Geographic Information Systems (GIS): Dan Scollon at TEDxRedding
Summary
TLDRThis video explores the evolution of maps and their influence on how we perceive and interact with the world. From ancient navigation to modern geographic information systems (GIS), maps have evolved into tools for organizing, advocating, and shaping the future. The speaker highlights examples like satellite imagery in Borneo, community-based mapping efforts, and digital tools for urban planning and environmental conservation. By democratizing knowledge, modern mapping technologies empower individuals and communities to reclaim their land, improve infrastructure, and foster local economies while addressing global challenges like deforestation and resource management.
Takeaways
- đ The iconic 1972 Earth image heightened awareness of the planet's interconnectedness, prompting significant advances in mapping technologies.
- đ Satellite images of Earth at night highlight energy consumption patterns and population distribution, revealing sparse populations in areas like Canada, Central Asia, and parts of the US.
- đ Modern transportation networks, including highways, railways, and airlines, link global cities, demonstrating humanity's interconnectivity.
- đșïž Maps have evolved over time, from ancient Polynesian stick maps to digital, geotagged maps that provide real-time information and guide decision-making.
- đ Social media and geospatial technology have transformed communication, playing key roles in events like the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement, and even in disaster response.
- đł In Borneo, deforestation threatens indigenous communities, but community-based participatory mapping efforts have empowered local populations to defend their land rights.
- đ Geographic Information Systems (GIS) help visualize and analyze data, aiding in everything from court cases to urban planning and environmental conservation.
- đ· Interactive maps connect consumers with local producers, such as wineries and olive oil makers, fostering local economic development.
- đ¶ââïž Mapping projects in Northern California include efforts to conserve biodiversity, improve trail systems, and optimize transportation planning.
- đŒïž Maps are no longer just tools of the powerful; they can now be used for advocacy, democratization, and envisioning a more equitable and sustainable future.
Q & A
What is the significance of the iconic image taken in 1972 mentioned in the script?
-The iconic image from 1972 altered human consciousness about the Earth and our interconnectedness. It marked a turning point in how we perceive the planet and our relationship with the environment.
How have today's maps changed the way we interact with the world?
-Todayâs maps, enhanced by new mapping technologies and geographic information systems (GIS), allow us to interact with the world in more complex ways, such as real-time navigation, understanding energy consumption patterns, and aiding in disaster response.
What is the most visible pattern in the composite image of North America and Asia at night?
-The most visible pattern is the prodigious consumption of energy, especially when comparing North America with the larger populations of India and China.
How do ancient maps, such as Polynesian stick maps, differ from modern maps?
-Ancient maps, like the Polynesian stick maps, were used for navigation in specific regions like the Pacific. Modern maps, however, are largely digital and can zoom into any location, providing detailed and real-time information about places worldwide.
What role did social media play in recent global events mentioned in the script?
-Social media facilitated communication during significant global events like the Arab Spring and Occupy Movement, enabling people to share real-time information and organize revolutions.
How did community-based participatory mapping help indigenous communities in Borneo?
-Community-based participatory mapping, using GPS and GIS, helped indigenous communities in Borneo document their lands and protect them from deforestation. These maps were successfully used in courts to defend their land rights.
What challenges have arisen due to deforestation in Borneo?
-Borneo has experienced rapid deforestation, with 80% of its land cleared or degraded. This threatens the survival of indigenous communities and the island's biodiversity.
What kind of mapping projects are being carried out in Northern California, as mentioned in the script?
-Several projects include mapping wineries, vineyards, olive oil producers, community service organizations, conservation efforts for fish habitats, and trail systems to promote healthy lifestyles and tourism.
How are maps being used to improve transportation planning in Northern California?
-GIS professionals in Northern California are using maps to plan transportation infrastructure by identifying areas of high traffic concentration and improving efficiency and livability through data-driven decision-making.
What is the broader social and political impact of modern mapping technologies?
-Modern mapping technologies democratize access to information, enabling marginalized communities to defend land rights, organize movements, and advocate for social change, but they can also be misused for exploitation, inequality, and privacy violations.
