The PPgis.net experience July 2004-October 2006 Open Forum on Participatory Geographic Information Systems and Technologies By Giacomo Rambaldi This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License.Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License

A few stats (as of Oct. 30, 2006) Conceptualisation and preparation: DGroup set-up: July 2004 Moderators: 5 (3 with admin rights) Open group, moderated Active members: 1076 Messages posted : most active users have posted 37% of all messages Resources posted: 74 Calendar entries: 7

PPgis.net Fact sheet 5/10 Google rank 450 incoming links according to Average 41 new members/month (net of un-subscriptions)

The main web Interface

NavLink to [ppgis] Dgroups

Web site structure

[ppgis] RSS feed

Google Translate tool

Affiliate Programmes

Web sites’ online networking

Customised search Google-coop Online collaboration

Geo-stats: Google-analytics

RSS Feed options

Who’s out there?

July 2004 – October 2006

Knowing the Community Who-is-who on [ppgis] December 2004 (exploratory survey) (330 members, 100 responses: 30%)exploratory survey Ooops

About the “Community” 5 months after launching (December 2004)

About the “Community” Core Group Active members Peripherals Outsiders

About the “Core Group” Core Group Takes on community projects identifies topics for the community to address drives the community along its learning agenda and mission fulfillment Administrators and moderators

Active members Attend meetings regularly Participate occasionally to Core Group meetings About “Active Members”

Rarely participate Keep on the sidelines, watching the interaction of core and active members Have private conversations on issues gained from observing About the “Peripherals” Peripherals

Not members but knowing about the community and having some interest in it “Intellectual neighbors” About the “Outsiders” Outsiders

Mailing list’s uses Information sharing Reputable sources of (free) data and applications Debates on key issues related the practice Theory and Reflections: Practical ethics, best practices, social learning, … Methodologies: scale mapping, GPS, GIS, … Applications: NRM, EIA, Gender, Health, HIV/AIDS, risk management; disaster response; protected areas, tenure, …

Mailing list’s uses Advocacy and networking Q&A Mainly newcomers to the practice & students Announcements Calls for papers, publications, launching of new applications, innovations Preparation of and follow-up on events Conferences, workshops, etc. Administration of surveys (3)

ToolBasket SurveyMonkey (perception survey) Web Ring Web site integration Multiple domains Reciprocating links Dissemination Link2us page

Responding to expectations Future directions [pgis 2005] September 2005 (end-of conference survey) 154 participants, 80 responses: 52%)end-of conference survey

Knowledge Management Collating and packaging scattered content …

Event Cycle Management Awareness raising, gathering feedback, learning & planning

Content production E-discussion + face2face + e- discussion + content elaboration

Online collaboration Remotely together …

Disaster response Mobilisation of human, financial and technical resources, data and knowledge

Thank you