Data, in the hands of those who dare use it, is a story to tell. According to the latest estimates, 328.77 million terabytes of data are created each day. What then happens if you make data available to anyone? If you make data "OPEN"? Explosion of knowledge. Open data becomes an opportunity - to share and acquire knowledge. It enables non-specialist community members to bring to the forefront the messages we want to be heard- to propose solutions and actions from the perception and opinion of those who live, share, and experience it. Open data fosters inclusive democracy which is the soul of community mapping. It gives us the power to put ourselves on the map, pun intended.

The Municipality of Luna faces unique challenges in urban planning and disaster risk reduction management. This abstract presents a use-case of OpenStreetMap (OSM) building footprint data as a valuable resource for addressing these challenges. Luna's urban development and disaster preparedness efforts heavily rely on accurate geospatial information, especially building data.

This study outlines the process of acquiring and utilizing OSM building footprint data for Luna's urban planning and disaster risk reduction initiatives. The methodology includes data collection, validation, and integration into Luna's existing geographic information systems (GIS). The data is collected through OSM's collaborative mapping platform, leveraging contributions from local community members and global contributors. These contributions are further validated through a rigorous quality control process, ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the building footprints.

The utility of OSM building footprint data in Luna is two fold:

Urban Planning: Luna's rapid urbanization demands effective urban planning to ensure sustainable growth. OSM building footprints offer up-to-date and comprehensive data, enabling Luna's municipal authorities to make informed decisions regarding land use, zoning, and infrastructure development. This data is vital for improving housing and service provision, addressing congestion, and enhancing the overall quality of life for residents.

Disaster Risk Reduction: Luna is susceptible to various natural disasters, including earthquakes, floods, and typhoons. OSM building footprints play a pivotal role in assessing the vulnerability of structures and developing disaster response plans. This data aids in identifying high-risk areas, evacuation routes, and emergency shelter locations. By using OSM data, Luna can enhance its preparedness and response strategies to minimize loss of life and property during disasters.

The integration of OSM building footprint data into Luna's urban planning and disaster risk reduction efforts showcases the potential of open-source geospatial data in improving the resilience and sustainability of a municipality. The collaborative nature of OSM ensures that the data remains up-to-date and accessible, providing Luna with a valuable resource for continuous improvement in urban development and disaster risk management.

Local history is an integral part of the community’s cultural identity and diversity, as it reflects the historical events, experiences, and values that shaped the community over time. However, local history is often overlooked or forgotten in the face of rapid modernization as well as low preservation efforts of historical sites. To rediscover and revitalize local history, this presentation proposes cultural mapping as an effective and engaging method. Cultural mapping is an immersive learning activity that involves documenting and visually representing the cultural elements of a community, such as its heritage sites, traditions, festivals, arts, crafts, and stories. By collecting data and employing mapping techniques, cultural mapping provides valuable insights into the diverse aspects that shape the community’s cultural landscape.

In this talk, I would like to inspire the next generation of open geospatial practitioners in the Philippines by telling the stories of individuals—myself included—and communities who, through the power of open mapping and open geospatial, were able to build careers—successful, fulfilling, and even transformational.

Along the way, we'll explore how open source technologies such as OSM, QGIS, Python, and GeoNode play key roles in shaping geospatial careers; examine emerging trends in the field; and offer some insight on how to prepare yourself to succeed in the ever-evolving geospatial lanscape.

May this serve as an inspiration for anyone seeking to chart their own course and take the path less traveled in the world of geospatial.

The Defensible Space theory (1972) was developed by architect and planner Oscar Newman with the idea that the physical environment influences criminal behavior. In spite of its initial success, several scholars found inconsistencies in Newman’s theory and as well as highlighted its lack of association of social factors. These scholars argued that although the theory captures the possible aspects of the built environment that can influence criminal behavior, it lacks the mechanism to fully encapsulate the concept of crime prevention through environmental design. This paper attempts to integrate Newman’s Defensible Space theory (1972) with the theory of Sense of Community (McMillan & Chavis, 1986), in hopes of amending this gap in the framework and strengthening the current body of literature of crime prevention through environmental design.
Utilizing a variety of methods, such as mapping, this thesis generated crime mitigative and preventive guidelines on how to design safe communities, and it was also found out that physically deterministic views on crime is rooted upon by our primitive habits of assessing our physical environment of cues for safety, and that a certain time threshold must be passed for a community to transition from perceiving and being dependent on safety as a physically deterministic phenomena to a collective or social concern.

