Session L/N
Understanding, Geovisualising and Teaching the Territories based on Geographical Knowledge and Data: Social, Technical and Methodological Issues
Co-chairs: Françoise BAHOKEN (AME-Splott / UGE – Géographie-cités), Étienne CÔME (COSYS-Grettia), Sylvestre DUROUDIER (Géographie-cités), Julie FEN-CHONG (Théma), Françoise LUCCHINI (IDEES) & Boris MERICSKAY (ESO / Université Rennes 2)
Scientific, educational and operational knowledge of territories is closely linked to the information used to identify, describe and analyse them. This long-standing link between territory and learning is now being renewed within the geographic/territorial information sciences and the digital humanities, thanks to the emergence of location-based 'new data' and its potential for use on the geoweb.
Access to big or small data, heterogeneous, uncertain or incomplete, with often fine spatiotemporal resolutions, which may come from social networks, digital platforms, location-based sensors, participative or contributory projects such as OpenStreetMap (OSM), open institutional sources or private companies, etc., poses new challenges for territorial managers.
We propose to examine these new challenges for teaching and learning the territories. The main one is to be able to provide meaning about territories, which means increasing the accessibility of spatial data and facilitating the use of increasingly varied information. The idea is, on the one hand, to make raw data intelligible, in order to perceive and interpret the complexity of territorial systems and inform decision-making; on the other hand, to communicate clear and easily understandable information to citizens.
In view of these expectations, (geo)visualisation of territorial data by charts, maps, applications or dashboards is a relevant approach. However, it cannot be limited to (carto)graphic images alone: (geo)visualisation necessarily encompasses issues relating to data collection, processing and analysis with a view to communicating them to a variety of audiences. This is why we need to look as much at the semiological and cognitive, as at the technical and graphical dimensions of these representations, as well as the technicals devices involved. In addition, the interactions and manipulations carried out via and on these interfaces also need to be studied and analysed in order to extract knowledge about their uses.
This session is co-organised by the (carto)graphy et (geo)visualisation research action of the GdR CNRS MAGIS (AR9magis) and by the Local Territorial Information (INFTER) axis of the CIST. It is interested in the use of territorial data by various actors: their exploitation and their uses within contemporary devices of exploration, (geo)visualisation and communication of information intended for various audiences. The session will take a two-pronged approach, looking both at the methods used to collect, process and represent the data, and at the tools and systems used to mediate the territorial data.
Its aim is to discuss the social, technical and methodological issues and challenges associated with the use of (thematic) statistical and spatial data, in a training and learning context, to produce knowledge about territorial areas.
Its general objective is to examine the way in which information derived from (geo)digital and spatial analyses can be used to “learn”, “teach” and “provide knowledge” about territories. The processing carried out, particularly in the context of online applications, reveals, in a variety of ways, the structure, functioning and dynamics of the territories in question. Their contemporary (geo)visualisation methods (exploration, interaction, analysis and representation, etc.) will be discussed, as will the mediation systems used (Webmapping platform, dashboard, viewer, etc.), whether they come from academic or public institutions, private organisations or are the result of initiatives by associations.
Questions and types of proposals
- What kind of local data is produced by different local players (institutional versus private and voluntary)? How are they linked to local action and under what legal conditions (licences, dissemination, ethics)?
- What are the players' rationales for producing and making available tools dedicated to understanding territories?
- What methods are used to develop integrated territorial approaches that combine social, economic and environmental dimensions? What new indicators are being created to produce local knowledge?
- What uses are being made of heterogeneous local data in teaching and learning about territories at university? What are the challenges and obstacles associated with this learning? What are the issues involved in training (future) practitioners in the use of geovisualisation tools?
- What teaching strategies are there for different types of data (small/big data, heterogeneous, incomplete, uncertain, etc.)? How can an ethical and critical approach to this 'data era' be integrated into teaching?
- Can the new (geo)visualisation tools be used to question the supposed objectivity of territorial representation? What are the issues involved in understanding different audiences (students, citizens, specialists, decision-makers)? Is there or is there not a risk of erroneous or distorted views arising from the manipulation of this data? What are the (geo)digital literacy issues involved in the appropriation and use of tools for understanding territories?
Selected Bibliographical References
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Genevois S., 2016, “Outils géomatiques et apprentissages en géographie : quels enjeux du point de vue de la recherche en éducation ?”, Les Sciences de l’éducation - Pour l’Ère nouvelle, 49(4), p. 93-116.
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