 For the second half of the Spring 2023 semester, the Community GIS class will be collaborating on an Eviction Mapping project with the Athens Housing Advocacy Team (AHAT), which is a local grassroots organizing group focused on the “fight for the right to affordable, healthy, dignified, stable housing as both a human right and the right to the city.” AHAT began tracking local eviction cases in 2021 in response to ACC Mayor & Commission conversations on a COVID-19 emergency rental assistance program and the lack of appropriate data about local eviction rates that could inform policy. The research project began with an interest in the impact and pitfalls of two rental assistance programs: the state-level Georgia Rental Assistance (GRA) and the local Eviction Prevention Program (EPP). Neither of these projects continue to operate, though ACC is currently seeking a new community partner to administer the EPP. With funding from the Urban Institute and technical support from the ACC Geospatial Office and the UGA Community Mapping Lab, AHAT has digitized dispossessory files from the ACC Magistrate Court between Sept 1, 2021- Jan 31, 2023, and has created a spreadsheet of data that pulls out relevant information from these files including plaintiffs (landlords), addresses, outcomes of the case, and qualitative notes from the tenant answer form, including if there are any references to GRA or EPP. Through collaborating with the Community GIS class, we want to better understand the data we have collected and what they can tell us about eviction trends. We will also be using other data sets related to Athens property ownership and the EPP program to think about bigger picture processes that create the conditions for evictions in Athens. Through this pairing, we hope this project can help AHAT shift the foundation of this project from “eviction mapping” to “anti-eviction mapping;” maps that can contribute to community organizing and local decision-making that supports tenants. In the initial report attached here, PhD candidate Jessica Martinez lays out some of the initial findings from their qualitative analysis of eviction files from the ACC Magistrate Court, field notes from a year of attending tenant meetings with AHAT, and interviews with AHAT community organizers. This qualitative data shares the ongoing story of housing insecurity in the Southeast from the perspectives of multiply-marginalized tenants and housing advocates. It gathers pieces of the overall story of housing that are frequently excluded or silenced, including the voices of tenant organizers, housing advocates, and community leaders who build complex relationships of solidarity and strategies of resistance that are essential to any initiative to ensure housing for all.  
0 Comments
By Caroline Shin, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2023
Taught by Dr. Shannon, Community GIS (GEOG 4385/6385-L) is a course that focuses specifically on how engaged research intersects with GIS and how community-engaged geospatial research can actually be practiced. By this, I mean that this class utilizes a project-based approach to learning, where we would collaboratively and collectively work toward completing certain tasks as part of a larger project—as opposed to sitting through lectures and completing a series of labs (a format found in many of the classes here at UGA). The two main projects planned for this semester are 1) creating a digital archive and map of Brooklyn Cemetery and 2) mapping the process of eviction in Athens—the first of which is currently underway. Brooklyn Cemetery As a brief background, the Brooklyn Cemetery (officially known as the Bethlehem Cemetery), which was established in 1882, was one the first African American cemeteries in Athens, GA. It has served as the final resting place for the residents of the Brooklyn and Hawthorne neighborhoods in West Athens. For those of you that are familiar with the Athens area, the cemetery lies behind Clarke Central Middle School on West Lake Drive. Due to neglect, however, the cemetery has experienced large overgrowth and many unmarked or hard-to-see gravesites (especially in the background of the naturally wooded area); the objective of this project would be to aid the trustees in their revitalization efforts of the cemetery by interactively mapping the area (cemetery boundaries, roads/trails, section markers, gravesites, names of the deceased, etc.) so as to hopefully help make easier the process for descendants to find their ancestors. Impacts Prior to this course (and to this project), I was unfamiliar with the history of the Brooklyn Cemetery, and learning more about it has really been an eye-opening and enlightening experience for me as someone who generally enjoys learning