Shivanand Balram

Collaborative geographic information systems

A Sample of Contents: Collaborative Geographic Information Systems: Origins, Boundaries and Structures Collaborative Geographic Information Systems and Science: A Transdisciplinary Evolution.

A Web GIS collaborative framework to structure and manage distributed planning processes

Abstract.Rapidly changing planning contexts, new stakeholder demands, and intensified natural resource conflicts have resulted in questions about the adequacy of traditional resource planning. These questions include the lack of representation of some stakeholder groups (equity) and the inability to actively participate (access) in the planning stages due to the synchronous and place-based protocols of the process. A deficiency in equity and access reduces the wider acceptance of planning outcomes and on claims about democratic decision-making. In this study, the Web GIS Collaborative Spatial Delphi framework was designed to create a distributed, collaborative, and continual setting to address equity and access. Cognitive mapping, the Delphi procedure, and consensus approaches are the main components integrated to structure a shared virtual space for problem-solving and planning. Web mapping tools, priority ranking and rating, exploratory map analysis, and data visualizations provide analytical support. The framework is based on participant recommendations from summative evaluations of four planning workshops. The implications of the framework and future directions are discussed. This research is part of a wider program to design effective planning and decision-making tools on the Web.

A collaborative GIS method for integrating local and technical knowledge in establishing biodiversity conservation priorities

Methods for establishing biodiversity conservation priorities are urgently required, as the number of species and habitats that are threatened increases relative to the material resources available for their conservation. The identification of priority areas demands the integration of biophysical data on ecosystems together with social data on human pressures and planning opportunities. But comprehensive and reliable data are rarely available to demarcate where the need for action is most urgent and where the benefits of conservation strategies can be maximized. Strategic conservation initiatives cannot wait for the creation of comprehensive databases. In order to fill the missing data gaps, the combined knowledge of local and technical experts can be used. This study presents a collaborative geographic information system (GIS) method for integrating the knowledge of local and technical experts with existing spatial environmental data to establish priority areas for biodiversity conservation. Procedures for structuring and framing the discussions, establishing assessment criteria, integrating knowledge with data, and building consensus are incorporated into the method. The method provides a novel cooperative mechanism to aid spatial knowledge management and inclusive biodiversity planning.

Achieving Effectiveness in Stakeholder Participation Using the GIS-Based Collaborative Spatial Delphi Methodology

Environmental problems have spatial origins and consequences. Hence, effective stakeholder participation demands the integration of comprehensive facilities for understanding the spatial components that affect environmental change. This study develops the Collaborative Spatial Delphi (CSD) methodology to embed spatial thinking, conceptualise the dynamic mechanisms, and assess the effectiveness of the resulting participatory process. The CSD uses a collaborative geographic information system (GIS) and the Delphi procedure in a descriptive decision-making framework that integrates diverse stakeholder knowledge for spatial awareness, understanding, and negotiated outcomes. The CSD synthesises relevant theories to conceptualise the participation mechanisms, and an application of the methodology to urban green spaces planning in Montreal, Canada is presented. The results suggest that a deficiency in technical background is not a barrier to effective use of spatial technology in participatory planning. The methodology enhanced many spatial facets of the participation process and was evaluated as effective in achieving negotiated outcomes.

Collaborative GIS for spatial decision support and visualization.

