Roads to Participatory Planning: Integrating Cognitive Mapping and GIS for Transport Prioritization in Rural Lesotho

Vajjhala, Shalini P.; Walker, Wendy M.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1473928

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 8 publications

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“…Participatory mapping is a map production process by local communities with the support of governmental institution, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) or academic institutions [ 12 ]. The United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the World Summit on the Information Society suggested utilization of a participatory approach to promote equal access to information and knowledge sharing [ 13 ]. This approach could offer a relatively low resource method to map communities in rural settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health

Munyaneza

Hirschhorn

Amoroso³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Health Geographics

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BackgroundGeographic Information Systems (GIS) have become an important tool in monitoring and improving health services, particularly at local levels. However, GIS data are often unavailable in rural settings and village-level mapping is resource-intensive. This study describes the use of community health workers’ (CHW) supervisors to map villages in a mountainous rural district of Northern Rwanda and subsequent use of these data to map village-level variability in safe water availability.MethodsWe developed a low literacy and skills-focused training in the local language (Kinyarwanda) to train 86 CHW Supervisors and 25 nurses in charge of community health at the health center (HC) and health post (HP) levels to collect the geographic coordinates of the villages using Global Positioning Systems (GPS). Data were validated through meetings with key stakeholders at the sub-district and district levels and joined using ArcMap 10 Geo-processing tools. Costs were calculated using program budgets and activities’ records, and compared with the estimated costs of mapping using a separate, trained GIS team. To demonstrate the usefulness of this work, we mapped drinking water sources (DWS) from data collected by CHW supervisors from the chief of the village. DWSs were categorized as safe versus unsafe using World Health Organization definitions.ResultFollowing training, each CHW Supervisor spent five days collecting data on the villages in their coverage area. Over 12 months, the CHW supervisors mapped the district’s 573 villages using 12 shared GPS devices. Sector maps were produced and distributed to local officials. The cost of mapping using CHW supervisors was $29,692, about two times less than the estimated cost of mapping using a trained and dedicated GIS team ($60,112). The availability of local mapping was able to rapidly identify village-level disparities in DWS, with lower access in populations living near to lakes and wetlands (p < .001).ConclusionExisting national CHW system can be leveraged to inexpensively and rapidly map villages even in mountainous rural areas. These data are important to provide managers and decision makers with local-level GIS data to rapidly identify variability in health and other related services to better target and evaluate interventions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health

Munyaneza

Hirschhorn

Amoroso³

et al. 2014

International Journal of Health Geographics

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Social sustainability and urban mobility: shifting to a socially responsible pro-poor perspective

Grieco

2015

Social Responsibility Journal

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Purpose – This paper aims to describe global trends and policy responses with respect to the social sustainability of urban mobility which, put simply, refers to whether the benefits and costs of transport and travel services (mobility) and the spatial organisation of facilities and services (accessibility) are equally and equitably distributed in a society or community. Considering urban transport provision from a social sustainability framework raises critical issues of policy goals and purpose, not least of which is the consideration that policies aimed at stemming or reducing urban mobility should not accentuate existing inequities and inequalities in accessibility. It also raises issues of reshaping urban decision-making structures to better integrate the end-user, where the end-user includes both those who are presently included in mobility and accessibility provision and, most importantly, those who are presently and have been previously excluded. Design/methodology/approach – Comprehensive research into the global policy literature and urban practice around socially sustainable urban mobility under the auspices of an international agency. Findings – The databases and methodologies around social sustainability have not been sufficiently developed to permit ready operationalisation. The use of electronic technology and user feedback – which such technology makes possible – has not been adequately harnessed to develop the necessary methodologies for the measurement of social sustainability with respect to urban mobility. Research limitations/implications – The development of improved social sustainability methodologies will increase the probability of the building of pro-poor infrastructure. Practical implications – The development of improved social sustainability methodologies will proved improved frameworks for evaluating the social responsibility of transport options. Social implications – The development of participatory methodologies and evaluatory frameworks will lead towards more cohesive and better integrated cities, that is more socially sustainable cities. Originality/value – This paper makes the case that the participatory research necessary to the evaluation of transport projects, schemes and networks as socially sustainable has not yet been undertaken. It brings together a set of global evidence to make the case that current discussions of the social sustainability currently take place in an evidence and policy vacuum.

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Roads to Participatory Planning: Integrating Cognitive Mapping and GIS for Transport Prioritization in Rural Lesotho

Cited by 2 publications

References 8 publications

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health

Leveraging community health worker system to map a mountainous rural district in low resource setting: a low-cost approach to expand use of geographic information systems for public health

Social sustainability and urban mobility: shifting to a socially responsible pro-poor perspective

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