a bit of history and should, especially in the place where I attend school. And considering that the Brooklyn Cemetery is an African American cemetery, the historical relationship between African Americans and the city of Athens as a whole. Because it feels more personal and that the stakes are higher, we discussed the importance of paying attention to not only to the technical aspects and challenges (i.e., inconsistency of points and GPS) but also to the emotional and effective elements about doing this work (i.e., the visceral experience and connection, the feelings of disrespect for the remains (especially for unmarked graves)). Personally, I agree with a lot of these points brought up in discussion. Throughout our work on the cemetery, we have collaborated with Linda Davis, one of the cemetery trustees and a prominent community member; speaking with the class about the cemetery’s historical and emotional significance, her passion struck a chord, shifting my perspective and perhaps giving me a greater understanding of the community’s attachment. Because I was unaware of Brooklyn Cemetery, I did not initially have any sort of connection; however, after visiting Brooklyn Cemetery and seeing the state that it’s in, I immediately felt that attachment (albeit nowhere near the level of those who are personally connected to the cemetery) as it was obviously unique and largely invisible to the usual passerby—given how uniquely situated it is. This experience also gave me immense respect for the community trustees and others fighting for the cemetery’s visibility (as well as the ones buried there) as their work has been largely based on oral records. Despite the positive feelings a mapper may get from helping the community from outside the ‘ivory tower’ of an institution, it is essential not to let personal feelings, experience, or ego obscure the needs of the community voiced by community members themselves. As such, a key idea of community-engaged research learned from this class is respect and the important practice of active listening as this project is not for you but for the community. This is not to say that people do not care about community needs or do not have their best interests in heart, but it takes time and a conscious effort (and reminders) to build that trust and to properly engage with community members. By Sarah O'Neal, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2023 Over the past several weeks, the Community GIS service-learning class at the University of Georgia (GEOG 6385) has been working to update GIS data for the Brooklyn Cemetery. Project kickoff involved watching the documentary Below Baldwin, which concerns the discovery and controversial burial of former slaves’ bodies found under Baldwin Hall during construction. Below Baldwin showcases the university’s reluctance to publicly recognize the history of slavery on campus, as well as its questionable site selection for the bodies’ final resting place. Linda Davis, who is prominently featured in the documentary, as well as other community members, argued for the bodies to be located at Brooklyn Cemetery, an African American cemetery opened 1880. However, the university chose not to consult these community members and instead selected Oconee Cemetery as the bodies’ final burial place. Davis and community members preferred Brooklyn Cemetery for the bodies’ final resting place because the cemetery houses many former slaves’ remains and thus plays a major role in Athens’ African American history. The cemetery features seven sections (A-G), each with varying levels of grave markings—some graves are marked with PVC pipe and others are entirely unmarked, with no way of identifying who lies beneath. The borders of the cemetery and its sections are somewhat ambiguous, and various maps that have been created over the years contradict each other.  Some graves are marked with PVC pipe and others are entirely unmarked, with no way of identifying who lies beneath. UGA Brooklyn Cemetery Project. For the past several years, Davis and other Brooklyn Cemetery trustees have overseen an extensive revitalization and preservation effort. With the assistance of several volunteer groups and nonprofits, the trustees have backfilled sunken graves, developed roads, cleared substantial overgrowth, and restored gravesites. Most importantly, the trustees have blocked numerous redevelopment efforts—thereby cementing Brooklyn Cemetery’s standing as a significant historical site.  The 2023 Athens MLK Day of Service at Brooklyn Cemetery. The Red & Black; Photo/Libby Hobbs The Community GIS class plans to support these ongoing efforts. As part of Phase 1, the Community GIS class has been working together to clean, merge, and verify existing data points.
