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. If the results are then 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 gap

• Participatory GIS - GIS can be used directly to inform discussions either with small groups sitting around a monitor or by projecting onto a screen. GIS can be used to allow people to record their views sequentially (say through a website or public kiosk). A recent example is the Urban Forestry project in Hounslow.
  
  
• Decision making tool - GIS can be used to combine a number of different factors and weightings or GIS can bring insights such as highlighting gaps in provision of services
  
  
• 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.

CASE STUDY - Safer Routes to School Groundwork's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) projects are part of a national SRTS programme. They take a 'whole school' approach to transport, safety and health. The scheme consists of a combination of road safety education safe travel initiatives funding for physical improvements that improve safety The aim of the project is to support a shift from journeys by private cars towards walking, cycling and public transport. GIS is used to map a variety of data such as the home postcodes of pupils, cycle and pedestrian routes and information about accident hot-spots so these can be addressed. Maps have been created in the classroom with pupils as part of geography, maths or I.T. lessons or from our office.