Participatory mapping (PM) is an umbrella term for a broad spectrum of mapping activities. Based to some extent on participatory action research and countermapping, participatory mapping describes mapping projects within which agendas, approaches, processes, techniques, and control rest in some part with the people whose territories and places are being mapped. PM projects have included the mapping of environmental hazards in neighborhoods, the “green mapping” of environmental resources and natural spaces in cities, the mapping of indigenous territorial claims, mapping for resource management, and public participation in zoning and development code mapping.

Other names for PM activities include community mapping, participatory geographic information systems (PGIS), public participation GIS (PPGIS), and participatory rural appraisal (PRA). PM based on three-dimensional (3D) terrain models is called P3DM. Mapping to ...