Transcript for Giving Voice to the Unspoken

Giving Voice to the Unspoken

Educational Video Production in Support of the Resource Book

Participatory 3D Modelling: Guiding Principles and Applications

In a world where natural resources continue to become scarcer and poorer

it is increasingly recognised that the cooperation

and active participation of all those concerned

are necessary to ensure their sustainable management.

Distribution, tenure and access are focal issues

in the management of such resources.

Having access to mere quantitative and qualitative data

is not sufficient for their complete understanding

and use in learning, negotiation and networking processes.

Data on resource tenure, use and access

have a lesser meaning if not visualised

in terms of their distribution over a given territory.

In the last decade there has been a strong

drive towards integrating Geographic Information Systems

better known as GIS

into community-centred initiatives.

This particularly

to deal with the spatial information gathering

and to allow stakeholders to make informed decisions on how best to manage their environment.

Most natural resource dependent communities

are marginalised and isolated

and do not have the technical and financial capabilities

needed to handle a GIS.

As such,

a method known as Participatory 3 Dimensional Modelling

or P3DM

has been conceived to bring GIS potentials

closer to rural communities.

This video production

on Participatory 3D Modelling

is intended to assist researchers,

project implementers,

NGOs and GIS practitioners

in bringing the power of Geographic Information Technologies

to the grassroots.

Participatory 3D Modelling

integrates conventional and spatial information

like contour lines and people's knowledge

to produce stand-alone, scaled and georeferenced relief models.

These have proved to be user friendly

and relatively accurate data storage

and analysis devices

and at the same time excellent communication media.

This video shows the various steps

involved in producing a 3D Model.

A detailed discussion of the method can be found

in the accompanying book

Participatory 3D Modelling:

Guiding Principles and Applications.

So far, P3DM has been successfully used

in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam

in diverse situations

and for different purposes,

but all dealing with territorial and natural resource management issues,

including:

Supporting Traditional Knowledge

Collaborative Research and Planning

Protected Area Management

Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation

Conflict Resolution

Indigenous Peoples' Rights

Information and Education.

The functionality of the method is based essentially on the fact

that it facilitates discovery learning

visualises knowledge

improves communication

and stimulates cohesion among community members.

It is important to understand

that a Participatory 3D Modelling exercise

should be conceived only as a component

of a broader, long-lasting intervention

having a clearly defined goal.

Never do a 3D Modelling exercise

just for the sake of gathering data.

You will generate a lot of expectations

and disillusions among participants.

The manufacture of the model itself

is a relatively demanding exercise

and we would like to show you how to do it.

Hands-on!

To show the construction of one of these models

we had filmed an exercise done in November 2001

in Vietnam

at the headquarters of the Pu Mat National Park

The exercise involved

more than 120 people.

Students and teachers from local schools

were responsible for the construction

of the blank model.

80 representatives from ethnic minority groups

living inside and around the park

acted as key informants.

Park staff and government officials

joint the facilitators in their task.

The actual construction is the combination

of months of preparation, that included:

Selecting the area

Gathering information

Doing a stakeholder analysis

Conducting consultations

Mobilising the community

Procuring supplies, and

looking after the logistics.

Procurement is one of the critical aspects

of 3D Modelling.

You need items which will allow informants

to reproduce real-world features

at a given scale

through clearly identifiable symbols.

The relief model is made

by overlaying, custom-cut layers of cartonboard.

The thickness of the carton

reproduces the contour interval

at the desired scale.

Differentiating among horizontal and vertical scales

gives the opportunity to enhance the perception of slope.

Push and map pins are used to represent point data

like households, social infrastructures,

landmarks and others.

Paint is used for symbolising areas

including land use and cover

water bodies like lakes, marshes and the sea.

Yarns are used to show linear data

like roads, trails and boundaries.

To work at scale, you need a series of measuring or scaling instruments.

These include, a calliper

a scale ruler, plumb line, compass,

steal measuring tape

cut-outs of numbers and letters

and a quick reference guide.

The base map has to be prepared with precision and adequate referencing.

Two copies are needed.

Other supplies are needed in sufficient quantities

to keep all participants busy.

The construction of blank models

is best entrusted to students.

They are briefed on the mechanics of construction

before the actual work.

They are then divided into 3 working groups

that will trace, cut and paste the different layers.

The exercise requires at least 3 facilitators

skilled in cartography or GIS,

environmental, land use and community work.

The first activity consists of assembling the base map.

The map is then glued on a tailored made table.

It must be emphasised that map, table and carton sheets

should have exactly the same size.

To transfer the single contour lines

from the base map to the carton board

you need a large carbon paper.

The best way is to assemble it on the spot

making sure that its size matches the one of the map.

Once completed, the carbon paper is placed

between the base map and one carton board.

This allows you to trace a selected contour line.

The traced contour line is used as a guide

for cutting out the single layers

using cutters, short solid scissors

or coping saws.

The layers are then marked

with the correspondig elevation and the North orientation.

Particularly in mountain areas

the higher the elevation the more segmented each layer will be.