The class has four primary goals for the secondary phase of the Brooklyn Cemetery project:
Each of these goals plays an equally important role in the cemetery’s preservation. For each item, the class plans to work with Linda Davis and other community partners involved with the Brooklyn Cemetery. Feedback from these stakeholders will help ensure that our provided solutions continue to be sustainable, practical, and impactful. The class is facing a few challenges with this project. First, the project is constrained by a limited timeline—the Brooklyn Cemetery Project is intended to encompass the first half of the semester, but the weeks are quickly passing. Thus, each group will need to quickly define scope, priorities, and deliverables. Within this hurried timeline, the class must also revisit data from past projects to validate their accuracy. The borders of each section, for example, are somewhat ambiguous and vary considerably in size; the class must define and demarcate precise section boundaries. Also, sections A, B, and E are much larger than the others. The class is considering potentially dividing these sections into subcategories. As part of Group 1, I am tasked with confirming the accuracy of grave marker data— specifically graves containing identifying information. Group 1 has partnered with Group 2 (responsible for developing a cemetery map) to ensure that every marked grave is properly recorded. Next, we hope to create an accurate map that cemetery visitors can access via pamphlet or QR code. During this process, I have faced challenges ensuring accurate locational data because my mapping device (my phone) sometimes has difficulty identifying my exact location. This process demands caution, as any small discrepancy can cause the map to be incorrect. While the mapping project itself is somewhat straightforward, I have struggled with the graves in my section that are marked but the writing has become illegible over time; it is difficult to comprehend that these individual’s identities may have permanently disappeared. I also believe that the unmarked graves deserve to be mapped in some manner, but our time constraints preclude us from doing so. However, by storing and memorializing the graves we can currently see, we protect additional identities from being lost should their physical markers degrade with time. Group 1’s success not only depends on the work completed, but also on the sustainability and adaptability of each deliverable. Our group hopes to produce tangible assets that other community members can continue refining after project completion, and that our community stakeholders can enjoy for years to come. By Tim Naff, Community GIS student in Spring 2023
Mapping and maps in general for me have always been about the visual aspect of it, their pleasing aesthetics and interesting information, nothing more. I've also always been a community-involved person, whether it be helping with food drives or more significant events such as local markets or social/mental awareness-promoting occasions. When I came across Community GIS, taught by professor Jerry Shannon, at the University of Georgia I didn’t hesitate to enroll. Prior to the course, I was unaware there was a way to combine my love for both GIS/maps and supporting my community in both enjoyable and beneficial methods. Throughout the first half of this semester our class has been tasked with creating a digital archive and maps for Brooklyn Cemetery, an all African-American Cemetery in Athens, GA. Formerly known as Bethlehem Cemetery, Brooklyn Cemetery is a historic cemetery that was established in the early 1800s and is located in central Athens. The cemetery contains many grave markers and monuments that date back to the 19th century and it is the final resting place of many prominent individuals from the Athens area, including Civil War veterans, local politicians, and business leaders. However, many are still illegible, unmarked, or unknown. The cemetery is still in use today and is maintained by its board of trustees working to ensure its place and existence in the history of Athens. Through many community events there has been noticeable progress on its restoration, such as cleaning and clearing brush and scanning for unknown buried persons. Our project is on somewhat of a different wavelength but with the same idea in mind, preserving and protecting Brooklyn Cemetery and its history, meaning, and integrity so that future generations, perhaps relatives, can seek their ancestors/family, as well as give locals the chance to learn about important history of their community. Learning about the history and context of what we are working towards was extremely valuable. Not only did I learn about the specific history of the cemetery but other stories and events that happened in the past that correlate with what our issue is, the invisibility and unrepresentedness of African-American related areas. An example is the Texas Freedom Colonies, an reading we did, which illustrates the invisibility of African-American agricultural communities in Texas post-emancipation. This relates to our project because Brooklyn Cemetery is almost invisible locally. It’s invisible in the sense that it is often overgrown in a somewhat hidden forested area and is barely marked. Much like the Texas Freedom colonies which were isolated, unregistered/off the record, and out of the scope of political and economical powers and resources. Another connection is that both have gained recognition in recent decades which is important so that the communities can restore and ensure the legacy they bring. Knowing the history of my community has always been of importance to me because I am a curious person and like to know why things are and where they are. So to get an idea and context for our issue at hand was both interesting and needed for our project. Besides learning about the history, the other important factor was the importance that both sides are tailored to, for class, the process of learning and experience, and for the community members, an end product that is attainable and of quality. Although a community project, this is a college course so learning has been a definitive factor. This is where our GIS “expertise” comes in. I have been introduced to aspects I had not know known, such as sites