone relief models that depict natural surroundings, but also cultural information, helping groups to assert their rights and protect their traditional knowledge from outside exploitation.

CTA has been in the forefront of P3DM development in African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, launching it in Fiji, Gabon, Kenya and Trinidad and Tobago, and helping to foster South-South cooperation to spread the practice further afield. The Power of Maps: Bringing the Third Dimension to the Negotiation Table documents some of the achievements obtained so far. All twelve of the case studies presented show how the process of building 3D maps has led to positive changes.

“Traditional knowledge is gaining recognition at the international level, but at the local level, government officials and technocrats tend to dismiss it as anecdotal and scientifically unproven,” said CTA P3DM expert and Senior Programme Coordinator ICT Giacomo Rambaldi. “The process documented in this book enables knowledge holders to visualise and georeference their traditional knowledge and to engage outsiders in a peer-to-peer dialogue.”

Building a P3DM model generally involves the entire community, with the elders supplying their traditional knowledge and children taking charge of the actual construction, using cardboard, paints, pushpins and yarn. An important part of the exercise is the way it brings generations together, giving value to the contributions of each and making people feel a sense of pride – in their surroundings and heritage and in the map itself.

On the Pacific island of Ovalau, a P3DM initiative led farmers and fishers to adopt more sustainable land use and fisheries practices, with significant increases in production as a result. Impacts included a doubling of fish stocks, a sizeable increase in crop output and a rise in the number of tourists visiting the island. In Madagascar, the creation of a 3D map drew an initially sceptical community into a watershed planning process, with people quickly seeing the benefits in terms of improved resource management and income generation.

Members of a pygmy community displaced to make way for a protected area in the Democratic Republic of Congo used the web of knowledge displayed on their 3D map to regain access to traditional lands and claim a role in managing them. Meanwhile, in Kenya, a three-dimensional mapping exercise helped the Ogiek tribe to document its ancestral land rights and knowledge systems, with far-reaching repercussions – including shaping government policy on indigenous peoples.

Climate change poses a special threat to vulnerable small island states, and on the Caribbean island of Tobago, P3DM has been used to guide community driven disaster risk reduction strategies. In another three-dimensional mapping exercise in the region, the experience of building a climate risk map of Grenada has produced the added spin-off of strengthening the capacity and professional networks of local organisations. One unexpected outcome has been the signing of an international partnership to fund the replanting of mangroves, as part of an ecosystem management strategy to protect the island from persistent hurricanes that are endangering lives and livelihoods.

Further information:

Watch The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan Peoples of Suriname (part 1 & 2):
Visit CTA’s PGIS website
Read about the life-changing effect of P3DM
Known locations of P3DM exercises in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific
Collection of case studies: www.iapad.org

P3DM on social media:

www.facebook.com/ppgis
www.twitter.com/ppgis
www.vimeo.com/channels/pgis
www.ppgis.net

Order or download the publication (at no cost - eligibility criteria apply):

English version

The network of NGOs known as BIMTT deploys participatory 3D modelling within its operations in Madagascar

Itasy is the smallest region of Madagascar and is characterised by a high agricultural potential. Nonetheless productivity is challenged by poor communication and limited market outlets and lack of land tenure security.

Close to 90% of the population of this region depends on agriculture. Production systems are diverse due to areas characterized by very high population densities (areas predominantly alluvial and volcanic soils) or by low quality soils (Central, West). Out-migration is high.

The regional plan for development highlights the need for investing in agriculture and related rural livelihoods, communication infrastructure and the establishment effective local administrations.



In order to contribute to improving sustainable resource management in selected villages, FAFAFI / SPAnta, both members of BIMTT (a network of rural trainers within the Christian Churches in Madagascar), has developed a programme focused on strengthening farmers, promoting local initiatives and the collaboration with the local authorities. The initiative is is inclusive and centred on practicing Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM). P3DM is used to involve all local actors in the process from the documenting and geo-locating socio-economic and environmental realities on the 3D map, to plan future development. As a whole the initiative is aimed at supporting farmers, community based organisations and local authorities acquire skills in adopting the 'theory of change', participatory planning, monitoring and evaluation. 3D mapping at village level has proven to engage and excite  participants, increasing their initiative and commitment in engaging in activities which would benefit the entire community.