Outlines
đ The Iconic Image of Earth and the Power of Mapping Technologies
The paragraph opens with the discussion of a historic 1972 image of Earth that profoundly shifted how we view our planet and interconnectedness. Over the past 40 years, mapping technologies have evolved, helping us understand global energy consumption, population distribution, and connectivity. Through images like a nighttime view of North America and Asia, the paragraph emphasizes how we are more connected than ever through transportation, communication lines, and shipping lanes. This sets the stage for how modern maps influence our interactions, decision-making, and engagement with the challenges of the 21st century.
đșïž Geographic Information Systems: Mapping the World Through Data
The second paragraph highlights the role of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in creating visualizations of the world. These systems integrate data from various sources to produce maps, charts, and animations that inform our understanding of place. A personal story is shared by the speaker about returning to Malaysia, driven by a childhood connection. The focus then shifts to how indigenous communities, like the Daaks in Borneo, use intricate mental maps for navigation and survival. However, deforestation and globalization are threatening these lands. The speaker's work with the Borneo Project involves using community-based participatory mapping and technology to defend land rights and preserve the environment.
đïž Reclaiming Culture and Mapping Local Resources
This paragraph touches on indigenous efforts to reclaim their culture and land, focusing on areas like Medicine Lake Highlands. Mapping plays a key role in this reclamation. The speaker also discusses student projects in Northern California that map local resources, such as wineries and service organizations, making these resources accessible to the community through interactive maps. The speaker emphasizes how maps are being used to promote local economic development, conservation, and community service. There are also projects related to improving fish habitats and promoting healthy lifestyles through trail systems in the region.
đ Maps as Tools for Advocacy and Innovation
The final paragraph concludes with the transformative impact of maps on our perception of the world. Maps no longer serve only the powerful but have become tools for the public to assert their priorities and rights. They are a means of democratization, advocacy, and organization, but they can also be misused for exploitation, inequality, and privacy violations. The speaker emphasizes that maps are now platforms where everyone can communicate their vision for the future, design solutions, and dream of new possibilities.
Mindmap
Keywords
đĄInterconnectedness
đĄMapping Technologies
đĄGeographic Information Systems (GIS)
đĄDeforestation
đĄParticipatory Mapping
đĄArab Spring
đĄCrowdsourcing
đĄBiodiversity
đĄGlobalization
đĄCommunity-Based Mapping
Highlights
The iconic 1972 image of Earth changed our perception of interconnectedness and spurred advancements in mapping technologies.
Maps today are altering how we perceive, interact with, and engage with the challenges of the 21st century.
The composite image of North America and Asia at night reveals energy consumption patterns and population distribution.
Social media and digital maps have revolutionized communication, enabling uprisings like the Arab Spring and movements such as Occupy.
Crowd-sourced mapping, such as during disasters in Haiti and Japan, played a crucial role in saving lives by providing real-time information on resources.
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) enable the visualization of data through maps, animations, and charts, forming the backbone of today's mapping revolution.
Personal experiences in Borneo inspired the speaker's involvement in mapping projects aimed at protecting the indigenous Dayak people's land and resources.
In collaboration with the Borneo Project, community-based participatory mapping was introduced to document and defend the Dayak's land rights.
Borneo's deforestation has accelerated rapidly, with 80% of the island being cleared or degraded due to globalization.
Maps created by local communities in Borneo were successfully used in court to defend land rights, despite legal challenges from the state.
Native American communities are reclaiming place names and cultural practices in Northern California through mapping projects.
Interactive maps of local wineries, vineyards, and olive oil producers in Northern California connect consumers with local businesses.
A community service organization map for Redding, California, consolidates local services into one easy-to-access digital platform.
Students in Northern California are using GIS to map conservation easements and improve fish habitats, combining technology with environmental conservation.
Modern maps democratize information, enabling ordinary people to influence decisions, advocate for change, and design the future.
