Bringing community knowledge into flood risk evidence and planning.
A systematic review and applied participatory mapping programme examining how community knowledge can strengthen inclusive flood risk assessment and urban planning.
Project overview
This project examines how participatory approaches such as community mapping, participatory GIS and citizen science are used to understand urban flood risk. It pays particular attention to whether marginalised groups, including informal settlement residents, women, migrants, older people and persons with disabilities, are meaningfully represented in the mapping process and whether the resulting information influences planning and risk reduction.
The first component is a PRISMA-guided systematic review that synthesises evidence on participatory mapping methods, inclusion practices, barriers, enabling conditions and planning outcomes. The wider project will use these lessons to inform locally appropriate participatory mapping activities in vulnerable settlements, where residents can identify recurrent flood locations, local flow paths, drainage problems, affected assets, safe places and priority actions.
Key activities
Complete systematic searching, screening, data extraction and thematic synthesis.
Develop a practical participatory mapping protocol informed by review findings.
Facilitate community mapping sessions in selected flood-prone settlements.
Compare community-generated maps with field observations and technical spatial data.
Expected outputs
Peer-reviewed systematic review manuscript.
Participatory flood mapping protocol and facilitation materials.
Community-generated flood risk maps and prioritised local concerns.
Recommendations for integrating participatory evidence into municipal planning and disaster risk reduction.
Why this project matters
Formal flood maps may miss fine-scale pathways, drainage failures and everyday impacts that residents know well. Participatory mapping makes this local knowledge visible while helping to strengthen inclusion, legitimacy and practical uptake in planning.