Understanding the distribution of tree species is crucial for ecological comprehension and effective conservation strategies. This research presents a web-based platform aimed at visually representing the trees found at the University of the Philippines Diliman campus. Open-source geospatial tools such as OpenStreetMap and QGIS were utilized for data visualization, analysis, and spatial pattern assessment. The findings of this research contribute to the effective management, conservation, and restoration of the campus' green spaces, while also raising awareness about the significance of trees in urban ecosystems. The online interactive map serves as a valuable tool for improving management and conservation strategies. To collect, validate, process, and analyze the data, various open-source technologies were employed, including Pl@ntNet, KoboToolbox, JOSM, uMap, and QGIS. Through these tools, the study identified a total of 11 tree species, with acacia being the dominant species along the academic oval. The output of this study allows users to explore the diverse range of tree species present on the campus. The findings of this study highlight the effectiveness of open-source tools for geospatial applications, providing a viable alternative to commercially available technologies.

This presentation explores the exposure of Southern Leyte's Pacific towns to potential earthquake-induced tsunamis. Earthquakes, a natural catastrophe resulting from tectonic plate movements or volcanic eruptions, often lead to tsunamis, posing severe threats in unprepared regions. The Philippines, due to its geological makeup, faces recurrent earthquakes and the risk of tsunamis.
Highlighting past tsunami incidents in the Philippines, like the 1994 Mindoro earthquake and the 1976 Cotabato trench earthquake, this presentation emphasizes the need for tsunami risk assessment. Spatial analysis is vital to identify vulnerable areas based on factors such as earthquake magnitude, depth, and proximity to the shoreline.
This study employs spatial mapping techniques, using earthquake data from USGS and geographic data from open data sources. QGIS software, an open source mapping software, processes the data, producing maps illustrating earthquake depth and magnitude. Heatmaps identify high-risk zones based on earthquake depth concentration. Temporal analysis reveals an increasing trend in earthquake occurrences, particularly in recent years.
Understanding earthquake behavior and its relation to tsunamis is crucial for preparedness and mitigation. Identifying high-risk areas enables the development of strategies to reduce tsunami impacts, emphasizing risk management over crisis response. Learning from past experiences and conducting comprehensive studies are essential steps toward earthquake-induced tsunami preparedness in vulnerable regions like Southern Leyte's Pacific towns.

Disasters are not often caused by things that can be seen with the naked eye. In December 2019, a strain of strange, pneumonia-like cases began infecting people in a city in China. Months later, the World Health Organization has declared this novel virus as the cause of a global health emergency which led to a years-long battle against the unseen foe. Travel restrictions and border controls were implemented and the world raced to track the movement and emergence of cases.

Within UP Mindanao's 200-hectare campus, research projects pursue ideas and methodologies targeting local community needs and issues. During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Mathematics, Physics, and Computer Science of the College of Science and Mathematics mobilized the students' interest to participate in research efforts and conducted data analytics to publicly-available COVID-19 disease data which led to the production of case visualizations in the form of maps. These were then published on various social media platforms which soon attracted the attention of several Local Government Units and government offices, most notably the Department of Health. This led to the formal collaboration between the academe and the government in the months that followed which, in turn, influenced several policies and the creation of research-based decision support systems.

And COVID-19 is not the only disease modelled by the department's multidisciplinary team. Rabies, an endemic disease that is still prevalent in the Philippines despite several interventions, have been carefully studied by UP Mindanao research staff since 2018. Several publications and public informational sessions has led to the development of an analytics dashboard that is currently deployed and used by personnel from the City Veterinarian's Office. One of the most useful tool in the dashboard? MAPS.

This talk will outline the disease mapping efforts of UP Mindanao researchers, specifically the ones that I was able to take part of starting when I was a student researcher until now, and present how these helped shape policies and intervention programs in the city of Davao.

The town of Palimbang is found on the southwest portion of Mindanao. After recently achieving peace, Palimbang is on its way to self-sufficiency. The COLLABDev Project came at the right time to introduce them to data-driven development through community-led actions with the goal of making the invisible, visible.

Palimbang has aspirations to become a premier tourist destination in Southern Mindanao. With the COLLABDev project, the Manisan (Beautiful) coalition was created which includes the local government unit (LGU), the local State University and College (SUC), and Civil Society Organizations (CSO). Through the efforts of the Manisan coalition, Palimbang was able to "put themselves on the map" by using digital data collection methods and uploading the data to OSM.

