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Using the Geoweb to engage communities in economic and environmental decision-makingDr. Peter A. Johnson, McGill University

Rural Research Workshp Ottawa, OntarioThursday, May 5th, 2011

www.data.gov

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www.openlayers.org

http://code.google.com/apis/maps/index.html

Geoweb platforms/APIs

Mashup of neighbourhood-level school achievement in DC (http://achievedc.mapkist.com/)

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Free Bathrooms in Manchester, NH (www.myggm.org)

Project Background• 3 year grant from

Quebec Ministry of Government Services

• Partnered with 5 provincial ministries, regional government, GIS non-profit, community organizations

• Set in rural municipality (MRC) of Acton, pop. ~ 16,000

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Challenges in Acton• Negative

population growth

• High unemployment

• Strict provincial land use regulations (97% agricultural) inhibit growth

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Project Goals• Facilitate access to and use of online

geospatial data by regional government and citizens

• Engage community as both producers and consumers of data

• Define and evaluate the roles of government in facilitating the use of geospatial data by the public

Facilitate Access

• Web-based library

• Aimed at municipal government, elected officials, citizens

• Both informationaland participatory

GeoActon Library

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GeoActon Library

GeoActon Library

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Engage Community

• Partnership with local community economic development organization in asset mapping exercise

Economic Development Portal www.regionacton.ca

Asset Mapping

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Acton 2.0

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Erosion Mapping• Students led

workshops with watershed NGO

• Integrate information into regional watershed management plan

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Evaluate

• Define and evaluate the roles of government in facilitating the use of geospatial data by the public

• Interviews on government perspective

• Outputs where data gathered was used to support policy

Government Interests in Geoweb

• Provincial level:

• Strong desire for transparency and improved service provision

• Municipal level:

• Efficiency gains in facilitating citizen participation

• Better present case to province

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Government Concerns with Geoweb

• Provincial level:

• is it broadly representative?

• is it actionable?

• Municipal level:

• process creates high expectations for results

• ultimate control rests at provincial level

Lessons Learned

• Find internal champions within government

• Start small

• Defined process with start/end date

• Complement existing process, not a replacement

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Thank You!

For more information, see my blog:

http://toursim.wordpress.com/

Twitter: @peterajohnson

This research has been supported by: