The Thirteenth International Conference on Geographic Information Science (GIScience 2025) will be held from August 26–29, 2025, in Ōtautahi Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand. Hosted by the University of Canterbury in collaboration with the GIScience academic community across New Zealand, this conference regularly attracts over 250 international participants from academia, industry, and government to discuss and advance the state-of-the-art in geographic information science.
Workshop: Mapping with Communities
Wednesday, August 26 | Room: Parallel 4A | Half-day (Morning)
Organizers: Anne Schauss (HeiGIT), Erika Upegui (UDISTRITAL), Diego Pajarito (University of Glasgow)
This workshop brings together researchers and practitioners working with communities in low- and middle-income countries to map local interests and priorities. Through hands-on sessions and collaborative discussions, participants will share methodologies for community engagement, explore fairness and accountability in participatory research, and showcase innovative digital mapping approaches. Selected contributions will be featured and preserved in the Zenodo community, strengthening networks and shaping the future research agenda for participatory mapping.
Talk: Assessing the Impact of Community Mapping
Friday, August 28th | Room: Parallel 4A, C1 Session
Speakers: Diego Pajarito Grajales & Anne Schauss
This talk reviews participatory mapping case studies from GIScience 2023 and AGILE 2024, assessing their contributions across purpose, stakeholders, methods, and impact. Using an adapted framework, the authors analyse how mapping initiatives influence communities at conceptual, instrumental, and societal levels, highlighting both opportunities and challenges. While participatory methods amplify marginalized voices, stronger impact assessment tools and government engagement are needed to ensure lasting benefits.
