Environmental factors within communities play a significant role on the health and well-being of residents. These social and physical determinants have a substantial effect on health. This interaction can result in environmental injustices, inequality, and ultimately poor health for residents. The community of Galena Park, Texas, is a predominantly minority community of Hispanic and African-American residents with previously undocumented concerns related to air quality, the built environment, access to healthcare and the food environment. Through participatory engagement with Galena Park residents using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), this research examines the degree to which GIS is an effective tool in illustrating and visualizing environmental and social injustices. Findings from this research suggest that GIS only relays part of the story and is most powerful when the lived experiences of residents are integrated into the analytical process.

Community forestry is now a popular approach in forest management globally. Although local communities have previously been involved in forest management in various minor ways, community-based forestry is very new in the Australian context. Because of the multiple interests of forest users and other community interest groups, a wider range of up-to-date information is being requested in community forestry, than has been used in ‘conventional’ government-based forest management in the past. The overall aim of this research was to explore the potential and constraints for the application of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in community forest management in Australia and to relate the results also to Nepal. Specific objectives were to: (i) review the applications of GIS in forestry and community forestry worldwide, (ii) determine stakeholders’ views on their requirements for the use of GIS in community-based forest management, (iii) prepare and demonstrate various practical applications of GIS requested by community groups in the Wombat State Forest, (iv) identify the strengths and limitations of GIS in community forestry, and (v) relate findings on GIS applications in Australia to community forestry in Nepal. This study involved a combination of three approaches: review of global literature on GIS, use of GIS and related technologies, and participatory action research. A wide variety of spatial information was identified through community groups as important for community forest planning and management.

There is an urgent need for Bangladesh to identify the arsenic (As) contaminated tubewells (TWs) in order to assess the health risks and initiate appropriate mitigation measures. This involves testing water in millions of TWs and raising community awareness about the health problems related to chronic As exposure from drinking water, and providing alternative safe water option for the exposed population of the country. The use of spatial maps in a participatory context emerged as an important tool for an effective and rational distribution of alternative safe water options for the exposed population of the country. Field test kit offers the only practical tool available to screen all the TW water considering the time frame and financial resources of the country. A comparison of the field test kit results and laboratory measurements by atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS) as “gold standard” for As in water of 12,532 TWs in Matlab upazila (sub-district) in Bangladesh, indicates that the field test kit correctly determined the status of 87% of the As levels compared to the Bangladesh Drinking Water Standard (BDWS) of 50 μg/L, and 91% of the World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water guideline value of 10 μg/L. In order to identify the sustainable alternative safe water options, different type of safe water options were distributed in Sonargaon and Jhikargachha upazilas (sub-district) in 2001 and later revisited the options in 2004 to identify the sustainable ones. It was observed that community acceptability of the distributed options was not encouraging; less than 2% of the provided options were found to be in use. However, two new approaches emerged from people’s initiatives, which were making rapid and positive contributions to safe water coverage: switching to the existing As-safe TWs and reinstalling TWs at 50-100 m depths by looking at particular type of sediment colours. A study was conducted in Matlab upazila to validate the concept of installation/reinstallation of TWs at certain depths, a new concept promoted by local drillers (masons). The study revealed that locally a thick layer of black to grey sediments overlies an oxidized unit of yellowish-grey to reddish-brown sediments. The correlation between the colour of both units and the groundwater redox conditions was investigated to provide an easy tool for targeting low-arsenic groundwater. The water abstracted from black sediments contained high amount of As concentration but the concentration decreased towards the yeallowish to red sediments. Three boreholes verified the driller's perception of the subsurface lithologic conditions. Discrepancies between the driller's and the research team description of the sediment colours were insignificant. This study shows that sediment colour is a reliable indicator of high and low As-concentrations in TW water and can be used by local drillers to install TW. Lack of financial resources and identification of an appropriate distribution tools are some of the major obstacles to provide sustainable solution to the exposed population of the country. Spatial mapping exercise along with community participation can help maximize the safe water coverage of different alternative safe water options by reducing financial involvement. Combining people’s voice with that of spatial information gave better results and the method is already been proved useful in targeting non-served areas. Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) methods along with geographical information system (GIS) used in the study to obtain relevant information. Participants from different focus groups were asked to determine their ‘own priorities’ for spatial planning of alternative arsenic-safe water options. The study discusses community perspectives on demand-based safe water options and reveals the suitability of using participatory geographic information system (PGIS) technique to target non-served areas for rational distribution of safe water options. / QC 20100716

The world faces sustainability challenges directly attributable to human behaviour, and expected to irreparably degrade the socio-ecological system. Cartography (mapping) is a diverse planning and communicating discipline used for strategic development of global and local solutions to these challenges. Its flexible yet robust technology can generate common understanding of issues and inspire successful solutions. This thesis studied community mapping, specifically how community mapping practitioners (CMPs) can use community mapping tools (CMTs) more effectively for Strategic Sustainable Development (SSD). Data of current SSD strengths of six CMTs was collected using the Framework for Strategic Sustainable Development (FSSD) and 13 interviews with practitioners. Thirty-six Key Elements (KEs) of guidance for CMPs to use CMTs were developed. A Compass Model was designed to interlink the KEs, in eight interrelated categories, with the ABCD Strategic Planning Process (ABCD). The results suggest that CMPs using CMTs combined with an SSD approach have the potential to create effective solutions towards sustainability.

Providing citizens with the robust and suitable tools to effectively participate in the planning process is a necessity nowadays. Also, changes in the capabilities and popularity of new technologies have dramatically raised the number of technology-based tools that are potentially available for enhancing public participation in the planning process. This study explores both the theoretical aspect of collaborative planning and the effects that Web-based Public Participatory GIS (WPPGIS) applications and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) has on the planning process. Findings indicate that the WPPGIS applications have the potential for increasing participation. It is also found that besides the contextual elements like the attitudes of planners and decision makers, the technological features such as proper user interface, price of software, technical and literacy skills are seen as crucial hindrances to bridging the planning process and technology-based solutions. This research also attempts to combine IAP2 Public Participation Spectrum and technological functionalities into a single framework to understand the implementation of WPPGIS applications in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden. Finally, based on the given criteria and assessment of the reviewed applications, this study concludes with the design and implementation of a prototype WPPGIS application using Open-Source Technologies (OST).

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