for data-grabbing, workflows, the importance of metadata, and teamwork. Also to mention are the critical thinking and problem solving aspects as well as the exposure to different perspectives and social injustice issues that are obtained through the process. However, the most valuable aspect for me of this class and project has been the opportunity to get real hands-on/professional experience being the most valuable. Through restoring and engraining the important history of Brooklyn Cemetery online and on-site through references and maps so far I have learned many things and can envision the immensely positive results that GIS and community involved work has to offer. Although unfinished, this project goal should help facilitate the expansion of my knowledge in GIS, my community, history, and perspectives so far. It has already helped me realize the potential of the combination. I’ve already gained knowledge in collaboration, software skills, concepts, and specific history all while enhancing my interest in GIS and community topics. That is all I could’ve asked for. Not even to mention the final product we will have when completely finished for the community members we’ve worked with. I hope it will successfully and effectively inform the community of Athens for years to come. I also hope to be involved in various community initiatives and promote community engagement and collaboration not only after this class but once I graduate to contribute whatever I can wherever I end up living, all whilst continuing to learn about my community and GIS. By Kayla McCartney, Community GIS student in Spring 2023
At the start of the semester, my class begun a collaborative mapping project with the Brooklyn Cemetery. The Brooklyn Cemetery is one of the first African American cemeteries in Athens, GA. From my cursory observation, there seem to be two major kinds of cemeteries. The first kind is the one that remembers and celebrates the people who are buried there. The second kind is the one that people are buried in and forgotten about. Out of sight, out of mind. The Brooklyn Cemetery is an unobtrusive place that would become the second type of cemetery if it weren’t for a few select people fighting for its visibility such as Linda Davis. The purpose of this project was to take all existing data regarding the cemetery and combine and add to them to create a sustainable, informative, and accessible map for those interested in the cemetery. Like many UGA students, I am not from Athens. I am not familiar with the history or layout of much of Athens. Before this project, I had never seen the Brooklyn Cemetery, heard of it, or even driven by it. I had no connection to the Brooklyn Cemetery. So, at the beginning of the project, I approached it like any other assignment: understand what needs to be done, then do it. However, it might be important to understand that while this is a geography class, I am a landscape architecture major, and I approach community engagement projects like a landscape architecture major. A lot of my experience with projects like these has been mostly in the realm of theoretical, and for the few projects actual communities were involved in, they said what they wanted then were majorly hands-off afterwards, somewhat similarly to this project. Something particularly relevant to me that I’ve learned by working more closely with a place like the Brooklyn Cemetery is a better understanding of the attachment to place in people regarding a place I am unattached to. Linda Davis is the most visible advocate for the revival and maintenance of the Brooklyn Cemetery as a historical place. She came and spoke to our class about the cemetery’s historical and emotional significance. As it was established in 1880, only 15 years after slavery was abolished, it was likely many freed people had been buried there. Moreover, there was also a high likelihood her own ancestors were also buried there, which she explained as her strong personal connection. She then expressed to us how strongly she felt about the impact having access to their history and where they came from would have on future generations. These things were significant and perhaps slightly confusing to me because they were things I don’t usually think about. My grandmothers on both sides of my family are Asian immigrants, and in coming to America, they more or less left their roots behind them. Both of my grandfathers have longer histories in the US, however maybe being veterans and not being as close to external living family members has made the history of how we got to this point less important to research or talk about. In my family, there is a much stronger emotional connection to family now than family gone, hence why Linda’s different emotional priorities felt very significant to me. After she spoke to us, my perspective changed. Before, I had no attachment to the Brooklyn Cemetery, and I wouldn’t have necessarily called it important to me. However, after I was able to see how important this place was to Linda and how her connection to her family and roots felt mirrored to my connection to living family, I was able to develop a sense of empathy for this place through Linda’s attachment to the cemetery. More than that, I realized it was important to her. My mind then circled around to the idea that while importance is a relative concept, if looked at objectively, isn’t it universal? I can then start to think, because the Brooklyn Cemetery is important to her, it is important to me. While I don’t know if this revelation truly changes how I approach this particular project, I believe that this kind of awareness of where my values end and another’s begin (how they relate and how to blur the lines) can be greatly impactful for future projects. It is the kind of thing that affects communication, understanding, and empathy which then affect how the project framework develops. When working on community projects, it can be easy to get stuck in the big picture headspace where you have a certain set of priorities and values. It’s easy to think in terms of “What is worth putting time into?”, “What will have the most impact?”, or “How can I best improve [this place] for [specific goals]?”. It’s easy to forget the about the people the change is for. It doesn’t help that many of my projects as a landscape architecture major has us working on community projects with limited if any contact with said communities. In building the world, it shouldn’t be so easy to forget who you are building it for. What I’ve learned from the Brooklyn Cemetery project is that empathy is important. I’ve learned that when approaching projects, I need to come with my ego pre-dismantled. Because at the end of the day, I am not making design or planning decisions for myself. I am making places for people. People cannot be separated from place. So, when making a place, the first question I will ask from now on is who are these people, and what is important to them? By Dy'Amond Mcghee, CML CURO student
