Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Workshop with Citizen Participation

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Izmir Planning Agency started Community Participatory Field and Mapping Workshops for Environmental Resilience.

Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Izmir Planning Agency (IZPA) has launched a workshop series that aims to develop community culture in the city to produce sustainable solutions to the city's urban and environmental challenges. Within the scope of the work carried out by IZPA Caracals (Karakulaklar) and Active Citizen Izmir Office under the name of ‘Citizen Participation Field Studies & Geographical Information Systems Workshop Series’, open data production is provided on various topics related to the city with the use of free software tools. In this direction, trainings and field studies are organised and spatial data production is carried out to prevent hazards and risk factors such as fire, flood, earthquake, intervention during disasters, recovery after disasters and protection of cultural and natural values.

Karşıyaka Happiness Forest Field Study and GIS Workshop with Citizen Participation

The increasing number of forest fires in Izmir in recent years necessitates the implementation of comprehensive efforts to protect and restore ecosystems in the region. In the summer of 2024, with the fires in sensitive areas such as Karşıyaka Happiness Forest, studies were initiated to address post-fire monitoring and rehabilitation processes as a whole. The Citizen Participatory Fieldwork and GIS Workshop, which constitutes one of the pillars of these studies, enables communities to directly contribute to ecosystem rehabilitation processes with crowdsourced data produced. Within the scope of the activities carried out, it is aimed to increase social awareness in disaster management through community capacity building.

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In the first phase of the study, crowdsourced field surveys were carried out in the Happiness Forest in Karşıyaka District, followed by a ‘Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Workshop with Citizen Participation'  where field data were processed. The workshop, which took place on 6 September 2024 with the data produced in the field by 20 participants from Green Izmir Volunteers (Yeşil İzmir Gönüllüleri), provided a practical experience in the use of free software tools (KoboToolBox, OpenAerialMap, OpenStreetMap, QGIS). The main stages of this workshop were realised as follows:

Training Module: Remote sensing methods and data collection and evaluation processes were explained to the participants. In particular, training was given on collecting, using and sharing satellite and UAV images. They were also shown how to download and edit data using free software such as KoboToolBox and OpenAerialMap.

Data Collection & Analysis: Participants were taught offline and online data collection techniques. Data collected in the field were downloaded in XLS and CSV formats via KoboToolBox and used within the scope of the workshop. Data sets combining community-based knowledge and scientific knowledge were produced, especially for use in post-fire intervention and forest ecosystem improvement processes.

Spatialisation: Free software tools such as OpenAerialMap, OpenStreetMap and QGIS were used to visualise the collected data. The data collected in the field were converted into spatial data using QGIS (Geographic Information System) software. Participants learnt how to visualise the data of 25 different tree points by transferring them to QGIS.

Open Data Production: The workshop also focused on transforming the collected data into open data sets and sharing them with a wide audience. From this point of view, the 25 tree point data produced were collected and shared as open data.

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Protecting the Forest Ecosystem with One Health Approach in Izmir

The One Health approach encourages communities to become more resilient to environmental problems by addressing human, animal and environmental health in an integrated manner. In this sense, citizen participatory workshops provide concrete data for monitoring the forest ecosystem by mapping the health status of trees damaged by forest fires with community participation. In this process carried out by Izmir Metropolitan Municipality, Izmir Planning Agency with the ‘One Health, One Izmir’ approach, the data obtained from the fire areas are critical for developing policies and strategies for the forest ecosystem.

İZPA's ‘Field Studies with Citizen Participation&Geographic Information Systems Workshop Series’ is in an important position to increase the resilience of Izmir by emphasising community building and citizen participation with artificial intelligence, open data and free software tools.