Developing and Applying a User-friendly Web-based GIS for Participative Environmental Assessment

The strong spatial and temporal dimensions of development plans necessitate certain requirements in relation to the analytical tools applied to support Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) processes. The nature of plans and, subsequently, spatial data requires presenting them in graphic format. Similarly, temporal variation can often be represented in visual form by spatially illustrating changes over-time. Furthermore, it is estimated that up to 85% of all data have a spatial component and, therefore, can be mapped using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) (Chan and Easa, 2000). In this context, the graphic display and analytical potential of GIS can significantly contribute to SEA of development plans by facilitating and enhancing the various stages of the process

Social Evaluation Approaches in Landscape Projects

and (3) social approaches in landscape assessment that account for complexity and social inclusion

Proyecto de evaluación ambiental de configuraciones urbano territoriales en el área de amortiguación del paisaje protegido Laguna de Rocha

El bienestar humano y la sostenibilidad ambiental dependen del correcto manejo de los ecosistemas. Los responsables del uso del territorio deben comprender que los cambios de políticas y prácticas de manejo ambiental producen múltiples efectos en estos. La Laguna de Rocha ingresó al Sistema Nacional de Áreas Protegidas como Paisaje Protegido con el objetivo de conservar el funcionamiento eco sistémico y las interacciones entre ser humano y naturaleza. Sobre el área de amortiguación se superpone el Plan Local de Ordenamiento Territorial Lagunas Costeras, el cual pretende regular las inmensas presiones económicas por el uso del suelo, promoviendo la urbanización y cuadriplicando la superficie posible de construir. Con el objetivo de transformar amenazas en oportunidades mediante urbanizaciones sostenibles, el proyecto busca analizar el comportamiento de configuraciones urbano-territoriales, evaluando la sostenibilidad y compatibilidad con la implementación del área protegida, seleccionando aquellas que minimicen el impacto en el paisaje y el funcionamiento natural del sistema, habilitando el desarrollo urbano-turístico.Human welfare and environmental sustainability depends on proper ecosystem management. Responsible land use should realize that politics changes and environmental management practices produce multiple effects on these. Laguna de Rocha belongs to the National System of Protected Areas under the category of Protected Landscape in order to preserve the ecosystem functioning and the interactions between humans and nature. About the buffer zone overlaps the Coastal Lagoons Local Land Use Plan, aims to regulate the huge economic pressures by land use, promoting urbanization and quadrupling possible to construct surface. With the objective of transforming threats into opportunities through sustainable developments, the project aims to analyze the behavior of urban-territorial configurations, evaluating sustainability and support the implementation of the protected area, selecting those that minimize the impact on the landscape the natural functioning of the system, enabling urban-tourism development.Peer Reviewe

Application of GIS in land-use planning: a case study in the Coastal Mekong Delta of Vietnam

This paper presents the applications of Geographic Information System (GIS) in three different Land Use Planning (LUP) approaches: The participatory LUP (PLUP) which strongly considers the local people perceptions for land utilizations, the guidelines for LUP by FAO enhanced with multi-criteria evaluation (FAO-MCE), and the LUP and analysis system (LUPAS) using interactive multiple-goal linear programming. GIS plays an important role in the application of these approaches. In PLUP, GIS help to integrate the acquired spatial and attribute data from farmer discussions, and to analyzes the changes not only in biophysical, land cover but also in farmers' perception on land utilizations. In FAO-MCE, GIS was used to combine biophysical and socio-economic characteristics and to perform multi-criteria evaluation. In LUPAS, an optimization model was developed. The model is linked with a GIS for data input and results presentation. The land use planners can use the model to explore different land use scenarios with different objectives and constraints, both biophysically and socio-economicall

Participatory Mapping, E-Participation, and E-Governance: Applications in Environmental Policy

This chapter focuses on participatory mapping as an e-governance tool to facilitate public participation. Public participation is a key component of democratic governance, and there is a growing reliance on digital government tools such as the internet and social networking sites and geographic information systems (GIS). This chapter focuses on public engagement using information and communication technology, namely participatory mapping, known by a variety of terms such as participatory GIS (PGIS), public participation GIS (PPGIS), and voluntary GIS. While the analysis involves use of participatory mapping related to environmental issues, the chapter brings together seminal work from various fields of citizen engagement and participatory mapping. The idea is to create one common narrative for scholars and practitioners, bringing together various terminologies, practices, and studies in participatory mapping in the environmental arena that offers a beginner\u27s frame of reference

Tsunami vertical-evacuation planning in the U.S. Pacific Northwest as a geospatial, multi-criteria decision problem

AbstractTsunami vertical-evacuation (TVE) refuges can be effective risk-reduction options for coastal communities with local tsunami threats but no accessible high ground for evacuations. Deciding where to locate TVE refuges is a complex risk-management question, given the potential for conflicting stakeholder priorities and multiple, suitable sites. We use the coastal community of Ocean Shores (Washington, USA) and the local tsunami threat posed by Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes as a case study to explore the use of geospatial, multi-criteria decision analysis for framing the locational problem of TVE siting. We demonstrate a mixed-methods approach that uses potential TVE sites identified at community workshops, geospatial analysis to model changes in pedestrian evacuation times for TVE options, and statistical analysis to develop metrics for comparing population tradeoffs and to examine influences in decision making. Results demonstrate that no one TVE site can save all at-risk individuals in the community and each site provides varying benefits to residents, employees, customers at local stores, tourists at public venues, children at schools, and other vulnerable populations. The benefit of some proposed sites varies depending on whether or not nearby bridges will be functioning after the preceding earthquake. Relative rankings of the TVE sites are fairly stable under various criteria-weighting scenarios but do vary considerably when comparing strategies to exclusively protect tourists or residents. The proposed geospatial framework can serve as an analytical foundation for future TVE siting discussions