Community-Engaged Mapping: Empowering Local Voices and Narratives
As digital humanists and community advocates, we are thrilled to present the latest issue of the Joint Action for Water blog, which shines a spotlight on the transformative power of community-engaged digital mapping initiatives. In this edition, we explore how cutting-edge geospatial technologies, when wielded by and for local communities, can illuminate critical issues, challenge dominant narratives, and catalyze tangible change.
Community-engaged digital mapping is more than just a tool for visualizing data – it is a profoundly collaborative process that centers the lived experiences, cultural contexts, and self-determination of marginalized groups. By elevating local knowledge and empowering communities to craft their own spatial narratives, these projects push back against the extractive tendencies of conventional academic or institutional mapping efforts.
The articles in this issue offer a global perspective on the innovative ways in which community-driven digital mapping is redefining the landscape of water, sanitation, and environmental justice. From Indigenous land rights in North America to favela infrastructure in Brazil, these projects demonstrate how the strategic use of geospatial data and interactive mapping platforms can catalyze meaningful change.
Native Land: Powered by data, technology, and historical research, Native Land Digital uses counter-mapping to showcase Indigenous territories globally while enhancing the visibility and resilience of Indigenous history and narratives. This multi-faceted mapping platform features the ability to link a given territory to a law or legislative body, enabling users, particularly Indigenous individuals, to track the timeline of their territorial rights. Using sources including oral history, written documents, and authoritative maps, this digital interactive map, powered by Mapbox and WordPress, presents a colorful overlap of Indigenous territories, languages, and treaties for users to explore.
imagineRio: Designed to welcome researchers, students, and residents, imagineRio is a digital platform dedicated to the history of Rio de Janeiro since its foundation. This learning hub integrates various historical documents, such as photographs, maps, and urban reform plans. The “Narratives” section, the most innovative part of the portal, allows users to create map-based stories about Rio’s past using geographic layers. Users can write stories, upload their own visual materials, and embed audio and videos. Built primarily with ArcGISPro and WebGL, this project is a collaboration between Rice University, Instituto Moreira Salles, and AxisMaps.
Mapping Black California (MBC): This multi-faceted data project from Black Voice News uses a combination of Esri products, including ArcGIS, to empower Black Californians to effectively leverage state and local data in their quests for social and economic justice. By making key data accessible across its platform, MBC offers an indispensable resource for empowering Black-led, guided, and driven solutions to complex problems. It also has significant potential for use in educational settings as it supports multiple data storytelling projects that amplify the historical and contemporary concerns of Black communities across the Golden State.
Cocôzap: This community-driven initiative in Brazil focuses on race, human rights, urban infrastructure, and sanitation. Launched in 2018 to address state neglect and data scarcity in favelas, Cocôzap uses WhatsApp to monitor reports about water supply, waste, drainage, and sewage issues. Residents can report issues by sending locations, photos, and videos. A “Complaints Panel” on the website georeferences these reports, supported by Cocôzap ambassadors who ensure data representativeness. The project offers data visualization tools, infographics, and a podcast series to engage the community and advocate for change.
As you explore these and other community-engaged digital mapping projects, we invite you to consider the profound epistemological and methodological shifts they require. By centering local knowledge, amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering a profound sense of community ownership, these initiatives challenge the extractive tendencies of conventional academic and institutional mapping practices. In doing so, they pave the way for a more equitable, inclusive, and transformative approach to geospatial data and visualization.
We hope that this issue will inspire you to rethink the ways in which digital technologies can be leveraged to drive positive change in water, sanitation, and environmental justice initiatives. As always, we welcome your feedback, questions, and suggestions for future content. Connect with us on Twitter using the hashtag #JointActionWater or send us an email at [email protected].
Sincerely,
The Joint Action for Water Editorial Team
Empowering Communities Through Digital Mapping
In an era of unprecedented technological advancement, the field of digital mapping has emerged as a powerful tool for community empowerment and social change. By harnessing the capabilities of geographic information systems (GIS), interactive mapping platforms, and data visualization, community-engaged digital mapping initiatives are redefining the landscape of water, sanitation, and environmental justice.
