Participatory Mapping

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 balance or end control of territory by outsiders is known as countermapping or remapping.

PM projects have taken place worldwide. They have been based on a variety of mapping methods, including sketch maps, 3D models, maps traced from topographic maps, maps drawn on existing base maps, maps based on aerial photographs or satellite imagery, GIS products, global positioning system (GPS) measurements, and Google Earth displays.

Approaches to PM have ranged from grassroots projects instigated, carried out, and controlled by local groups to top-down, externally funded and controlled projects that have granted only token participation to people from the affected communities. Participation has come to suggest such a wide range of activities and levels of control that PM has recently been viewed with suspicion.

Different levels of local participation range from top-down externally controlled to bottom-up community designed and completed projects. Simply calling a project “participatory,” however, is not a sufficient way to justify a project and does not ensure an appropriate level of participation.

The following are examples of the range of local stakeholder participation:

Important questions that should be asked prior to undertaking a PM project include the following: What is the purpose of the project? Who will pay for the project? What region is to be mapped? Who decides what happens? Who are the stakeholders? Who will be excluded from the process? Who sets the priorities for the project? Who are the “key” informants? Who will learn the mapping skills? How will conflicts be resolved? Who will control the results? How will the maps be disseminated? Who will maintain the maps? Who will be responsible for the future of the project?

The work flow for a typical PM project includes the following steps:

Land claims may not be successful just because a community makes a map. Maps may have to compete in bureaucratic and judicial arenas with the maps produced by the state or by resource management agencies. Sketches, artistic depictions of place, and 3D models may be useful at various stages of a project, but PM products may have to incorporate coordinate system grids, standardized symbols, and other cartographic conventions to compete with existing maps. GIS offers PM projects the chance to produce high-quality maps that can carry significant weight in court. Some successful indigenous-community PM projects have combined accurate and technically sophisticated maps with ethnographies, drawings, and photographs, presenting a strong case for their land tenure claims.

...