As of March 2016 a total of three villages have completed their 3D models. These include Antalata Vaovao and Faliarivo villages in Ampefy Commune, and Marosoka village in Analavory Commune.

The 3D models have been used to develop community-based village development plans.

FAFAFI/SPAnta in collaboration with the General Secretary of BIMTT plan to replicate the P3DM process in all villages benefitting from FAFAFI/SPAnta support in the Itasy region.

Di mbei di dee Saamaka sëmbë mbei di ageesi kaita de seei u de sa seeka sondi u de (video voiced in Saamaka)

Feifi teni jaa pasa kaa, di wan feifi dusu Saamaka sёmbё so bi abi u voloisi di de mbei di dan. De bi abi u kumutu disi di kamian te ka dee gaan sёmbё u de bi ta libi a di Saamaka lio. Te ku di daka u tide di voloisi aki dё a de pakisei eti. Dee Saamaka sёmbё dee ta de a moo libasё u di Saamaka lio ta abi umёni boöko hedi, we bika de an feni leti u di matu jeti. So seei pasi ta mbei ta ko a di kamian te ka de ta libi. Di mbei u di ageesi kaita u di tan kamian u de, ta konda fa de seei ta si di libi u de, fa de ta woko ku di matu, so sei di kaita sa heepi de u gaan lanti sa fusutan de moo bunu u de ta sa a wan taki a dee sondi di ta pasa a di konde.

Version française: http://goo.gl/ggXyw5
English version: http://goo.gl/hS5nKb

Speaking of Home - The story of the Mount Elgon Ogiek

The Ogiek peoples live on the slopes of Mount Elgon in Kenya. This documentary shows the Ogiek's relationship to their homeland and to the world.

As indigenous peoples without official minority status in Kenya, the Ogiek have gone through evictions from their native land for decades. Time after another they have returned to their land to continue living in the forest.

The documentary is the Ogiek's story, in their own words, of their hopes before the 2013 Kenyan elections. It was filmed in Chepkitale, Mt. Elgon in 2012 during a 3D mapping workshop.

Through developing a 3D map of their land, the Ogiek not only strengthen their cultural identity, but can show that the land said to belong to someone else, is rightfully theirs.

Credits: The film has been produced by SHALIN Suomi Ry and has been featured at the Helsinki African Film Festival.

More on the case is found here.

Knowledge and cultural transmission in Kenyan participatory 3D mapping

This film interview of Dr. Nigel Crawhall, Director of Secretariat at the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Co-ordinating Committee (IPACC), is his explanation of the intergenerational ecological knowledge transmission in participatory 3-dimensional modelling (P3DM). Crawhall discusses his observations on intergenerational interaction when the Ogiek community of Nessuit, Kenya, built a geo-referenced 3D model of their mountain forest landscape in 2006.



The mapping exercise was attended by representatives from 21 Ogiek clans, and an area of 52,800 hectares (ha) was mapped at a scale of 1:10,000. Participants included close to 120 representatives from the different clans, both men and women. Elders populated the model with their memories dating back to 1925 and reconstructed the landscape as it was at that time. The model displays 64 data layers including different types of areas, points, and lines. In 2008, the Ogiek people expanded the coverage of the model to include further 40,000 ha.

This kind of physical 3D model creation can serve the community for the following:

• Generating spatial geo-referenced data based on a community perspective on land use, vegetation cover, resource distribution, tenure, etc;
• Storing and displaying such data at a community level;
• Supporting intra- and inter-generational knowledge exchange;
• Adding value and authority to local knowledge;
• Involving communities in developing resource use and management knowledge;
• Conducting preliminary collaborative research on distribution of species;
• Monitoring jointly with the concerned stakeholders' changes in land use, vegetation cover, human settlement, infrastructure development, and other features;
• Serving as a benchmark; and
• Supporting the learning of local geography and resource use.

