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Art by Fanesha Fabre
Environmental justice organizations increasingly need GIS tools to track changes, monitor resources, and document land claims. Technology advancements have made GIS more accessible, extending their use beyond specialized institutions to consumers, while drones and remote sensors have further facilitated low-cost remote data collection. In social and climate justice, these tools can be powerful if community-based and maintained but we must be mindful of data integrity, security, and ethics.
This guide is aimed at placing a digital rights lens on GIS, both the platforms and the accompanying data, in an effort to make responsible mapping more accessible for environmental justice organizations. I aim for this first version of the guide to:
- First and foremost, be accessible (so do point out when something is too jargony)
- Be somewhat incomplete, with the direction of the content being driven by community needs.
- Be open to feedback, corrections, and contributions.
The guide includes:
- Before We Start: This section covers the history behind GIS as well as some key concepts.
- Foundations: This section covers the key ethical, privacy, and participatory concepts necessary for community-driven GIS.
- Cartographic Systems: This section covers key considerations around the digital representations of our world - the projections we use to model it, how we reference points, and how we navigate.
- Spatial Analysis: This section covers common issues around spatial analysis that often result in maps that lead to incorrect policy decisions and interventions or are accused of being misleading.
- Use Cases: This section outlines some of the use cases for GIS (including the emerging geoAI!).
- Annex: This section looks at some of the common platforms used for GIS and, where possible, where they land in terms of environmental justice.
{% hint style="info" %} You can read this guide from beginning to end or you can follow the paths below based on your needs.
- Definitely read through 'Foundations'.
- If you will be conducting analysis (aggregations, calculations, etc), read through the 'Spatial Analysis' section.
- If you're combining two different data sets, read through 'Cartographic Systems' {% endhint %}
You can submit changes directly or submit requests via the GitHub repo or click on ‘Edit on GitHub’ on the right side of each page.
If you are referring to this guide in your work, please attribute your use to 'Richards, C. Navigating GIS, The Green Web Fellow 2024' along with the link.
You can hear about updates to the site, new projects, and interesting findings at the intersection of technology and our environment by subscribing to my newsletter.
If you want to chat, please reach out at hi [@] cathyr.com or visit my website at www.cathyr.com!
{% hint style="info" %} Acknowledgments: Madhuri Karak, Rudo Kemper, Aaron Adams, Arpan Somani, Josh Nesbit, Fanesha Fabre, and the organizations that entrusted me with their challenges and dreams. {% endhint %}