Eliciting Knowledge on Technical and Legal Aspects of Participatory Toponym Handling

Abstract

There has been increased collaboration between citizens and scientists to achieve common goals in scientific or geographic data collection, analysis, and reporting. Geospatial technology is leveraging the power of citizens in such efforts. Governments have been exploring participatory approaches. This situation should be balanced by sharing knowledge and collaborative learning between stakeholders involved in the participatory activity. Training and education are enhanced by providing guidelines, sharing best practices, and developing toolkits. For toponym handling, a generic framework and capacity building are needed to increase public awareness and enable citizen toponymists. This paper addresses issues around citizen involvement in increasing toponymic knowledge through citizen science and geospatial capacity building. First, we examined the current practice of toponym handling and developed a generic framework. We then used stakeholder feedback and other resources to modify the framework for Indonesian use. Second, we conducted collaborative learning to share information and bridge the knowledge gaps among multiple stakeholders. Third, we applied insights and lessons learned from these activities to develop ideas, suggestions, and action plans to implement participatory toponym handling in Indonesia.

Keywords

• participatory toponyms
• knowledge sharing
• public participation
• citizen science
• geospatial capacity building