The purpose of the model was to record traditional territory and land use patterns, as well as memory and history from a land use and environmental perspective. As reported here, through map building and coding, the clan experienced participatory community enthusiasm and cooperation between elders, young adults, and youth on intergenerational knowledge, language, and heritage transfer, tapping knowledge otherwise lost over time. The 3D style of the map encouraged explanation of the clan’s historical land use patterns and included creating a key or legend to increase understanding of the interrelationships of land, vegetation, altitude, and layers more of information, leading to more complex environmental knowledge that other methods, for example walking on the land, might not provide.

In addition, young people gave attention to the process and listened while elders debated historical use patterns from their memories. A linguistic dimension, which evolved due to the use of English, Kiswahili, and Ogiek, drew out more explicit meaning of vocabulary in Ogiek. Intergenerational knowledge transfer affirmed the elders' lived experience, and the process transferred to the younger members of the community the realisation of the complexity of their environment and the depth of knowledge available to them through their elders.

Source: The Communication Initiative

More information on the case is found here.

The Right to be Different: Struggle for Water and Identity in the Andes

In the parish of Licto, near Riobamba, in Ecuador, the indigenous population fought for its water. Indian peasants participated in the design, construction and organisation of the irrigation system. After more than 20 years the water finally reached the community. The story is told by Inés Chapi, an Indian woman, who came a long way from being oppressed and discriminated against to become a most respected irrigation organiser in the system.  In the Andes they call it blood of the earth, the source of life from which other life grows. Water, feeding the land as well as the imagination. Giving rise to rituals and myths, fueling tradition and culture. Ancient and modern conquerors of these highlands denied the indigenous people access to springs and rivers. Water became a source of conflict. And usually the Indians got a raw deal.

Based on: The Rules of the Game and the Game of the Rules’ by Rutgerd Boelens; Executive producer and scenario: Barend Hazeleger; Photography: Thom Deelstra; Sound recordist: Juio Gorck; Editing: Jan Pieter Tuinstra & Barend Hazeleger; Scientific research and Interviews: Rutgerd Boelens; Produced by Agrapen and Wageningen University (2003)

More on the case: http://bit.ly/1OAlBsX

The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan Peoples of Suriname (Video)

Fifty years ago, some 5000 Saramaccan Peoples of Suriname had to leave their traditional lands along the Suriname River due to the construction of a major dam. The wounds of this transmigration are still felt today. Meanwhile, the Saramaccans who live in the Upper Suriname River area face new challenges since their territorial rights are not yet officially recognized and road infrastructure to access the area is improving. Creating a 3D model of the area that tells the inside story of their traditions and land use can help them to overcome their sense of being misunderstood by decision-makers and rediscover their voice.

Language versions:
Version française: http://goo.gl/ggXyw5
Saramaccan version: http://goo.gl/9XC2Jb

The 15 min video production "The enabling power of participatory 3D mapping among the Saramaccan People of Suriname" has been launched on October 9 at the 13th Caribbean Week of Agriculture in Paramaribo. The launch occurred during the session "Maps as media in policy processes: Bringing the 3rd dimension to the negotiating table" in the presence of representatives from the Saramaccan community.

The launch was followed by reflections done by Saramaccan representatives Mr Godfried Adjako, one of the captains of the village of Kaajapati, and Ms Debora Linga who spent her infancy with her grandparents on their farm on the shores of the Brokopondo Reservoir and later on kept visiting them in Ginginston village along the banks of the Upper Suriname River.

Mr Godfried Adjako recalled that in the process of populating the 3D model the community, especially the youth, learned a lot from the elders. "The map now shows our life, the Earth we live on, the Earth we walk on, the Earth without which we cannot live."

"We can use the map to take decisions on where to locate future developments", he added. Both men and women contributed to the map. "Women know a lot about the surrounding of the villages, while men who use to go hunting, know the most about far away areas."

Mr Adjako stated that when developing the legend ahead of the mapping exercise, the community decided to omit sensitive and confidential information. Therefore the data contained in the model and currently being digitised by Tropenbos international Suriname should be considered as publicly available.

