ABSTRACT
Participatory GIS (PGIS) is an intersection of academic and activist practice that emerged in response to criticisms of GIS. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are software that enable mapping and data analysis and are used in a wide range of circumstances, including urban planning, natural resource management, emergency response and community activism. Critics have been concerned that the high financial, time and training requirements of GIS can exclude grass roots groups, and that GIS may not be able to represent diverse forms of local knowledge (Elwood and Leitner 1998; Sheppard 1995). To try to address these concerns, PGIS initiatives typically work to adapt GIS software to better incorporate local expertise and knowledge, or use GIS within a Participatory Action Research (PAR) framework (Craig et al. 2002; Sieber 2004).
