Support the spread of “good practice” in generating, managing,
analysing and communicating spatial information
Significance of Enabling and
Disabling Factors for
Participatory Mapping
By: Michael McCall , Giacomo Rambaldi and Janik Granados
Unit: M05U01
After completing this Module, you
will be able to:
• Discuss the significance of enabling and
disabling factors for participatory mapping;
• Discuss the relevance of legal and political
frameworks;
• Explain the role of social, economic,
cultural and institutional factors at the local
and community levels;
• Describe action planning in response to
enabling and disabling factors.
This Module has four Units
• Unit M05U01 – Significance of enabling and
disabling factors for participatory mapping
• Unit M05U02 – Legal and political frameworks
• Unit M05U03 – Social, economic, cultural and
institutional factors at the local and community
levels
• Unit M05U04 – Action planning in response to
enabling and disabling factors
Content of Unit M05U01
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Introduction
Success in participatory mapping
External and internal factors
Determining enabling and disabling factors
Enabling factors
Disabling factors
Introduction to Unit M05U01
• Participatory mapping depends on social,
economic, political and institutional factors
that are external or internal, enabling or
disabling.
• The disabling factors tend to receive more
attention than enabling factors because
they require more analysis and smarter
approaches.
Success in participatory
mapping
• Criteria for successful participatory
mapping:
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satisfy the majority of actors
support the disadvantaged actors
do not cause unwarranted harm to any actor
create and support autonomous initiatives
achieve the intended results
Success in participatory
mapping
A basic condition in participatory mapping is
“clarity of purpose” – clear agreement about
the purpose(s) of the activity and long-term
vision and commitment so that the purposes
become transparent.
Success in participatory
mapping
• Success can only be measured in the long
term.
• Some cases of community-based
interventions may have unexpected
outcomes.
• Changes may result in benefits for some,
may have no effect at all, or may have a
negative impact on other people.
External and internal factors
• External factors refer to the broader
environment.
• Internal factors pertain to an organisation,
a community, a group of people or staff
engaged in a project.
External and internal factors
• External factors
– international and national policies
– policies towards intellectual property rights
– customary versus legislated law
– status of protected areas
– attitudes of government officials
– language barriers
External and internal factors
• Internal factors
– relationships between the community and
external agents, government and institutions
– community internal structure
– community organisations’ capacity
– literacy, education levels, gender, age, class
and caste structures
Determining enabling and
disabling factors
• Enabling factors support communitybased mapping.
• Disabling factors hinder, reduce or block
activities.
Determining enabling and
disabling factors
• Disabling factors tend to receive more
attention because they require more
analysis and smarter approaches.
• Enabling and disabling factors can be of a
legal-political, economic or social-cultural
nature.
Enabling factors
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Clearly defined and shared purpose
Community cohesion and experience
Local leadership and governance
Technical competencies and human
attitudes
• Local spatial knowledge
• Supporting policy, legal environments and
civil society
Disabling factors
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Laws countering community-based mapping
Social structural problems in the community
Mistrust of local spatial knowledge (LSK)
Interests in maintaining the status quo
Lack of clear purpose and a shared vision
Lack of technical competence
Lack of financial resources
Infrastructural constraints
Disabling factors
• Addressing disabling factors means
resolving or mitigating them.
• Some factors may be “killing factors”.
• Technology intermediaries need to assist
local communities.
• A method for action planning is the SWOT
analysis.