Depending on its complexity and segmentation

you may resort to maintaining temporary bridges

or to independently assembling selected portions of the model.

A geographic referencing system

is needed to avoid misplacing

the various layers.

Long nails are placed through the table

to correspond with selected landmarks

such as mountain peaks or hill tops.

The second base map is perforated

to match the nails placed on the based table.

This allows to perfectly locate succeeding layers.

Small paper cut-outs are glued

on the edge of the carton layers

to strengthen the model

and smoothen the slopes.

The use of water-based glue is recommended

and it has to be diluted to allow easy spreading

without soaking the carton board.

Determining the correct dilution,

and this depends on the quality of the glue available on the market,

is one of the key factors affecting the quality of the model.

Watery glue will cause the carton board to weaken and

the single layers to partially collapse.

This alters the desired vertical scale.

It is important that layers are gently compressed on top of each other

so that the resulting surface is flat.

The first task has now been completed.

The blank model is ready to accommodate the knowledge of key informants.

To do this, coding means should first be prepared.

It may be hard to find custom-made water-based colours

at reasonable prices.

Colour powder can be used instead.

Sufficient quantities of each colour must be prepared

to ensure consistency in coding.

Colour-coded yarns should be used before applying paint

to allow for a free discussion

while depicting lines and areas.

Yarns are flexible coding means

able to accommodate endless adjustments.

The legend allows users

to decode and interpret data displayed on the model.

Its preparation, particularly the listing

and description of different terms,

will determine the usefulness of the model

and the final intellectual ownership

of the output.

Symbols and corresponding definitions

should be easily understood

and include features relevant to the informants.

The second group of participants

is composed of people who best know the territory

generally elders, indigenous peoples

farmers, fisher folk, forest dwellers and others.

They are oriented in front of the blank model.

The discussion includes a review of the objectives of the exercise

of the process of the depicting mental maps

as well as the reminder to refer to the legend

when choosing colours and symbols.

Many people have difficulties in reading maps.

This is not the case with relief models

where the vertical dimension offers visible and tangible hints to memory.

Informants are first asked to identify

and name familiar features

such as watercourses

roads, mountain peaks

and others.

This is a critical process

that follows people's natural orientation

and learning mechanisms.

It also allows participants

to get a progressively deeper grasp

of their whereabouts in relation to the model.

They are then asked to outline land use

and land cover with colour-coded yarns.

Paint is applied only after everyone agrees

on the location and identification of various features.

The physical nature of the model

enhances discovery learning

through verbal, visual and physical experiences.

It stimulates feedback

promotes debate and negotiation

and generates shared information

in visible and tangible formats.

Pins of different colours and shapes

are used to locate point data.

A the 1:10.000 scale

informants can easily point out

single households

and many other features.

The exercise in Vietnam involved two groups of informants

working one after the other.

One villager was asked to introduce newcomers

to the mechanics of the exercise

and brief them on his experience.

For the first time in his life he spoke in front of a large audience

including government officials,

park staff, researchers and foreigners.

This has been an important communication

and community empowerment aspect

of the exercise.

The two groups worked together for sometimes

to allow cross-checking and validation of data.

To extract the data from the model,

a geo-referenced grid with 10 cm intervals

is placed.

Each 10 cm interval,

corresponds to 100 meters on the ground.

Each resulting square

is identified by simple coordinates

based on numbers and letters.

Using the resulting grid as a reference

the protected area boundary can be transferred

from the second base map onto the model.

This provides stakeholders

with a clear and factual understanding

of its perimeter.

This facilitates a bottom-up approach

to boundary delineation and zoning,

activities that frequently tend to be slow

and confrontational due to unequal access to information.

A professional digital camera is then used

to capture data from the model

through a process similar to aerial photography.

High resolution pictures are shot in a regular sequence

from a 4-meter distance

which, at a 1:10.000 scale,

corresponds to 40.000 meter elevation.

The images are transferred to a GIS

through direct on-screen digitising.

The legend is the key for decoding data shown on the model.

A model without a legend is mute and meaningless.

So, make sure that you store colours' samples

on blank sheets of paper.

You will later cut them

to compose the final legend

which will be laminated and embedded into the model.

At the end of the exercise

group pictures are taken

and each participant is given an attendance certificate.

Thereafter, the module is officially handed over to the community.

These are important events

particularly for villagers

because they are given official recognition for their role

as stakeholders and custodians of knowledge.

Here it is.

We all have learnt a lot.

The landscape of Pu Mat

will definitely be engraved in my memory

for a long time.

I never climbed these mountains

but after having gone through this exercise as a trainee

I guess all of us would know better on how to walk around the area.

But what is definitely more important

all those participating got a broader view of the environment

they are living in.

People from the villages got the chance

to be actors on the scene

and gain the rightful recognition of their traditional knowledge.

In the coming months

the model will be expanded

to include the entire National Park

and its buffer zones.

More villagers will participate

as part of a collaborative process

involving park staff, researchers

and government officials.

Increased access to information

will add transparency to the process

and favour learning, communication,

negotiation and decision making

and hopefully lead to a more sustainable management

of natural resources.