Data centers are buildings or dedicated spaces within a building used to house computer systems and associated components, such as telecommunications and storage systems. Hyperscalers are large-scale cloud service providers that offer massive computing and storage resources at enterprise scale. Sites and infrastructure of hyperscalers are critical for e-commerce and social media use. In this lightning talk, we'll enumerate points of interest that can be put together and/or added from OSM data that guide decisions of hyperscalers for data center site selection.

The "Mapping for Resilience" project is dedicated to enhancing data accessibility and resilience in Canitoan, Lapasan, Bugo, and Indahag, located in Cagayan de Oro City. Our mission involves the generation of up-to-date, high-quality geospatial data, empowering local barangays and their communities to make informed decisions and develop data-driven policies. This multi-stage project encompasses remote mapping utilizing satellite imagery within OpenStreetMap, field data collection via KoboCollect, and data validation through JOSM, followed by public dissemination via the OpenStreetMap server. Additionally, we are committed to establishing an exclusive offline digital database for our valued partners.

If you have more than one person in your GIS team and you're still tethered to shapefiles, you're missing out on a world of opportunities.

In this talk, we'll uncover the limitations of file-based geodata "management systems" and shed light on the advantages of using open geospatial technologies like PostGIS, GeoServer, and QGIS in dynamic, multi-user environments.

Discover why open geospatial is a game changer—and probably the missing piece of your puzzle—whether you're part of an enterprise, organization, local government unit, planning office, DRRM office, or national agency.

Artificial Intelligence has become a hot topic these days, where everything is now AI enabled. The Geo industry is not an exception, various geo tools are now being infused by AI and ML models. Most of the time these models are somewhat black box where various tools just "trust" the models. This talk will provide a high-level introduction to the concepts, terms, workflows, data, and nuances of these AI systems. This is an introductory talk where anyone in the geo space may get something useful and start the conversation regarding this emerging technology.

Having a fire is one of the deadly hazards and causes of property loss in the Philippines, fire hydrants are the critical main source of sufficient water supply for firefighting especially in urban fires. Thus, for efficient and effective fire emergency response, firefighters and locals should know where are the locations of the closest fire hydrants when there is a fire emergency. With this, the Viscan YouthMappers did a project of mapping fire hydrants to serve as baseline data for fire emergency response in Leyte Province, Philippines.

KoBoToolbox is an open-source data collection and survey platform designed for researchers, humanitarian organizations, and other groups. It offers a user-friendly web-based interface for creating digital forms, which can be deployed on various devices for data collection in the field. The platform provides features for data storage, analysis, and visualization, making it a valuable tool for projects that require efficient data management and analysis, particularly in remote or resource-constrained environments.

As researchers, our study focusses on the analysis of Taal Volcano using remote sensing technology to investigate both thermal and deformation patterns. Our core objective is to unveil intricate thermal unrest patterns and decipher the volcano's behavior. Through the assessment of thermal imagery, we carefully identify and describe the patterns of thermal activity linked with volcanic unrest. Simultaneously, we scrutinize deformation patterns to gain a comprehensive grasp of the dynamic nature of Taal Volcano. Our findings, disclosing a weak negative correlation (-0.326, p-value: 0.113) between land surface temperature (LST) and deformation, suggest a lack of a strong linear connection between these factors specific to Taal Volcano. By incorporating remote sensing data, our research provides invaluable insights into the volcano's thermal dynamics and deformation patterns, contributing significantly to hazard assessment, volcanic monitoring, and the formulation of proactive measures for community safety. In conclusion, our study can be used for further research in understanding of Taal Volcano's volcanic activity by dissecting thermal and deformation patterns through remote sensing technology. These insights play a pivotal role in risk management and the formulation of effective strategies.

The first edition of the "Why you shouldn't use QGIS" talk was given during the inaugural Pista ng Mapa in 2019. A second edition was presented during last year's Pista. I'd love to make this an annual Pista tradition to share the wonder of QGIS with everyone. 😊

This is an updated talk about why you shouldn't use QGIS in 2023—or specifically about the new features, updates, and upcoming improvements that you can expect as a QGIS user in 2023 and beyond.

Don't miss this.

This presentation chronicles the inspiring transformation of students into changemakers through their active involvement with the Southern Leyte State University's (SLSU) YouthMappers organization, officially recognized as a YouthMappers chapter on October 18, 2022, following its establishment on October 11, 2022. Over the course of a year, these students transition from being learners to dynamic contributors within their community, with a strong emphasis on the successful utilization of open-source software, open data, and open mapping in their activities.

