Japan Geoscience Union Meeting 2024

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U (Union ) » Union

[U-14] Raising the profile and impact of community engagement in geoscience

Fri. May 31, 2024 3:30 PM - 5:00 PM Exhibition Hall Special Setting (1) (Exhibition Hall 6, Makuhari Messe)

convener:Vincent Tong(Northumbria University), Yuichi S. Hayakawa(Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University), Wonsuh SONG(Waseda University), Michiyo SHIMAMURA(Nagoya University), Chairperson:Vincent Tong(Northumbria University), Yuichi S. Hayakawa(Faculty of Environmental Earth Science, Hokkaido University), Wonsuh SONG(Waseda University), Michiyo SHIMAMURA(Nagoya University)


4:15 PM - 4:30 PM

[U14-10] GIS-related community engagement in Japan

★Invited Papers

*Takashi Oguchi1 (1.Center for Spatial Information Science, The University of Tokyo)

Keywords:GIS, Citizens, Natural disasters, Japan

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) help describe, analyze, and understand various physical and social phenomena on earth surfaces. Although GIS used to be of limited availability, slow to work, and expensive, significant improvements in these issues have led to the rapid propagation of GIS since the 1990s. In recent years, various GIS-related resources, such as GIS software, geospatial data, and educational materials on the web, are freely available. Therefore, multiple people, including citizens, utilize GIS, and related community engagement is also found. Some engagement activities are associated with international projects. For instance, numerous volunteers have produced fundamental geospatial data worldwide under the scheme of OpenStreetMap. In Japan, GIS-related community engagement often deals with natural hazards, including the effective use of hazard maps, selecting appropriate evacuation routes, and emergent information exchange using Web GIS. This reflects that the development of GIS in Japan was strongly associated with natural disasters. For example, the Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake in January 1995 led the Japanese Government to promote GIS for proper mitigation measures after disasters. The government also assisted GIS and related activities, such as positioning and navigation, to increase people's daily welfare. This talk reviews the historical development of GIS and related community engagement in Japan and provides future perspectives.