Promoting participatory community building in refugee camps with mapping technology

Abstract

Mapping technology has the potential to be a helpful tool in community building. This paper explores its promise for this purpose in refugee camps. We posit such tools when used for participatory planning can be useful for building more sustainable living environments. This is especially true when a camp is transitioning from a site of crisis response into a stable location of recovery. In this note, we first discuss the current state of refugee camps and then examine the benefits and constraints of mapping technology in participatory planning and community building. This preliminary analysis identifies critical stakeholders and infrastructure constraints, and additionally makes recommendations for appropriate technologies. In particular, we propose the use of Public Participatory GIS and take the novel approach of applying the sociological framing of a Boundary Object. Drawing on data gathered while planning a field study of Za'atari Syrian refugee camp, we assess the feasibility of this framing for future analyses in the camp.