Community Based Participatory GIS using Plone & PrimaGIS

Presentation | Presented

  • Alex Mandel, Geography Graduate Group, University of California, Davis

A working group of undergraduates, graduate students, faculty and staff lead by the Office of Resource Management and Planning is implementing a community based project to map sustainability aspects of the campus through a customized GreenMap(www.greenmap.org). To facilitate the collection of data and plan for future opportunities in community participation and technology integration the working group opted to use a portal based web site. Plone with the integration of the PrimaGIS plugin allows for a database entry to also contain geographic reference which will aide in alternative forms of digital display and in the production of a printed map. By simplifying the amount GIS knowledge and experience necessary to participate in the mapping project we aim to include more of the community while using advanced technology for map production. The talk will discuss the concept of community based mapping projects and installation, configuration and customization of Plone & Primagis for a collaborative map project.

The project aims to assist the university in achieving goals set by the campus Sustainability Advisory Committee:
1. Creating an “intentional campus,” which teaches the community and visitors through its visible, revealed physical nature (buildings, landscape, infrastructure).
2. Facilitate conversation about campus sustainability while updating & maintaining the map through campus community participation.
3.An easy-to-use, readily accessible Planning and Assessment Tool to gauge progress towards campus sustainability, as well as documenting opportunities for future improvement.
4.Community Education, connecting the community to the campus through knowledge about the campus thus encouraging stewardship.

Supporting Files