The journey is characterized by a series of impactful initiatives, all made possible through open-source software, open data, and open mapping. It commences with the official launch of SLSU YouthMappers and includes noteworthy events such as a Mapathon held to celebrate GIS Day, GIS Open House: A Map Exhibit, and a sponsorship program from the Open Mapping Hub Asia Pacific. This sponsorship facilitated training and mapathons that extensively relied on OpenStreetMap, demonstrating the power of open-source mapping tools and data in their projects.

The core of the presentation lies in showcasing how these activities were successfully conducted due to the use of open-source software, open data, and open mapping. Initiatives like "Building GIS Capabilities for Student Research," "GIS Quest: Empowering Student Researchers through QGIS," "Women in Mapping Our Nation (WOMAN): Empowering Women through Mapping and Geospatial Technologies," and "A Coffee Table Discussion about OSM" highlight the pivotal role that open data and open mapping played in enabling these students to contribute meaningfully to their community.

A central ongoing project of SLSU YouthMappers, "Assessing the Impact of Climate Change on the Subang Daku River and Its Community," underscores how open data and open mapping are essential in addressing contemporary challenges. Supported by Open Climate through Ben Hur Pintor, this initiative aims to evaluate the consequences of climate change on the Subang Daku River and its neighboring communities, relying on open data and mapping to gather crucial insights.

The presentation continually underscores the importance of open-source software, open data, and open mapping in the success of SLSU YouthMappers' endeavors. It showcases how these tools and principles have enabled the organization to provide ongoing training and services, highlighting their enduring impact in making positive changes within the community.

Furthermore, the increase in GIS-based research and project proposals from both faculty and students is an evidence to the effectiveness of open source software, open data, and open mapping in promoting data-driven initiatives.

Local stories, beliefs, and folklore can be combined with science and research methodologies of data gathering and analysis particularly in understanding social patterns and anthropological activities.

Creating a story map based on an open and credible data source of local stories of mythical creatures and folklore, this mapping project is a good start in triggering a more localized set of maps based on the stories of your community.

Co-creating and co-designing story maps about the environment and natural hazards is the best way to bring to life the richness of the folklore of the Philippines. This project targets the youth sector as children's stories showcase their innocence, their point of view, and the real stories of their community as well as their narratives with their day-to-day interaction with the environment.

Abstract:
This collaborative research, conducted jointly by the Southern Leyte State University-Bontoc and the Municipal Local Government Unit (MLGU) of Sogod, Southern Leyte, aimed to establish a comprehensive database of marine resources within the territorial waters of Sogod, incorporating detailed mapping and spatial analysis.

The study encompassed various ecological components, including mangrove forests, seagrass ecosystems, seaweed communities, coral reefs, and reef fish populations, and went beyond mere species identification to include the spatial distribution of these vital resources.

The research revealed that Sogod's mangrove forests, though covering only 0.2% of the municipality's total land area, displayed intricate spatial patterns. Detailed mapping allowed for the identification of distinct zones of mangrove growth and variation in species composition across different geographical areas. These maps serve as valuable tools for the targeted conservation and restoration of mangrove habitats.

In the case of seagrass ecosystems, the research included spatial analysis of seagrass beds, enabling the delineation of areas with higher seagrass density and diversity. Maps were generated to visualize the distribution of seagrass species, with particular emphasis on the dominant narrowleaf seagrass (Halodule uninervis) and its associated ecosystems.
The research also extended to mapping seaweed beds across Sogod's coastal waters. The generated maps showcased the distribution of different seaweed species, aiding in the identification of areas with high potential for seaweed farming and resource management.
In the realm of coral resources, detailed spatial mapping was conducted to understand the composition and health of coral reefs. These maps identified areas with the highest coral cover, including Brgy. Maac, which accounted for approximately 11.45 ha of coral reef extent. Additionally, maps helped pinpoint locations with signs of crown-of-thorns starfish (COTS) infestations, allowing for targeted intervention efforts.

In conclusion, the combination of comprehensive resource assessment and detailed mapping provided a holistic understanding of the marine ecosystems in Sogod, Southern Leyte. These maps not only contribute to the sustainable management of marine resources but also aid in the identification of priority areas for conservation and resource allocation, ensuring the long-term prosperity of the region's coastal communities.

As one of the deliverables of the She Leads and She Inspires project "Mapping for Cultural Sustainability", the organization of a local YouthMappers chapter in UP Mindanao signified the start of youth-led open mapping efforts in the Southeastern part of Mindanao. The university was chosen to host the rise of the first YouthMappers chapter in the Davao region in part due to the institution's reputation of being a center of development and innovation in the region. With its roster of highly capable and enthusiastic undergraduate and graduate students, the UP Mindanao YouthMappers* was born. The academic organization, with the mission of enhancing the skills of its members in the field of open mapping and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) or Geospatial Technology, is now slowly starting to carve its mark in the UP Mindanao community by introducing the value of open mapping through trainings and mapathons and opening doors for research collaborations through GIS workshops and consultations.