The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the number of people at risk for eviction. Since January 2021, Georgia’s rent prices have increased by 22% per year, making Georgia the sixth highest rent increase in the U.S (United States) [1]. In Athens-Clarke County, we believe that there is inadequate data on the number of evictions that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of evictions in Athens-Clarke County is estimated to be higher than people would believe due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With no eviction data collection or research, a lot of residents cannot take advantage of several COVID-19 emergency relief rental assistance programs. If we can prove that there is a large number of people being evicted in the Athens-Clarke County area, then more people could get rental assistance and help from government programs. The Community Mapping Lab is currently working with community-based partners such as the Athens-Clarke County Magistrate court, to collect and visualize important data on the progression of evictions and levels of housing insecurity in Athens. While working with the Magistrate court we are able to go to the Magistrate court office once a week and scan up to 50 ACC eviction files per week. With this data we will be able to enter specific information from the file into a spreadsheet and an ArcGIS dashboard to see where and why people in ACC are getting evicted. Are people getting evicted for rent increases, loss of a job, or waiting on the GRA program? For scanning the eviction files at the courthouse, we used the CZUR Shine Pro scanner. The scanner attaches to a laptop with a USB cord and has a foot petal attached to the scanner. This instant scanner allows us to scan an average completed eviction file in minutes. After scanning the eviction files, we enter the necessary data into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet includes the case number, the property owner, the tenant's name, code name, the date the case was filed, and the result of the case. We take the data for each case in the spreadsheet, and then enter more data into the ArcGIS dashboard. ArcGIS is a cloud-based mapping software that allows us to make maps, analyze data, and share our findings. Some additional information that we input in the ArcGIS dashboard is a code name for the tenant, the location of the rental property, the reason for the eviction case, the action taken by the tenant, the court date of the case, and the results of the case. Over the last ten weeks of working with the Athens Eviction Mapping project, I have found several interesting trends on evictions in ACC. First, the majority of the cases that were filled from January 2022 - February 2022 did not have an end result, meaning that we are unable to know if the tenant was officially evicted or if the voluntary vacated the premises. The second trend I found was that tenants that applied for the GRA program were sent a warrant to be evicted from their unit within a month or two of nonpayment. I realized that the GRA program is taking a long time to get back to tenants and rental properties on if they will grant assistance to a tenant or not. Lastly, I have seen a trend that people that were evicted in the beginning of 2021 were typically evicted from the same few apartment properties. If we continue with this eviction mapping project, we could find out why people are being eviction so much from these several apartments and try to get these tenants more help. The data that we have collected so far concludes that Athens-Clarke County does have a high eviction rate and that citizens here do indeed need funding for rental assistance from the State. References: [1] Raymond, Jonathan. 2021. “Rent Increases in Georgia This Year Were Sixth-Highest in the Country, According to Study.” 11Alive. By Anna Burkhart, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2022 What I have learned
The course is rooted in the local “grassroots” approach to servicing the local community. It feels more personal and high stakes, unlike taking a passive approach from most classes, within the ivory tower. For instance, in a traditional classroom setting, I would usually study from a textbook or direct source and take assessments, possibly having discussions. There would be no assignments or activities that involved any direct, hands-on involvement that led to real change in the community like this class. Community GIS’s Linnentown project best encapsulates the major difference between a traditional class I have attended. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about Linnentown and providing real, tangible representation for this erased community from UGA’s past. The openness and freedom within the class itself allowed me to focus on what I was interested in so I had that innate motivation. Out of all the GIS courses I took, this class made the biggest impact in my outlook on activism of a group. It definitely feels like I am making a direct contribution at my school, and I will take it with me after graduation. Linnentown Project Prior to this course, I was unfamiliar with the history of Linnentown. This project has been incredibly enlightening. I have become acquainted with Esri’s story map application, and I am impressed by its capabilities. Esri’s specific collection generated a lot of inspiration for our own project, and I think this work so far looks very appealing. I think it accurately and fairly portrays this history to a public audience. My work in the Erasure group emphasized the darker aspects of Linnentown’s removal and attempt at blotting out its history. Although unhappy, it rightfully placed all parties in their appropriate roles, good and bad. My group wanted to accurately represent the events as well as talk about it clearly since this can be viewed by anyone. The most arduous process involved reading through hundreds of archival records (pdf) and trying to decipher the cursive handwriting in order to quote it. When convening with my group, we focused a lot on writing edits and mostly the format of our section. I liked the collaboration process, and I know that these projects will involve much more especially with tight deadlines and time constraints. I think, with the knowledge I have gained just in this semester, it has made my work more efficient and I feel confident in working with another group in the future  Impact