Collaborative geographic information systems (GIS) are maturing into an important collection of tools, theories, and practices to directly support multi-stakeholder participation in the planning and management of geographically distributed resources. Collaborative GIS are situated in the broader disciplinary area of Group Spatial Decision Support Systems (GSDSS) and can be defined as an integration of spatially enabled theories, tools, and technologies for structuring human participation and articulating issues of concern in local and distributed spatial planning processes (Balram and Dragicevic, 2006). A typical system design will include a digital workspace for map-based analysis and visualization, multi-modal interfaces for participant interactions, and digital databases to provide baseline data and store new information. In addition, the Collaborative GIS is usually integrated in a supporting organizational and technical structure to ensure continuity especially if change detection is a desired outcome. Spatial decision support and visualization have been two key application areas for Collaborative GIS designs. In their capacity as enabling platforms for spatial decision support, Collaborative GIS have served a variety of roles such as integrating virtual team participants (MacEachren, 2001), structuring planning processes (Balram and Dragicevic, 2005; Jankowski and Nyerges, 2001), balancing consensus and conflicts (Feick and Hall, 2002), and facilitating local stakeholder participation in resource decision processes (Nyerges et al., 2006). As a means to aid visualization for co-located or dispersed individuals and groups, Collaborative GIS have been used mainly to communicate planning scenarios and outcomes (MacEachren et al., 2005).

Modeling Collaborative GIS Processes Using Soft Systems Theory, UML and Object Oriented Design

The evidence from collaborative GIS problem solving indicates that although environmental problems are context dependent, meaningful solutions are framed around the core issues of multiple stakeholder interests, complexity, wicked problems, ill-defined problem specification, and their spatial characteristics. Based on subsets of these issues, there exists a number of overlapping collaborative GIS designs and processes. The goal of this study is to reconcile the overlap by modeling a core collaborative GIS design and process. General systems theory is used to classify core technical components of the collaborative GIS design, and soft systems theory characterizes the human activity dynamics of the collaborative process. Further, object oriented principles are used to generate a flexible problem domain design, and the unified modeling language (UML) visually describes the structure and behavior of the collaborative process. The core formalism facilitates GIS process integration, standardization, reusability, ontology design, and rapid solution design in new problem contexts. The collaborative spatial Delphi (CSD) methodology is a proof of concept. This research contributes to the design and specification of a core collaborative GIS model, a reusable pattern, and their ontological impacts.

Collaborative spaces for GIS-based multimedia cartography in blended environments

The interaction spaces between instructors and learners in the traditional face-to-face classroom environment are being changed by the diffusion and adoption of many forms of computer-based pedagogy. An integrated understanding of these evolving interaction spaces together with how they interconnect and leverage learning are needed to develop meaningful strategies for effective teaching and learning. The 18i collaborative interaction spaces model was designed based on constructivist principles, and describes 18 mixed instructor-learner spaces contextualized at a finer operational scale that makes explicit a wider range of interactions. The model was implemented during the life cycle of an undergraduate GIS-based multimedia cartography course. One output was the generation of a repository of rule-based trajectory plans for rapid planning and problem solving. The model provides an integrated workflow to manage course contents, products, interactions, individuality, and learning styles in blended environments.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems and Agent-Based Modeling Techniques for Simulating Social and Ecological Processes

this side of the Atlantic, having attracted relatively few scholars to its study. Evidence of this situation can be seen in the small number of papers on the subject at the annual Association of American Geographers meetings and the lack of a specialty group for this subdiscipline. Fortunately, the volume of retail scholarship has been much greater in the U.K., thanks to the work of Guy, Sparks, Wrigley, and others. Reading Retail is certainly a major contribution to the study of retail geography. Hopefully, the book will excite more scholars to become interested in the field and, as a result, produce a stronger and more inclusive retail geography than has existed previously.

A Review of “The GIS 20 Essential Skills”: Gina Clemmer. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press, 2010. 156 pp., CD-ROM.

enhanced by its inclusion. A more pointed critique relates to the book’s lack of historical context. For example, there is limited discussion of how defensiveness of states is not new but is most apparent in comparison to recent histories of inclusiveness and their adherence, if not pioneering, of human rights law. A lesser critique relates to the index, which leaves much to be desired. Nevertheless, readers will be compelled to heed Mountz’s call to consider how irregular migration might be treated not as crisis but as predictable and something requiring cogent policy. Seeking Asylum reveals how, in the absence of such policy, practices of crisis management open both physical and legal space for ambiguity that must be restrained so that the ideal of asylum can be honestly pursued in bureaucracies at the border.