The P3DM process has been a discovery journey for young Debora. "In the 60's my grandparents had to resettle because their village had been submerged by the rising waters of the Brokopondo Reservoir . They resettled along the Upper Suriname River in a village called Ginginston where I grew up. I could not understand the reason why my grandfather kept on navigating a long way along the river to reach the shores of the lake where he was growing watermelon" she said. "I discovered the reason while chatting with an elder who explained to me that transmigrating families were welcome by Saramaccan villages uphill the lake, but were granted limited access to resources. In fact they were sort of borrowing the land from people who occupied it for generations. Thus they only had access to small farming areas. In Saramaccan this is how you feel: they were living on somebody else's land."

Community-based Disaster Risk Reduction in the Philippines

With the support of UNICEF and the University of the Philippines, children in Camarines Norte help their communities in locating the hazard risks in their areas and plan disaster preparedness measures using a Participatory 3D Model (P3DM).

‘Participatory data’ and the formulation of Tourism Development Area Management Plans in Samoa

Developing agriculture to better serve tourism markets in the Pacific is knowledge intensive. The first step is to determine the tourism market’s demands for agricultural produce and then to match this with what is available from local production. But much of this information is not currently readily available.

Bridging this information gap was a key objective of the recent Agribusiness Forum: Linking the agrifood sector to the tourism-related markets coordinated by CTA and the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) with support from the Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC), the Pacific Agriculture Policy Programme (PAPP) and the intra-ACP Agricultural Policy Programme (Intra-ACP APP). This event, held in Fiji from 1 to 3 July 2015, brought together experts from government agencies, farmers’ organisations, community-based organisations, remote sensing and research bodies to identify the data gaps and discuss how to go forward.

Giving a community perspective, Amia Luatua from the Samoa Tourism Authority, shared Samoa’s work on tourism planning, showing how communities have used participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) to collect data that have been used to inform tourism developments.

Identities and mapping processes

Giacomo Rambaldi, CTA Senior Programme Coordinator, talks about the impact of participatory 3D mapping processes among rural communities. At CTA, Giacomo coordinates Web 2.0 and social media capacity building, and Participatory GIS (PGIS) initiatives.

Soure: Agritools project

Use of Participatory 3D Modelling for the development of community-based Disaster Risk Reduction plans close to active volcanoes

The MIA-VITA EU-funded project has been executed by a consortium including a large number of highly regarded institutions to develop tools and integrated cost effective methodologies to mitigate risks from various hazards on active volcanoes, including prevention, crisis management and recovering.

Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) exercises were accomplished in 2011 in some villages in the nearhood of Fogo in Cape Verde, Merapi in Indonesia and Kanlaon in the Philippines.

According to the researchers the P3DM methodology emphasized the factors of vulnerability on the 3 volcanoes, but also enhanced some opportunities, e.g. at Fogo: diversity of activities, strong local knowledge of risk, experience and safe remittances, permanent volcano monitoring contingency plan. The stakeholders expressed their wish for a more bottom-up way of managing risks and resources within the Natural Parc of Fogo through the use of P3DM.

P3DM activities at Kanlaon

At Merapi in Indonesia, the P3DM allowed local people to outline the evacuation routes that they used during the 2010 volcanic crisis, as well as their starting point and final destination. These results have been be mapped and stored on a GIS database. Preliminary results have emphasized some discrepancies between the official evacuation roads and the routes taken by the local community. In addition, a dialogue between the local people and the volcanologists allowed assessing the perception of the local people on the lahar occurrence and lahar pass ways.

Researchers concluded that participatory 3D maps greatly help in making disaster risk assessment faster and efficient. The participants were able to assess their own vulnerabilities and capacities in the face of different natural hazards which were plotted on the physical 3D models. The results of risk assessment were eventually used as input during the disaster risk reduction (DRR) action planning phase. These activities were all facilitated by the local authorities and local people with limited input from outsiders (CNRS and local Authorities). Project management considers this as an indication of success in empowering the local people and authorities via participatory methods.