Transcripts
[Music]
[Applause]
this iconic image taken in
1972 forever altered our Consciousness
about the Earth and our
interconnectedness in the 40 years since
this image was taken we have collected a
vast Archive of data about the Earth and
developed a number of new mapping
Technologies I'd like to share with you
some of the ways in which today's maps
are altering the way that we perceive
our world the way that we interact with
it and also the way that we engage in
the challenges and opportunities of the
21st
century this composite image of North
America and Asia at night reveal some
interesting
patterns
our prodigious consumption of energy is
probably the most obvious one keeping in
mind that the populations of India and
China combined are seven times that of
North America you can also see some
patterns of population distribution the
sparer populations that are found in the
high latitudes of Canada and Central
Asia and also in the western half of the
United States with the exception of the
West
Coast you can see the the location of
reading and also note the location of
Borneo as we will visit there
shortly while many of us may think of
reading as being isolated we are in fact
along a north south axis that connects
Vancouver Seattle Portland San Francisco
Los Angeles and San Diego all major
epicenters of culture art economy and
Technology were connected across the
Pacific of course by airports and
Airlines shipping lanes and also by
communication lines and we're connected
Within by our system of Highways Rail
lines and uh communication towers and so
forth the ancient routes of Miwok modok
and wi are now plied by big rigs and
freight trains that are feeding the
world
economy The Arc of civiliz ation can be
traced through
Maps they communicate the opportunities
and the risks of place in
space and they have evolved over time as
human societies have become more
complex this ancient Polynesian stick
map showed them how to locate islands in
the vast Pacific it was later superseded
by maps created during the Age of
Exploration that enabled European
Colonial Conquest note on this map by
the way the island of
California today's maps are largely
delivered via computers and digital
devices we simply request a destination
and we are zoomed through a 3D landscape
complete with imagery and plac marks
directions in a
geocoded geotagged tweeted virtualized
reality of the
place these capabilities have come about
not simply through software or devices
but instead a re revolution in the way
that we
communicate social media has enabled us
not only to share pictures of our
families but has also enabled uh
Revolutions in uh places like Egypt and
Libya during the Arab Spring uprisings
and has also enabled us to uh
communicate similar events here at home
such as the Occupy
Movement we also use this information to
get realtime information on traffic and
road conditions and also to uh use it
for things like uh games such as Ingress
which allow us to connect with our
community and our uh place that we're
living in disasters such as the
earthquakes in Haiti and Japan recently
revealed the value and importance of
location the crowd map application
allowed for a citizen mapping of
important resources that saved lives
during these tragedies and is
increasingly a vital way in which we
respond to these types of
situations these
capabilities have a root in geographic
information
systems this diagram illustrates how the
input of information about place which
can come in the form of maps and
satellite imagery and other sorts of
sources of
data allows us to produce visualizations
including Maps animations charts and
other sorts of of graphical
illustrations and of course there are
peripheral connections and peripheral
technology developments that really
demonstrate this as being the foundation
of today's mapping
Revolution I'd like to share with you a
little bit of personal history by way of
illustrating the potential of
maps when I was a young boy I'm the
little guy in that picture uh my
father's career in Asian Affairs took us
to live in Malaysia this was our
favorite swimming
hole and while I was too young to
consciously remember the place there was
something about it that called to me
over the years it became a siren Call
for me to return and eventually I did in
1994 following the completion of my
geography
degree and in spite of fears about my
personal safety or about tropical
diseases they were soon overshadowed by
the beauty of Borneo and by the warmth
and good nature of my diak hosts if you
ever travel to this place you will also
do the hornbill dance but fear not
you'll be given plenty of fermented
borack which makes it all quite a bit
easier to uh to
do the dacs have a intricate mental map
of the forest that allows them to
navigate by rivers and game trails and
allows them to find food and Medicine
which it seems to be at every
turn they also have a healthy respect
for the spirits of the forest embodied
here by the orangutan the man of the
forest which demonstrates and
illustrates the astounding biodiversity
of borneo's
rainforests the daaks were largely
isolated in many parts of Borneo until
the past few
decades but the 21st Cur Cy has brought
about a
rapid acceleration in deforestation the
global Gears of globalization have
ground deep into the once impen
impenetrable
interior and this is Illustrated in this
uh slide which is showing some recent
research based on satellite imagery the
areas in purple being those areas that
have been cleared or uh degraded 80% of
the Island Borneo which is the size of
Texas is now degraded or
cleared in an attempt to try to confront
the economic and political forces that
are threatening daak survival I teamed
up with the Borneo project and we
brought a community-based participatory
mapping program to Borneo and initially
this started with Sketch mapping you can
see in the upper leftand corner there