This talk will focus on introducing the UP Mindanao YouthMappers to the open mapping community of the Philippines as well as share its journey, the activities that have been conducted by its founding members and the organization's plans for the near future. This talk will also hopefully open opportunities for collaboration with other YouthMappers chapters and different OSM communities in the Philippines.

Disclaimer: Although the organization has already been acknowledged and recognized by the UP Mindanao Office of Student Affairs, as of October 15, 2023, it is still waiting for the official recognition from the YouthMappers network. Application and submission of complete requirements had already been processed in the month of September.

KoboToolbox is an open-source data collection, management, and visualization platform that is used by thousands of organizations worldwide in their data needs. It is extremely user friendly and accessible, making it easy to get started quickly. It works offline particularly through its mobile application counterpart, KoboCollect.

This workshop aims to teach how to utilize KoboToolbox for collecting and managing data and will cover the following topics:
(1) Creating survey forms with KoboToolbox Form Builder
(2) Mobile field data collection with KoboCollect
(3) Data validation and analysis
(4) Project and team management

In "When Women Map: Mapping Spaces," we explore how women's perspectives impact cartography and spatial mapping. We investigate the unique insights, methods, and narratives they bring to these fields, shedding light on gender's influence on spatial understanding. Through qualitative research, GIS analysis, and collaborative mapping, we highlight women's often-overlooked contributions to shaping our perceptions of space and place. This study advances inclusive approaches to spatial representation, enriching our appreciation of our diverse world.

A companion to the lightning talk of the same name.

This workshop will introduce how to use PostGIS, GeoServer, and QGIS in dynamic, multi-user, environments.

Data stories are powerful ways to communicate insights, persuade audiences, and drive actions. In this workshop, you will learn how to create data stories with impact using a plethora of open-source tools. You will discover how to combine data, narrative, and visuals to craft engaging and effective data stories. You will also explore some of the best practices and examples of data storytelling from various domains and sources.

This workshop is suitable for anyone who wants to learn how to tell data stories with impact, regardless of their background or skill level. Join me for this exciting and hands-on workshop and unleash your creativity with data storytelling!

An abundance of geospatial data is being generated from traditional means like surveying, community driven mapping like OSM or AI generated. The general question is how can we leverage these data to enable development in our communities. The workshop will go into somewhat a dive into developing geospatial applications from databases, frameworks, protocols, and visualization. It will provide an end to end workflow of the Geo Software Development Lifecycle. The workshop will showcase the different open source technologies developers can use to build their application. This is targeted for experienced web and application developers or software engineers, but aspiring geospatial application developers are also welcome to join.

At Pista ng Mapa, I am excited to introduce a unique workshop featuring Mapillary for the first time, with a special emphasis on 360-degree street level image capture. Mapillary is a dynamic platform for crowdsourced street-level imagery and mapping data, and this exclusive 2-hour workshop will provide attendees with an immersive experience to grasp Mapillary's capabilities while engaging in hands-on practice with 360-degree image capture.

The "Battle of the Best OSM Mobile Data Collection Tool" is a workshop that aims to delve into two cutting-edge mobile data collection tools for OpenStreetMap: Organic Maps and EveryDoor. This workshop will serve as a platform for participants to gain insights, hands-on experience, and a comprehensive understanding of these innovative approaches to OSM data enrichment. By the end of the workshop, participants will not only grasp the technical intricacies but also understand the overarching societal and technological impacts of enhanced OSM data collection.

Geospatial data and technologies are increasingly used to address various social and environmental issues, such as disaster management, urban planning, public health, and climate change. However, creating effective geospatial solutions or initiatives requires not only technical skills, but also a deep understanding of the problem context, the needs and preferences of the stakeholders, and the potential impacts and implications of the proposed solution or initiative.

Mapa nga ba?: A design thinking workshop on creating effective geospatial solutions or initiatives aims to introduce the participants to the principles and practices of design thinking, a human-centered approach to problem-solving and innovation. The workshop will guide the participants through the five stages of design thinking: empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. The participants will work in teams to apply design thinking methods and tools to a real-world geospatial challenge. The workshop will also provide the participants with an opportunity to share their insights and feedback with other teams and learn from their experiences.