All the P3DM models bridge the gap between local people and authorities. The models form the basis of an effective DRR action planning, crisis management and evacuation (e.g. drill at Kanlaon). They serve as a reminder to the local people of the risk of disasters and their vulnerabilities and capacities.

In Kanalon a local contingency plan for volcanic hazards has been completed  and a functional Barangay (village) Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council have been established. The body ensures a proper allocation of the local budget for disaster preparedness.

Source: http://goo.gl/0f9VRh

Further reading: Estuning Tyas Wulan Mei, Delphine Grancher, and Franck Lavigne. 2012. People’s Vulnerability, Capacity, Response and Resilience during the2010 Merapi eruption at local level. Paper presented at the International Scientific Conference on Integrated Approaches for Volcanic Risk Management, University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart, Germany. 11- 12 September 2012

Note: The MIAVITA project has been financed by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, Area “Environment”, Activity 6.1 “Climate Change, Pollution and Risks"

Samoan villages get involved in climate change modelling

During the first week of March the Samoa Tourism Authority (STA) hosted a Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM) workshop with technical guidance provided by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MNRE). The workshop is a part of the 'Enhancing the resilience of tourism reliant communities to Climate Change risks '- project, funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through  the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project targets small tourism operators in six Tourism Development Areas (TDA) in Upolu and Savai’i. The areas covered by the project and where 3D models have been and will be made include Manono-tai, Lalomanu and Saleapaga; Sataoa and Saanapu; Lano and Manase; Falealupo and Satuiatua; and Fa’ala and Vailoa, Palauli.

The objective of the project is to enhance the resilience of tourism-reliant communities to climate change risks by integrating climate change considerations into development policy and instruments, and Investing In adaptation actions supporting tourism-reliant communities.

1;10000 scale Participatory 3D Model of
Manono Island, Samoa

During the workshop representatives from local tourism-reliant communities built a three dimensional representation of their area. In the process they were be able to appreciate the impact that climate change might have from the ridges to the reefs and to plan out how best to improve the resilience of small tourism operators and the surrounding villages.

"This Innovative approach has been proven very positive for the systematic involvement of communities towards a more resilient planning of their territory," said Lizbeth Cullity, UNDP Resident Representative.

Some community participants posing around the completed 3D
model of Manono Island, Samoa

A similar workshop was held in the island of Manono one week before with great success. Sara Ferrandi, UNDP focal point for the project said, "The strong engagement of young people in the construction, as well as the contribution of women and elderly representatives with their understanding of their territory and traditional knowledge, were remarkable. This participatory process allowed the communities in Manono to combine map interpretation with open discussion on land use planning scenarios".

Products used during the workshops included cardboard, paint and map pins representing natural land use and cover, households and other relevant features of villages and the landscape in general.

The construction of these 3D models also represented a learning opportunity for Government officials, and will generated valuable information for other projects in Samoa and in the Pacific region once digitized. In addition it helped the communities to visualize how the land and seascape might change in the near future, especially with the changes that the country and the tourism sector will undergo due to climate change and extreme weather conditions.

As STA’s project coordinator, Ms  Amiafolau Alamasaga said: "The protect has helped us create a helpful tool to help the communities and business owners consider climate change Into their daily business in the tourism reliant areas and communities." Other participatory three-dimensional models will be built next week with representatives from the communities on the island as two models were made for Upolu this week.

Credits:
Text: adapted from an article by Anja Marcussen published on the www.samoaobserver.ws .
Images: courtesy Samoa Tourism Authority (STA)

Further information: Watch the presentation ‘Participatory data’ and the formulation of Tourism Development Area Management Plans in Samoa delivered by Ms Amiaifolau Afamasaga Luatua from the Samoan Tourism Authority during the Agribusiness Forum which took place in Nadi, Fiji on 1-3 July 2015.

Participatory Data

Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is a community-based tool that builds on local and indigenous knowledge for a variety of purposes, such as land use planning, watershed management, disaster prevention, communication and advocacy.  