This course provides a compelling start to the very real impact of GIS, and it provides a relevant foundation for my personal career goals. I want to pursue a land management, possibly environmental consulting, tract in which GIS skills will be especially beneficial. To elaborate, developing my skills and navigation around GIS applications (ArcGIS Pro, QGIS) will definitely help with future careers. I want to work in conservation as well and I know that GIS skills are sought after. In addition to the “hard” skills from class, soft skills from working with my respective groups are extremely helpful. I gained a lot from the Linnentown project and I am very proud about working on it. I feel better equipped for the future and excited to continue working in this field. By Nemin Wu, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2022 Imagine that you had to create an interactive map of points of interest (POI). What if that map had to have pop-up windows to display all the essential information? Where to find the base map? How to get the precise coordinates of the potential POI? What codes control the zoom-in and zoom-out functions of the map? How to publish the web map? If you’ve never had any open GIS experience, these may be all tricky problems. However, with open-source, you may be surprised to find that all the data and techniques are more transparent and accessible to the average audience than you thought. Towards the end of the semester, we started our final project in the Community GIS class: mapping businesses in the Unite Against Discrimination Movement (UADM) list in downtown Athens. Our goal is to update the list of businesses of the United Against Discrimination campaign and create an interactive map showing these businesses on the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM) website. In this project, we leverage the power of data and techniques from lots of open sources such as OpenStreetMap, QGIS, Leaflet, and GitHub). OpenStreetMap To update the AADM’s business sites through field canvassing and confirm all these businesses are displaying AADM’s list sticker in their windows, the primary step is to get the locations of the relevant businesses. OpenStreetMap, as the name suggests, is a collaborative open geographic data source. Since it’s not owned by anyone, there are no legal restrictions on its use. Everyone has permission to download and employ the latest data of their research area. Fig.1 shows the codes we used to search for business sites in downtown Athens. The queries may be a little bit confusing to read, and you might be concerned about how to code these. However, the truth is that we didn't type a single line of code manually, because they were all generated automatically through the wizard window.  Fig. 1 OSM query of the business in downtown, Athens Editing the data in OSM is also incredibly user-friendly. After the field canvassing, we updated the OSM map since some stores have moved (Fig. 2a, Eye Candy moved to the South Milledge) and others were not previously displayed on the map (Fig. 2a, Rook and Pawn is newly added to the map). Once you are satisfied with your changes on the OSM website, you can upload them to the servers, and the map will be updated. It’s also very convenient for the users to check the editors and the version history on the history tab. In this way, OSM offers the public to draw the features efficiently and accurately on its map.  Fig. 2 Delete(a) and add(b) points in OSM QGIS Similar to the OSM, QGIS is not owned by anyone, so it won’t hold people back from using them in creative, productive ways like other GIS closed source software. In this project, we used the QuickMapServices plugin to find the appropriate base maps, we employed the QuickOSM plugin to import OSM data based on the Overpass API, and we installed the qgis2web plugin to generate web maps based on Leaflet from current projects. All the codes of QGIS are accessible on GitHub. In addition, free access is also very attractive for researchers with tight budgets. Leaflet At the end of the project, we needed to generate a web map of all the businesses listed on the AADM’s list. To get around this, we chose the open-source JavaScript library, “Leaflet,” to generate the interactive maps. It has tons of interactive mapping functionalities. Fig. 3 shows the readability and simplicity of the source codes in Leaflet. It also provides lots of base maps choices on the Leaflet Provider website.  Fig. 3 Sample map with an interactive marker in Leaflet I used to be a little biased, assuming that open-source databases and services might be difficult to use and maintain because they are accessible to everyone. I had heard of and downloaded OSM data many times, but I had never tried editing it prior to this class. This project opens my eyes to open-source data and methods. The fact turns out that the "difficult registration, uploading, and updating process" that I had assumed took me only less than a minute. I realize open GIS has great potentials to foster collaboration and innovation; QGIS provides the same or even more flexible methods of publishing web maps as ArcGIS Pro. There are diverse open-source plugins available that provide great solutions to your problems. For example, we wanted to change the symbology of the points in AADM’s list and we discovered the SimpleSvg plugin written by other community members that supports for SVG icons; The Leaflet tutorials provides significant flexibility on the choices of base maps and the marker.
