Guest Editorial for Special Issue on GISCA 2023

Abstract

Participation from a Geospatial Perspective

Josef Strobl, University of Salzburg and Austrian Academy of Sciences

Originally, digital geospatial methods and technologies had emerged from underlying automation objectives. The drafting of maps, documentation of property boundaries, and then even the implementation of well-defined analytical workflows benefitted from early approaches to digital transformation. Results were obtained faster, more consistently and were reproducible.  Still, these benefits were realized within the scope of previously established disciplines.

Only over several decades, the advantages of a geospatial perspective and a pervasive geographical approach were adopted far beyond the traditional spatially focused disciplines of geography, surveying, geosciences and planning. By establishing GIScience and Geoinformatics as novel fields in conceptual and methodological research, a transversal, trans-disciplinary perspective has taken over. Domains like retail, financial services, logistics, utilities, civil engineering and also ecology, conservation, archaeology and many more today could not implement their strategies and manage operations without geospatial methods and tools.

Reaching out across disciplines and sharing the benefits of a spatial view with other domains should not be the main and ultimate objective for a pervasive geospatial approach, though. The established suggestion of aiming education and the development of competences on clearly defined doer - user - viewer roles identifies the latter as customers, readers and recipients of information. While this is a valid viewpoint certainly helpful in some communication scenarios, our ambitions for the geospatial involvement of the general public need to go beyond that:

All citizens, this term being used intentionally, are entitled to full participation in society. Participation reaches beyond the use of services, but also includes contributions to observations and forming of public opinion, co-developing pathways to decisions and thus sharing the responsibility for livelihoods and environments. As physical beings, individuals have a natural local focus on the current place of residence, of work, or along a route travelled. This focus defines a subjective view on the current surroundings affecting the perception, well-being and decisions of individuals situated in any given space-time presence.

Due to its origins in map making and remote sensing, geospatial approaches are centered on a ‘neutral’, top-down and mostly 2D-flattened representation of reality and its perception. With today’s technologies of personal digital devices, multidimensional sensing and ubiquitous connectivity we have the potential to complement the standardized map view with the full spectrum of individual views. This in turn leads to a more complete picture, in a way just like combining a map display with a street view.

Based on the main characteristic of digital geomedia – supporting bi-directional communication – citizens are empowered to actively contribute localized observations but also questions and suggestions, and therefore to participate in decision making and governance. This potential to fundamentally change the societal dynamics through public participation is perhaps the most under-used aspect of geospatial methods and technologies today.

Why should we care? Society today is seriously challenged by a separation between decision makers and affected citizens, by a perceived disconnect of personal and governmental objectives, an increase in inequalities and subsequent segregation and divisions. This leads to loss of legitimacy in governance, conflicts, and ultimately challenges the foundations of open and democratic societies. More fully using the potential of participation and thus giving everyone a voice can, and should be the contribution by an explicit geospatial approach to counter this hugely problematic trend.

Looking at the role of individual-centric location enabled action, we actually can distinguish two different but complementary lines of action: citizen science as participation in the creation of knowledge, and public/citizen participation as contribution to decision making. Both can, and should go hand-in-hand and jointly address the issues identified above. Trust in science needs to replace an increasing scepticism, oneself being part of the creation of knowledge and the foundations of decisions builds bridges across some present chasms.

Now, why do we discuss the topic of geospatially focused participation in the editorial for a special journal issue documenting (some of) the contributions to a GIS regional conference? It is intended as a call for (more) action, to increase everyone’s dedication to using location as a bridge between citizens and society. It would be great to see more initiatives leveraging the huge potential of location-centric online personal technologies and tools to mitigate the many disconnects in societies. Connecting-by-location is one of the most powerful mottos for the geospatial approach. Everyone today is a prosumer of information, acting as producer as well as consumer and therefore being more fully engaged in societal processes. In short, it would be highly desirable to see more participative science in future editions like this one!

This special issue would not have been possible without the work of Nursultan Ismailov and Ainura Nazarkulova as co-editors and as the local and scientific organizers of the 2023 GIS-in-Central-Asia conference, and many other contributors to this valuable regional platform for exchange in science and its practice! We would like to recognize and acknowledge the leadership of and at the Kyrgyz State Technical University hosting GISCA. Special thanks go to all authors and reviewers of papers in this edition.