Participatory 3D modelling (P3DM) is a community-based tool – better defined as a ‘process’ – that integrates local spatial knowledge with data on land elevation and sea depth to produce a physical model. Local communities participate in the model building of the territory that they rely on for their livelihoods and cultural practices. The kind of data that the P3DM process generates are extremely diverse, but essentially it are data that are relevant for local knowledge holders: from land cover and land use to infrastructure – all of which are intimately related to a given people’s culture, their sacred sites, and burial grounds.

Local knowledge holders may be interested in sharing data, but there may also be data that they may consider private and sensitive. However, they may like to locate and document this data solely for their internal use. They may wish to maintain strategic control over the information that is shared, how it is released and to whom.

P3DM has already been used in a variety of contexts: claim land ownership, transfer knowledge across generations, and manage conflicts. It has recently started to take off in the Pacific region, enabling people in small island countries – where rising sea levels are posing a serious risk to many people’s livelihoods – to take informed decisions about how best to manage risk and adapt to climate change.

Origins of P3DM  

P3DM was initially used in the late 1980s in Thailand, to demonstrate where the Royal Forestry Department was developing plantations for catchment rehabilitation. As such it was a conservation-based demonstration tool, not a participatory tool. Dr Uraivan Tan-Kim-Yong, an anthropologist at Chiang Mai University, was running a research programme involving hill tribe people. She invited her students to make small Styrofoam models and bring them to the villages to discuss soil conservation and soil erosion issues.

These models proved useful and eventually drew the attention of other parties, who began to develop and deploy the P3DM process. The Thai-German Highland Development Programme (TG-HDP) (1981-1998) funded by the German Agency for Technical Cooperation was on the forefront in making use of the tool [1]. For the first time the 3D models began to be used on a village-to-village basis and in a participatory manner. 3D models started to shift from being a demonstration tool to an education tool, and finally a planning tool. In 1993, a workshop was held in Thailand attended by several NGOs from Southeast Asia. Organisations such as the Philippine Association for Intercultural Development (PAFID) and Green Forum Western Visayas began to embrace P3DM and started using it with indigenous people. It enabled them to address the demand coming from tribal minority groups to generate a great deal of data to prove their ancestral occupancy of land and waters in order to get their customary rights of tenure and use recognised by the government. Over the years, P3DM has benefited from the creativity of the many practitioners who have been engaged in the process.

Initial challenges  

All new technologies face implementation challenges. With P3DM, the initial one is posed by the availability of sufficiently detailed, up-to-date and accurate digital elevation models (DEMs). For example, some DEMs were produced decades ago. So if a blank model is constructed based on an obsolete elevation model, knowledge holders may point out landscape features that have changed, such as an eroded coastline, a mutated river’s course or slope that was altered by a landslide. Once the DEM issue is solved, the model is populated by local knowledge holders, where they share and visualise their spatial knowledge. People have a lot of fun doing this kind of exercise and get a great deal of gratification from it.

Another challenge is the difficulty of applying P3DM to map out large areas, such as an entire country. P3DM requires substantial preparation and logistics. As a result, the tool is often deployed in hotspots, or critical areas. In small island countries it is a useful tool used to map land and seascapes, and eventually large parts of an entire country.

In certain countries the use of P3DM has had a definite impact on policy. In the Philippines, the government has adopted the process in many different contexts, from conflict resolution to awarding indigenous tenure on land and water. In 2001 the minister of the environment and natural resources signed a memorandum circular that recommends the use of P3DM in “protected area planning and sustainable natural resource management” [2]. As of November 2014, in the Philippines 165 models were made that provided critical data for policy making. Samoa is a more recent case where the government has embraced the process in the context of climate change adaptation and community-based risk management.

At international levels, P3DM has been cited as a recommended process by CTA, UNDP, IFAD, GEF, UNESCO and more recently by IUCN in the context of the 2014 “Promise of Sydney”.

From physical to digital  

Custodianship of the 3D model is important to determine where the models are stored and who is responsible for their conservation, use and updating. A model is useless if it is locked up in a room where people cannot access it, or if it is stored under a glass cover and becomes a museum piece. The models have to be part of everyday life. They are used to educate children about local geography and history. This is true of physical models which are usually under the direct control of the knowledge holders. However, their digital representation follows a different path and has usually different custodians.

