Participatory GIS and Community Mapping Training Course

This applied course develops technical skills in participatory GIS and community mapping, covering facilitation methodology for community mapping exercises, capturing and formalising community-generated spatial data, and land and resource rights mapping. Participants work through real participatory mapping scenarios rather than conventional top-down GIS exercises, examining what makes community mapping genuinely participatory rather than extractive. The course closes with a participatory mapping process design for a defined community context.

Participatory GIS inverts the usual direction of mapping, instead of an outside analyst producing a map about a community, participatory approaches put the mapping process directly in community members' hands, producing spatial data that reflects local knowledge and that communities recognise as genuinely their own.

African land rights, resource use and customary boundary questions frequently depend on knowledge that exists only in community memory and oral tradition, knowledge that conventional top-down mapping approaches systematically miss or misrepresent. This applied course moves beyond conventional GIS training into the facilitation methodology, community-generated data capture and land rights mapping skills that participatory GIS specifically requires.

• Explain the principles distinguishing participatory GIS from conventional mapping
• Facilitate community mapping exercises that centre local knowledge
• Capture and formalise community-generated spatial data
• Map land and resource rights using participatory methods
• Manage power dynamics within participatory mapping processes
• Integrate sketch maps and oral knowledge into digital GIS data
• Assess ethical considerations specific to community spatial data
• Evaluate common participatory GIS design and facilitation failures
• Advise institutions on participatory GIS programme design

This course is ideal for:

• Community development and land rights programme staff
• Natural resource management staff working with communities
• Conservation staff engaging community conservancies
• Land administration and tenure security programme staff
• Development partner community engagement staff
• Researchers using participatory methods in spatial studies
• County government community liaison staff
• NGO staff supporting customary land documentation

The programme is delivered through facilitator-led sessions combining participatory facilitation practice with hands-on GIS data capture and formalisation, structured around real or simulated community mapping scenarios rather than lecture alone. Each module closes with a short applied task so participants leave with working participatory GIS skills rather than notes alone.

Institutions sending staff on this course can expect:

• Community mapping that produces data communities genuinely recognise as their own
• Improved documentation of customary land and resource rights
• Stronger community trust and engagement in spatial data processes
• Better-managed power dynamics and inclusion within mapping exercises
• More ethical handling of sensitive community spatial data
• Improved links between participatory maps and formal land administration
• Reduced risk of extractive, non-consensual mapping practices
• A documented approach to participatory GIS practice
• Stronger overall community relationships and land rights outcomes

Participants leave this course with:

• Advanced technical skill in participatory GIS and community mapping
• Confidence to facilitate mapping exercises that centre local knowledge
• Sharper skills capturing and formalising community-generated data
• Practical experience mapping land and resource rights participatorily
• Stronger standing in community engagement and spatial data discussions
• A completed participatory mapping process design for direct application
• Improved ability to manage ethics and consent in community spatial data
• A specialist skill set bridging GIS and participatory facilitation
• A foundation for leading community-centred spatial data programmes

At Strategic Revenue Africa, our certification goes beyond proof of attendance—it represents practical competence and measurable capability. Upon successful completion of our training programs, participants are awarded a Certificate of Completion from Strategic Revenue Africa, recognizing their ability to apply acquired knowledge in real-world settings. As an organization focused on architecting sustainable revenue and strengthening organizational performance, our certifications signal that participants are equipped with skills that drive results, not just theory.

Prior QGIS experience is expected, equivalent to completing a QGIS fundamentals course, alongside some exposure to community engagement or facilitation. This is an applied course combining technical GIS skills with participatory facilitation methodology.