Neighbourhood Maps & Consultation Tools
Neighbourhood Mapping
The value of community consultation and engagement is recognised by organisations from Central Government downwards. Groundwork has used GIS successfully at this very local level in a number of ways:
Alongside traditional consultation methods
Established methods such 'Planning for Real' models of an area, graffiti walls and questionnaires are often used at community events to record the views of local people. Leading up to the event, GIS is a cost-effective way to generate bespoke materials and maps for use with the public.
After the event, if the results are put into a GIS, they can be:
- fed back to partners and clients in an electronic form
- overlayed with other data such as local authority or police information
- added to the results of other consultations
- analysed spatially for patterns and gaps
Participatory GIS
Groundwork has developed a number of techniques and tools for using GIS directly in the consultation process.
- Giving people access to baseline information or proposals - This type of information can be invaluable in helping local people play an active role in the process and allows them to make better informed comments. Unfortunately, this information is often held by a wide range of organisations in a number of different formats. Groundwork has several years experience of bringing such data sets together and using them to create a number of easy to understand 'layers'. These can then be used along with suitable basemaps, either over the internet or locally on a computer.
- Recording people's comments - most organisations involved in regenerating or improving areas will be using electronic plans of some type. Groundwork has developed ways of allowing users the chance to comment directly on the maps. Because people's comments are recorded electronically (and linked to a location) they can be supplied directly and used to inform plans. They can also be analysed using spatial techniques and trends identified.
- GIS can be used directly to inform discussions either with small groups sitting around a monitor or by projecting onto a screen. GIS can also be used to allow people to record their views sequentially (say through a website or at public open days or to help build consensus by allow people to comment on previous comments
- Empower local groups - Literally thousands of tables of national statistics are now available, ranging from Census to Deprivation Indices. Groundwork uses GIS to display these in a form easily usable by small groups such as residents' associations and so assist them in making a case for action or in applying for funding
- Gather local evidence - GIS can be used to create new local data sets, for instance by taking digital photos of graffiti or mapping habitat types with a GPS device.
