More on participatory GIS

I posted earlier on the Ovalau participatory mapping exercise that the DSAP project was involved in during my time in Fiji. This nice little video, with lovely singing and images, is a good visual overview of the process. Note, it might take a while to access and connect to the video. Thanks to my friend Giacomo Ribaldi.

Participatory mapping

An interesting posting on the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog today brought back memories of my involvement with a participatory mapping exercise in Fiji when working on the Development of Sustainable Agriculture in the Pacific (DSAP) project. DSAP, with other partners, worked with rural communities on Ovalau Island, Fiji to help map their natural resources and tangible and intangible cultural heritage (it was part of an exercise to assist with Ovalau's application for UNESCO World Heritage listing). Further information about the exercise and participatory mapping in general can be obtained from the IAPAD website.

The posting referred to above on the Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog called 'Mapping for Change' is a brief video on the international Mapping for Change conference that took place in Kenya in 2005 and is well worth watching.

For those interested in participatory mapping, IIED have published a special issue of Participatory Learning and Action dedicated to the Kenya conference. Robert Chambers has also written about the development of participatory mapping/GIS in his recent publication From PRA to PLA and Pluralism, which I recently posted on.

It would be interesting to learn about any similar participatory mapping exercises that might have been carried out locally with rural communities to map natural resources, cultural heritage or other community assets.