The role of crowd-mapping in post-emergency humanitarian operations

Room: Tsavo Hall

Sunday, 14:40
Duration: 10 minutes (plus Q&A)

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  • Valeria Rossi

Following a theoretical and methodological analysis of the scientific literature on PGIS, this study aims to explore the unexplored potential of the connections between PGIS (using OSM) and digital humanitarianism, as well as the empirical references from a case study in Morocco.

INTRODUCTION / BACKGROUND Considering that NGOs and International Organizations have been applying PRA methodologies to community mapping for over two decades without any scientific recognition, we could subscribe to the general opinion that among practitioners, researchers, and activists, the practice of Web-GIS with OSM is more advanced than the underlying theory of its applications [12]. The so-called "digital humanitarianism" can support climate justice by providing tools and platforms for data collection, analysis, and dissemination that empower vulnerable communities to advocate for their rights, mobilize for climate action and advance equitable solutions. Overall, digital humanitarianism can amplify the voices of marginalized communities, enhance transparency and accountability, and promote greater inclusivity in the fight for climate justice. Digital humanitarianism is located at the intersection of new socio-technical practices, a new epistemology, and new institutional relationships [5; 8], as demonstrated by communities like Ushahidi, the Humanitarian OpenStreetMapTeam (HOTOSM), and the Missing Maps.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY The study aims to gain a better understanding of the nature of the link between crowd-mapping and participatory planning by analysing the distinctive features of the application case, the criticalities and problems that emerged, and the possible strategies to be activated to tackle them especially in contexts where people living in rural and remote areas and in peri-urban areas face problems such as inadequate access to essential resources, such as food and water security, and are more exposed to low quality basic services (health and education) and the effects of natural disasters. This fosters inequality, can limit capabilities and promote environmental injustice.

METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS The fieldwork is part of an emergency intervention led by a consortium project combining five NGOs financed by Caritas, with an overall objective of assisting the population impacted by the earthquake that struck in Morocco on September 8 and 9, 2023. As part of this intervention, which calls for various support measures (distribution of family kits, distribution of housing tents and school modules, social-health interventions and psychological support), a humanitarian mapping action is currently being carried out with the help of a group of women belonging to a popular radio station attentive to ‘open data’. The project starts from an integrated strategy that brings together humanitarian mapping and future labs, presenting a dynamic approach to addressing social challenges in post-emergency contexts and crisis areas.

Case study: the contribution to crowd - mapping experimentation (training, definition of a working group, creation of a virtual mapping environment with the use of OSM and Osmand) is investigated, an ongoing process started by OfficianSocialeCOPE (the Research Centre of COPE ONG) and the University of Catania and Palermo (Italy) within the context of a post-emergence project (which will end in July 2024l supporting the victims of the Earthquake of September 2023 in Morocco with an approach to address the perception of individual and collective vulnerability in a rural post-emergency context. The expected maps are also employed in contrasting contexts, such as in counter-mapping initiatives where indigenous communities (in the case of High Atlas and Sahara villages) seek to regain a certain level of control over ancestral lands and city neighborhoods, resources and services by utilizing participatory mapping methodologies. This makes people aware of their power of pressing issues on local government policies. Localisation of the territorial landmarks reference points takes into account the WEF (Water, Energy, Food) nexus’s provided topics, which included access to fresh food, electricity, and water, as well as other issues that the participants perceive as significant to the neighborhood, (watercourses forests, cultivated areas, potholes, etc. in rural areas, but also small income generating activities potentials). More specifically, residents, through PGIS mapping tools for on field visit, report issues such as the level of connection of remote areas with other villages and secondary roads, natural and artificial water sources, soil dryness and exposition to drought in High Atlas, as well as associative realities such as cooperatives or Community Based (CSOs) already established or expressing the will to formalise to create income and revenues. It is critical to consolidate/train the social labs’ working groups, which will be made up of territorial representatives and stakeholders from various sectors, such as volunteers, community leaders, and members of local organisations (e.g., muqaddim [neighbourhood or village community leader], kaid [mayor], school teachers, association representatives, headmasters, etc.). Furthermore, the working groups were separated by gender in order to better convey gender-specific demands and requirements. Through the use of GIS tools (QGIS, Google Earth Pro) and a Web map server (OpenStreetMap), and with the classification of the map contributors’ working group, future labs are implemented to share experiences and knowledge on mapping activities and their application in the humanitarian context of reference (PHASE 1 and 2), aiming to plan disaster risk reduction and response and propose development processes strategies (PHASE 2 and 3). The final product to stakeholders includes developing a project outcome using a story-map tool (PHASE 3).

FINAL DISCUSSION For the first time, in very remote areas of Morocco, the areas and names of settlements, agricultural and productive land and, above all, areas at low and high risk of natural disasters will be mapped with the help of local knowledge. For the purposes of ‘spatial learning, discussion, information exchange, analysis, decision-making and advocacy’ [11], many approaches and tools will be used ‘to represent people’s spatial knowledge’. The primary objective will be to learn how community members define vulnerability and to classify various community stressors. The end result that will be presented to stakeholders will be a combination of satellite imagery, GPS survey locations, participatory mapping and spatial analysis of the geographic information system (GIS), combined with information obtained through interviews and field surveys. The development, georeferencing and visualisation of Indigenous Geographic Knowledge (IGK) will help communities to engage in peer-to-peer conversations and ensure that specific issues and concerns are taken into account by the authorities. Only by considering the participatory process itself could the promoted activity become an example of good governance, i.e. transparent and consensus-based decision-making processes for land management. This is why the different geographical viewpoints of women are of particular interest. The article intends to highlight how PGIS can facilitate the creation and exchange of indigenous ecological and spatial knowledge and improve individual social learning regarding the environment and response to natural disasters and promote development. The fact that the case study was developed in a vulnerable context of North Africa is meant to emphasise that in order to help reduce the digital divide, the lack of attention to research and investigation in the field of digital mapping in Africa compared to the significant progress made in industrialised countries must be taken into consideration. Furthermore, it is shown how important it is to evaluate experiences (both failures and successes) and to develop instructions and strategies to promote best practices in this area, ensuring that the reasoned adoption of the PGIS meets the expectations of different groups in developing countries and does not fall into the dynamics whereby the participatory method may underlie systematic inequalities through unequal and superficial use of PGIS applications, which thus risk being used to legitimise decisions already made by other parties.