just laying out a big piece of paper and
grabbing pens and and allowing people to
draw in and write the things of value I
recommend you try this at home it's it's
a fun and interesting exercise but
eventually we graduated into higher Tech
methods like GPS and GIS and we produced
Maps such as the one that you see in
this slide which have been used
successfully in the courts actually
created uh a backlash the C the state
government of sarawa created a law
outlawing maps created by people that
were not surveyors which was initiated
because they didn't like the fact that
these folks were starting to make maps
of their lands but they have been
successfully used in the courts to
defend land rights and also as a way to
plan out for their uh use of their land
and their future so community-based maps
and Borneo and also satellite
image-based research has created a
situation that has uh caused the state
to reassess its its uh how it
communicates with its most marginalized
populations and has also created an
opportunity to chart a new future for
Borneo so closer to home here we have
Native Americans that are also trying to
reassert their place and their culture
in places like the medicine Lake
Highlands and in countless other
sensitive sites around the North State
and by doing so they're attempting to
reclaim place names and reclaim a uh
opportunity for traditional land
use
next I'd like to share with you some of
the interesting and I think cool
projects that we have going on here in
the North State and I'm going to start
off with a couple of student
projects and this particular project was
mapping out the location of wineries
Vineyards and olive oil producers in the
North State and this is an interactive
map so you just see a sample click on
this and you see the kind of information
that's available so if you're driving
around Northern California on a Saturday
and you're wondering what kind of places
you might stop for a little break you
can bring this up on a mobile device and
see the hours and if there's a tasting
room close to where you're
located this is an opportunity to
connect producers with consumers and
support Local Economic
Development
this particular map on reading community
service organizations was inspired by
Shasta College's Center for Community
engagement and we sat down with these
leaders at these community service
organizations and said how could we help
you guys what what would help you to do
what you do better and they said you
know we have got so many organizations
in this town and we have so much need
and every time somebody comes in off the
street and says you know I need dental
care or you know whatever the case is
then they rifle through these binders
and they look in all these different
websites and they needed one go-to place
so we produced this and and I can't
remember the the number of data points
that that were included just within the
city but I believe it was uh um several
hundred and you can click on the point
there you can see on the left hand side
they're classified and it allows you to
identify by type and it's a way to
connect the services with uh the V most
vulnerable parts of our local community
here
conservation of our plant and animal
diversity is being pursued in a number
of creative ways in this example
students went out and mapped stream
conditions along a conservation easement
held by the Shasta Land Trust in the
interest of improving fish
habitat students like this too because
they get to walk around in the
creek
trails in our area are uh just one of
the great resources that I know uh many
of you in this community share an
interest and a value in it promotes
Healthy Lifestyles and also a connection
with nature and our growing system of
trails is another place that we have an
opportunity to be able to convey more
information not only to people in
reading but to Out of Towners as well
about the trail conditions uh both
off-road trails and also uh the bike
Lanes around our community and so this
is an area of of personal interest and
and one that uh I think is really uh one
of the great assets for our uh for our
community transportation of course is an
issue of concern all over the uh the
state of California and elsewhere uh
here in Reading we have uh Regional um
agencies that are working with GIS
professionals to to plan for how
Transportation will be developed in the
future and this particular map a heat
map of reading shows those areas of of
Transportation concentration and it's a
way to inform decision- making and
policym and also to improve efficiency
and livability of our
community uh the city of reading is
piloting an application to allow
citizens to be able to come and report
on service needs so if you have a
disruption in this case a water problem
you can go in your location indicates
and it's a way to improve the
services so you can uh check out a lot
of these applications out of for far
NorCal g.org this is a place where you
can connect with uh different folks that
are interested you don't need to be a
professional there's lots of resources
to learn about how to do this on your
own uh and also how to connect with some
of the professionals and uh students as
well today's maps have created a change
in the way that we perceive the world
the way that we interact with each other
and the state and the
economy they have also created uh a
change in the way that we're able to
represent our own priorities and our own
knowledge no longer are maps simply held
by those in positions of power but
rather are a canvas upon which all of us
can convey and claim our own future and
our own sense of
place they can still be used for
resource exploitation for economic
inequality for the perpetuation of
violence for uh violations of privacy
but they can also be used to democratize
to organize to Advocate to design and to
dream thank
[Applause]
you
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