Once the data goes from physical to digital there is a risk that it will be misused or unwittingly shared. It is crucial that the intermediaries appointed as custodians of the data, are a trusted and reliable entity that will protect the data and respond to the community’s wishes in terms of data sharing. Trust and ethics play an important role in this. Research work may be extractive and could fail to consider that the mapping process should first and foremost benefit the knowledge holders. Unscrupulous individuals may entice people to share data to exploit resources. P3DM implies that a high level of ethics is applied and trust established between the actors involved: the knowledge holders and the technology intermediaries / facilitators.

In 2006 the community of practitioners focusing on Participatory GIS practice has developed a guideline [3] on practical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchers to stimulate the adoption of good practice. It has been published in 12 languages and governs the way people doing participatory mapping should behave in the process of generating, handling, storing and sharing data. The code recommends that knowledge holders remain in full control throughout the process and that data are gathered and eventually shared with their free prior informed consent (FPIC).

For the most part, P3DM data have been well protected. But there have been cases where data entered into a model were misused. In South-East Asia, there are accounts that graveyards located on a 3D model were plundered because such data were not removed and left accessible to the public. Therefore, it is important to make people aware of the implications of geo-locating sensitive data and making it public. They can then decide what to visualise, what to leave or remove from the model.

One of the most important components of a P3DM process is to involve external agencies from the very beginning. This can raise awareness among “outsiders” about the depth, accuracy and relevance of local knowledge. This may induce a new sense of esteem for local knowledge holders.

References   

[1] P3DM for Participatory Land Use Planning (PLUP) in Thailand, Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD).
[2] Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling as a Strategy in Protected Area Planning and Sustainable Natural Resources Management. Memorandum, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Republic of the Philippines, Integrated Approaches to Participatory Development (IAPAD).
[3] Rambaldi,G., Chambers, R., MCcall M. And Fox, J. (2006) Practical ethics for PGIS practitioners, facilitators, technology intermediaries and researchers, Participatory Learning and Action, 54, IIED (April) 106-113.

Related links  

• IAPAD.ORG: Main website for Participatory 3D Modelling (P3DM)  
• Largest online library on participatory mapping practice (gray literature)  
• Participatory 3-Dimensional Modelling: Guiding Principles and Applications; 2010 edition  
• Google Map showing the locations where P3DM has been implemented – non exhaustive list  
• www.facebook.com/PPGIS
• PGIS video collection in English
• PGIS video collection in French
• https://twitter.com/ppgis  
• https://twitter.com/PGISatCTA  
• LinkedIn group of professionals interested in PGIS /PPGIS
• Training Kit on participatory mapping practice
• www.ppgis.net Gateway to get in touch with the wider PGIS community. Here you may register on the PGIS discussion list. That's the best channel for being updated on PGIS-related matters and where to post questions and share opinions. The global (English) list has ~3000 members. There are also independent chapters exchanging in French, Spanish and Portuguese.

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

Mandingalbay Yidinji Traditional Owners mapped their lands in 3 dimensions - Don't miss their feedback at the World Park Congress in Sydney

Australian aboriginal Mandingalbay Yidinjii people have recently completed a P3DM exercise within the ancestral territories (traditional country) in Queensland.

They will showcase their work and replicate the population of one section of their 3D model during the World Parks Congress in Sydney They will do this at the WIN and Pacific Community Dialogue Pavilion (Pavilion 2) on 13-15 November. You should pass by and talk to them about their exciting experience.

On Monday, 17 November 8:30 – 12:00 they will officially present their achievements at the WIN & Pacific Community Dialogue Pavilion (Pavilion 2) during the session “Voices and choices: The risks and values of georeferencing traditional and local knowledge”. This session is organised by CTA with support provided by IUCN, UNDP, GEF-SGP and the WTMA.

More on this activity and related events at the Worls Parks Congress is found on this flyer.