At the heart of this transformation is a fundamental shift in approach – one that prioritizes the lived experiences, cultural contexts, and self-determination of marginalized groups. Rather than relying on top-down, institutional mapping efforts, these community-driven projects empower local residents to craft their own spatial narratives, challenge dominant narratives, and catalyze tangible change.
Centering Local Knowledge and Narratives
One of the key hallmarks of community-engaged digital mapping is its emphasis on centering local knowledge and elevating the voices of those who have traditionally been excluded from mainstream mapping and data collection efforts. Projects like Native Land Digital and imagineRio exemplify this approach, using interactive maps and storytelling platforms to amplify the histories, territories, and lived experiences of Indigenous communities and urban residents.
By incorporating oral histories, archival materials, and community-sourced data, these initiatives paint a more nuanced and comprehensive picture of the geographic, cultural, and social landscapes they represent. In the process, they challenge the often-myopic perspectives of academic institutions, government agencies, and private enterprises that have historically dominated the field of mapping and cartography.
Fostering Community Ownership and Empowerment
Beyond simply making data and maps accessible to wider audiences, community-engaged digital mapping projects actively empower local residents to take ownership of their narratives and advocate for their needs. Projects like Mapping Black California and Cocôzap demonstrate how GIS-based tools can be leveraged to support community-driven solutions to complex problems.
By providing user-friendly platforms for data collection, visualization, and storytelling, these initiatives enable marginalized communities to gather, analyze, and leverage critical information on issues ranging from infrastructure inequities to environmental injustices. This, in turn, strengthens the capacity of local leaders and organizations to engage in effective advocacy, influence policymaking, and drive meaningful change.
Cultivating Collaborative Partnerships
At the heart of community-engaged digital mapping lies a fundamental commitment to collaborative, reciprocal partnerships between academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and grassroots community groups. Projects like imagineRio and Cocôzap exemplify this approach, bringing together diverse stakeholders to co-create innovative mapping solutions that address local needs and priorities.
By fostering these mutually accountable relationships, community-engaged digital mapping initiatives not only enhance the relevance and impact of their work but also challenge the extractive tendencies of conventional academic and institutional mapping practices. In doing so, they pave the way for a more equitable, inclusive, and transformative approach to geospatial data and visualization.
Fostering Resilience and Sustainability
At a time of growing environmental challenges and resource scarcity, community-engaged digital mapping has emerged as a powerful tool for promoting resilience and sustainability. By empowering local communities to monitor, analyze, and respond to water, sanitation, and environmental issues, these initiatives strengthen their capacity to adapt to changing conditions and advocate for their rights.
Projects like Cocôzap, which uses WhatsApp and crowdsourcing to monitor and report on infrastructure and sanitation issues in Brazilian favelas, demonstrate the potential of digital mapping to drive tangible improvements in community well-being and environmental sustainability. By putting the power of data and visualization in the hands of residents, these initiatives foster a sense of collective ownership and responsibility that can catalyze long-term, community-driven solutions.
The Way Forward: Embracing a New Era of Community-Engaged Mapping
As the field of digital mapping continues to evolve, the projects featured in this issue offer a glimpse into a more equitable, inclusive, and transformative future. By centering local knowledge, amplifying marginalized voices, and fostering collaborative partnerships, community-engaged digital mapping initiatives are redefining the ways in which geospatial data and visualization can be leveraged to drive positive change.
In the years to come, we can expect to see a proliferation of such projects, as more and more communities recognize the power of these tools to address their most pressing water, sanitation, and environmental challenges. As we navigate this new era, it will be essential for academic institutions, non-profit organizations, and policymakers to actively support and engage with these community-driven initiatives, fostering the kinds of reciprocal, mutually accountable relationships that are essential for lasting, sustainable change.
To learn more about the innovative community-engaged digital mapping projects featured in this issue, or to explore how you can get involved, please visit the Joint Action for Water website or connect with us on Twitter using the hashtag #JointActionWater.