This also reminds me of the previous readings Being a ‘citizen’ in the smart city (Cardullo et al. 2018) and Citizen Science (Haklay 2013) because people show different levels of participation while using or contributing to the open GIScience, some participates in data collection(e.g., updating the features on OSM), some engage in the problem definition (e.g., posting thoughts/ issues in the QGIS repository on GitHub, some provides interpretation or solutions (e.g., pull requests/ upload plugins). As the article Opening GIScience: A process-based approach (Shannon 2018) says, there are some tensions and tradeoffs in open GIScience: between standardized and flexible tools, between expert driven and community driven designs; between single and multiple audiences; between established and emerging metrics. However, whether you're an enterprise systems integrator, a GISer wishing to share any geographic information, or a user looking to engage with others, open GIS provides a variety of options for getting your work done efficiently and effectively. By Eli Vinson, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2022
“I study Geography and Graphic Design; I know it’s kind of a random mix.” - A line I have used the majority of my time at UGA when introducing myself, until this year. For a long time, I failed to realize that two of my biggest interests were far more intertwined than I had thought. This semester I took a class called Community GIS where I actively learned real-world applications for GIS concepts and methods. One of these concepts was ‘qualitiative’ GIS. Qualitative GIS incorporates non-quantitative data into GIS in an effort to give perspective and narrative to a research topic. A great example of qualitative GIS that the class was first introduced to was a project by Meghan Kelly (2019) titled, “Mapping Syrian Refugee Border Crossings: A Feminist Approach.” In her project, Kelly wanted to provide a fuller representation of Syrian peoples’ border experiences using cartography, as opposed to Western media’s cartographic practices that aggregated refugees into flow lines, proportional symbols, and frequently simplified border experiences into homogenous, black line symbols. Kelly wanted to discover both how can the cartographic portrayal of Syrian border experiences be improved to more fully represent their lived experiences and further, how can a feminist perspective inform an alternative mapping of borders and border experiences. Kelly states, “Through a feminist lens, I have developed an alternative mapping technique that emphasizes borders as a theoretical and conceptual advancement in cartographic design and border symbolization.” At this point, while reading through Kelly’s methods, I began to recognize the deeper relationship held between Geography and Graphic Design. By projecting Syrian stories and experiences through cartography, Kelly’s qualitative GIS work gives Syrians a geographic voice unavailable to them through conventional cartographies. Up until this reading, I viewed design within geography/cartography as nothing more than functional, with little room for creativity. The kind of formulaic and simple, generalized designs that I had attributed to the whole of research-based cartography, did very little to grab my interest. I knew there could be aesthetically pleasing or thoughtful and uniquely designed maps, but I thought the only place for these designs would be on the wall above your couch rather than in a serious research paper. Kelly’s cartographic design wanted to give a fuller and unique value to borders. Kelly describes that, typically, cartographers place borders near the bottom of the visual hierarchy, receding into the background as part of the base map or reference material. The designs for borders typically default to thin, solid black lines and symbolize them homogeneously. These design choices remove the true image of a border including individual experiences, such as the danger and legal issues involved with crossing borders. To achieve a more robust symbolization of borders and to move towards qualitative/narrative GIS, Kelly presents a design technique that aggregates the border experiences of seven Syrian interviewees. After immersing herself in the stories of each experience, Kelly used ArcMap to create the design that served to symbolize a truthful and emotional depiction of the stories. Kelly defined spaces and borders abstractly by bounding them with an abstract square shape that could be easily applied to a variety of non-traditional borders found in Syria. Kelly describes that this design choice enabled her to bring both non-traditional space and non-traditional borders, such as the human body, into the maps. The most interesting design choices to me were that each border in the map is symbolized according to the intensity of individual experiences and the border’s passibility. A line of a border increases in size if the emotional toll of the experience increases and becomes thinner if the experience is understated or minimal. To distinguish her own voice and to elevate the voice of the interviewee, Kelly utilized different typographic choices. The interviewee’s voice was identified in a black, sans serif typeface called Myriad Pro, while Kelly’s voice was written in a gray, serif typeface named Garamond. I think the color and individual typefaces place each voice at different volumes and formalities, (Serif = more formal, gray = lower volume, black = higher volume/more importance). Discovering this combination of Graphic Design and Geography and recognizing their importance to each other in creating a meaningful research project was very impactful for me. I now have an entirely new thought process in creating maps moving forward where I will utilize my design experience and creativity more so than following a general map template. I hope that any geographers reading this will consider a creative and thoughtful approach to their map designs in the future as well in order to help create more engaging and impactful maps. By Amber Orozco, Student in Community GIS, Spring 2022 What do you think of when you hear the word “open access” in relation to research or community-based work? Perhaps it brings to mind programs, tools, and academic publications that have no paywall? Or maybe you think of a community that shares resources, such as software code? But in what ways can the approach of open access be a way to support local community organizations? In our Community GIS class, we have spent the last few weeks of the semester thinking through these questions as we work to support the campaign of a local organization, the Athens Anti-Discrimination Movement (AADM). AADM “advocates for racial and social justice and strives to combat discrimination through education and activism”. Part of their efforts includes their “United Against Discrimination” sticker campaign where they ask local businesses to pledge to creating a more diverse and inclusive work environment. If the business decides to participate, they receive a AADM sticker (see photo below) to place on their business’s front window. As a class, our goal is to create a map that will be hosted on AADM’s website, showing the businesses in downtown Athens that are supporters of the campaign.  Local businesses in Athens supporting the AADM United Against Discrimination campaign (Photo Credit: AADM) For this project, open access can be understood in two different ways. First, open access for our work takes the form of a process-based approach (Shannon & Walker, 2018), meaning our class is working collaboratively with AADM to gather input on the project, including the timeline, goals, exchange of resources (i.e. AADM provides our class the list of business supporters of the campaign from 2019), and how the map will be both stored and accessed. Our collaboration with AADM is consistent throughout the process, which included us meeting with Denise Sunta (AADM Administrative Assistant and Events/Community Outreach Coordinator and also UGA alumna) at the beginning stages of the project and we will be ending the project with presenting our final map designs to AADM for their approval.
Second, our class is leveraging our technical skills to create this map through an open access mapping program (QGIS) and coding library (Leaflet). Our class was tasked with verifying whether the list of businesses provided by AADM were still participating in the campaign. To do this, our class divided up sections of downtown Athens to assess which businesses had the AADM sticker displayed on their front window. We used ArcGIS’s Field Map data collection application to update this information, including adding new business supporters of the campaign. Our class was able to utilize our university membership to access paid GIS applications, such as Field Map, for this project. Once this list was updated, our class added the geographic coordinates to each business. We were then able to upload this list through excel to QGIS and map out the businesses. Using Leaflet for codes to customize the functionality and appearance of the map, our task is now to develop a map that serves the needs and goals of AADM. Our class is currently divided into different teams, and we are working to develop different options for AADM. For example, my group is working to use codes from Leaflet to develop a pop-up label that will appear when someone clicks on a business that is a supporter of the campaign. We intend to include information on each business, such as the hours of operation, website link, a photo of the business. Additionally, we are developing an option on the map that allows a visitor to filter for the type of business, such as “restaurant, bar, and retail shop”. Once we decide on the format on the map, it will eventually be uploaded and hosted on Github. Personally, this process of transitioning from ArcGIS to QGIS and Leaflet has been challenging because some coding knowledge is required to format the map in my group’s vision. The last time I encountered html was in high school, but I think getting comfortable with these open access programs are a matter of practice and will require more time learning compared to more user-friendly programs, such as ArcGIS. From this experience, I have learned that open access is more than free programs and resources. It can mean leveraging technical expertise as students to support the efforts of community organizations, while engaging the community organization through the process to ensure the organization’s perspectives are centered as the tool becomes developed. Open access extends to the programs we used with no paywall and those programs that we had access to through our university membership. Each of these elements play an important role when partnering and supporting the GIS work of community organizations. |
Archives
March 2023
Categories
All
|
||
RSS Feed