A New Tool for New Times? Using Geographic Information Systems in Foundations and Other Nonprofit Organizations

The literature on nonprofit organizations exhorts them to understand and develop their communities’ strengths and capacities. Yet, identifying those communities, appreciating the conditions that affect them, and integrating organizational stakeholders can pose difficulties for any nonprofit, including foundations. This article examines how a tool relatively new to nonprofits — geographic information systems — can be used to support community building by bringing together different stakeholders. A geographic information system is designed to capture, store, manipulate, analyze, manage, and present spatial or geographic data, thus allowing an organization to map its community and share that visualization with its stakeholders. This article also shows how geographic information systems can assist foundations and other nonprofits in identifying and strengthening their communities by mobilizing the resources dedicated to core issues and improving relations and knowledge-sharing between nonprofit administrators and their various stakeholders. It discusses how geographic information systems tools can help to build community while illustrating the challenges involved with implementing, using, and sustaining it in the nonprofit sector

The Role of Geographic Information Systems in Post-Disaster Neighborhood Recovery: Lessons from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita

Through partnerships and collaborations with universities, non-profits, local government, and private foundations, neighborhood associations and residents have been using Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) as a tool for neighborhood recovery in post-Katrina and Rita New Orleans. The landfall of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita along the Gulf Coast Region changed the way that Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used for Emergency Management and Response, PPGIS, and community recovery. This research explores GIS and PPGIS best practices through an evaluation of New Orleans, LA case studies and seeks to present solutions for the development of a post-disaster PPGIS for community recovery

Geographic Information Systems and the Nonprofit Sector: The Last Frontier?

This is an exploratory study examining the predictors of geographic information systems (GIS) adoption among nonprofit organizations. A variety of organization, system, and environment characteristics are measured via a survey administered to 72 managers of nonprofit organizations. Comparisons are made between GIS and website adoption by these organizations. Results indicate that nonprofit managers view characteristics related to GIS differently than characteristics related to websites. GIS adoption is also related to the size of the information systems (IS) staff, risk propensity, and ability to predict changes in demand

Urban food strategies in Central and Eastern Europe: what's specific and what's at stake?

Integrating a larger set of instruments into Rural Development Programmes implied an increasing focus on monitoring and evaluation. Against the highly diversified experience with regard to implementation of policy instruments the Common Monitoring and Evaluation Framework has been set up by the EU Commission as a strategic and streamlined method of evaluating programmes’ impacts. Its indicator-based approach mainly reflects the concept of a linear, measure-based intervention logic that falls short of the true nature of RDP operation and impact capacity on rural changes. Besides the different phases of the policy process, i.e. policy design, delivery and evaluation, the regional context with its specific set of challenges and opportunities seems critical to the understanding and improvement of programme performance. In particular the role of local actors can hardly be grasped by quantitative indicators alone, but has to be addressed by assessing processes of social innovation. This shift in the evaluation focus underpins the need to take account of regional implementation specificities and processes of social innovation as decisive elements for programme performance.

PLANNING AND PROTEST IN MEMPHIS: THE LIMITS AND POSSIBILITIES OF PARTICIPATORY DISCOURSE

Recent discussions of participatory urban planning have focused largely on municipal-led initiatives for collaborative resident engagement as an increasingly visible trend of neoliberal urban governance. Critical observers have noted the alliance between local government and business interests, and their capacities to manage, co-opt, and depoliticize diverse community-based efforts, and to marginalize dissent, through public-private partnerships, often facilitated by private consultants. Actual practices of participation demonstrate a variety of alternative meanings. This case study of a community-based planning initiative for public housing redevelopment in Memphis, TN challenges and complicates these narratives. The Memphis Housing Authority invited a local community organization to lead a participatory planning initiative for redeveloping the city\u27s last remaining public housing development. This initiative was then cancelled by the MHA after it produced data indicating that residents\u27 visions did not align with the city\u27s designs for the neighborhood, and instead would be used to protest impending housing demolitions. The ongoing struggle calls into question the authenticity of commitments to resident empowerment by local governments, and makes visible a serious disagreement about what exactly is meant by participation itself. I address the limitations of a normative discourse of participation, and offer possibilities for reframing the politics of participatory practice

Data, Analytics and Community-Based Organizations: Transforming Data to Decisions for Community Development

Big data and analytics for community-focused nonprofits can improve analytic capabilities and increase impact. However, Community-based organization needs do not match well with conventional notions of data and analytics. Decentralized model for data-driven research may be preferred, but centralized model is dominant. CBOs can articulate data needs, but are often not yet able to access relevant data easily and use data effectively. Finally, certain values maximize impact of big data and analytic

Making sense of assets: Community asset mapping and related approaches for cultivating capacities

This working paper critically reviews some main aspects from asset based approaches highlights key strengths and weaknesses for future research/development. Drawing on a large body of reports and relevant literature we draw on different theoretical traditions and critiques, as well as practices and processes embedded within a broad range of approaches including, widely acknowledged frameworks such Asset Based Community Development (ABCD), Appreciative Inquiry (AI), Sustainable Livelihood Approaches (SLA) and Community Capitals Framework (CCF). Although these are presented as distinct approaches, there is a sense of evolution through them and many of them overlap (in terms of both theories and methodologies). We also include emerging frameworks, including geographical, socio-spatial, visual and creative approaches, stemming from a number of projects within AHRC’s Connected Communities programme and additional collaborations

Deeper Roots: Strengthening Community Tenure Security and Community Livelihoods

Utilizes concrete experiences from Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil, South Africa, Tanzania, India, Nepal, Indonesia, and the Philippines to highlight emerging issues, and offers strategies for advancing community forest tenure security

Exploring the Contemporary Challenges of Urbanization and the Role of Sustainable Urban Development: A Study of Lagos City, Nigeria

As urbanization accelerates, sustainable approaches are necessary to counter the adverse environmental impacts. The study investigates the multifaceted challenges of Lagos City due to urbanization and evaluates the effectiveness of sustainable urban development in tackling these problems. It employed a mixed-methods approach to provide informed decisions for liveable urban environments. Census data, satellite imagery, interviews, surveys, and focus group discussions provided a comprehensive understanding of Lagos’s urbanization and its effects. Findings reveal pressing problems such as housing shortages, infrastructure strain, traffic congestion, waste management difficulties, and socio-economic disparities in Lagos City. Local authorities and NGOs have implemented sustainable urban development initiatives, including transport upgrades, green space promotion, waste management, and housing solutions. Such case studies have revealed various interventions, such as informal settlement transformation, renewable energy integration, and urban regeneration. However, persistent issues still exist due to the city’s urbanization. Therefore, Integrated urban planning, inclusivity in policy-making, and technological advances are essential for tackling these challenges. The findings contribute to the academic discourse by providing insights into Lagos City’s urbanization and practical implications for sustainable urban development. It also highlights the need for comprehensive strategies to build a prosperous, equitable, and eco-friendly city