Towards a methodology for mapping 'regions for sustainability' using PPGIS

There is debate about the problems of communication between scientists, planners and stakeholder, and the scale at which environmental planning should take place. A review of the literature reveals that the concept of holistic landscape ecology is gaining ground in the scientific community. It also becomes clear that participation by stakeholders is not only important in satisfying the requirements of Agenda 21 but also of ensuring cooperation by local inhabitants in the final plan. Moreover, participation is becoming accepted as a vehicle for the planners to gain access to local knowledge, which is a vital complement to scientific knowledge. The challenge is to create a methodology that will overcome the shortfalls currently encountered and allow participants to be proactive in their definition of their landscape. This is possible by extending the experiments in public participation geographical information systems so long as care is taken to overcome problems in public unfamiliarity with the technology. The purpose of this paper is to draw together research in the fields of landscape ecology and planning to enable the formulation of a methodology for achieving greater and more proactive input in participation. The methodology proposed is currently actionable and this paper also points to the potential for a new emphasis in research. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.