Government land is a strategic public asset whose safeguarding is particularly complex in regions with strong customary land tenure systems. In Eastern Indonesia, especially Papua, land is embedded not only in administrative and legal frameworks but also in indigenous social and cultural structures. This study examines the safeguarding of government land in Jayapura City using a qualitative legal-empirical approach grounded in a post-positivist paradigm. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with local government officials, customary leaders, academics, and land authorities, complemented by document analysis and field observations. The findings show that legal insecurity constitutes the most fundamental and systemic challenge. The absence or contestation of customary land release documents undermines formal land certification, weakens administrative registration, and exposes government land to recurring disputes and encroachment. These conditions reflect persistent tensions between formal state law and customary land governance rather than isolated administrative failures. This study argues that safeguarding government land in Papua requires a hybrid land governance framework that recognizes legal pluralism as an operational reality, supported by the institutional integration of customary mechanisms, participatory mapping, and strengthened inter-agency coordination. This study contributes to land governance literature by positioning legal pluralism not as a constraint but as an operational governance variable.

Gender Based Violence (GBV) remains a critical human rights and public health challenge globally and in Tanzania, where nearly 40% of ever-married women report intimate partner violence. Conventional interventions have predominantly focused on protecting women and girls, often excluding men and boys from meaningful engagement and reinforcing the perception of GBV as a “women’s issue.” This study explores the role of men and boys in preventing GBV in Arusha District Council through a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach. By involving 60 participants across two wards, the study facilitated cycles of reflection, dialogue, and action that positioned men and boys as co-researchers. The research targeted males aged 15 and above, including students, out-of-school youth, young adults, adult men, community leaders, and faith-based actors. Findings reveal that participants initially perceived GBV narrowly as physical abuse but, through participatory engagement, broadened their understanding to include emotional, psychological, and economic violence. PAR proved effective in promoting attitudinal change, with men and boys beginning to critically reflect on harmful masculinities and embrace more equitable behaviors. However, generational differences, peer stigma, and entrenched patriarchal norms remain significant barriers to sustained change. The PAR methodology proved highly effective in encouraging introspection and promoting attitude change among men and boys in both wards. In both Oltrumet and Nduruma, participatory mapping exercises allowed men and boys to identify local GBV hotspots, the triggers of violence, and the social pressures that sustain them. The study demonstrates that participatory, community-driven approaches can shift perceptions and foster ownership of GBV prevention strategies. It contributes to policy discussions on inclusive GBV interventions and provides practical insights into designing gender-transformative programs that align with Tanzania’s national priorities and Sustainable Development Goal 5.

Peri-urban agroforestry can provide affordable, fresh, and nutritious food and a departure from conventional forms of cropping. Indigenous foods are well-adapted to local conditions, and may hold cultural and economic value for peri-urban residents. Social, ecological, and economic variables influence the feasibility of indigenous agroforestry in peri-urban areas. This study uses participatory mapping and geographic information systems (GIS) to assess these variables and to map suitable spaces and species for peri-urban indigenous agroforestry at three peri-urban sites in Durban, South Africa. We find that: land tenure, livelihood opportunities, and indigenous food perceptions factor into socioeconomic preferences; topography and soil quality influence ecological feasibility; access to water and roads influences perceived economic viability. Although GIS techniques can identify land suitability, participatory mapping adds local fine-scale context to enhance decision-making. Based on the social-ecological conditions at the three sites, we suggest specific configurations of locally adapted foods and farm designs for peri-urban agroforestry. Our study demonstrates how agroforestry is more feasible in places where basic living conditions are fulfilled, and how co-design can improve recognition of local needs, accessibility to services, and balancing urban green equity.

Ecosystem Services (ES) represent the benefits nature provides to people. This concept has been instrumental in guiding research and mapping methods over time. In this context, there is a lack of studies in the scientific literature on ecosystem services that consider landscapes linked to public policy data, such as Environmental Zoning. We mapped provisioning, regulating, cultural, and supporting types of ES in the Espinhaço Range Biosphere Reserve watersheds, Brazil. This study uses environmental and productive zoning data for participatory mapping involving experts and local actors. Through this participatory approach and using a weighted matrix based on scientific literature, we assigned scores to 11 landscape units according to each unit's perceived relevance in providing different ES categories. We calculated final averages from these scores, ranging from 1 (very low) to 5 (very high). We conducted data analysis using RStudio and QGIS software. The results showed a predominance of high relevance in ES supply across the landscape units, with the highest percentages found in regulating and supporting services (72%), followed by provisioning (60%) and cultural (59%) services. Spatial distribution analysis indicated that 70% of the studied regions had high overall relevance in ES provision, highlighting the significant potential of these areas to deliver ecosystem services. The high conservation status of the studied basins further reinforces this potential. Our findings indicate a clear need for more detailed investigations to better understand ES dynamics in these areas, especially with diversified methodologies considering ongoing environmental changes.

Local ecological knowledge (LEK), cultivated through direct interactions of human communities with their environment, has the potential to utilize customary practices to implement sustainable forest management effectively. Documentation of LEK and farming practices of agroforestry farmers could provide an avenue for preserving forest resources without compromising their forest-dependent livelihoods. This research aimed to identify how the LEK of the Barangay Lalakay agroforestry farmers in Los Baños influences their farming practices in their portion of the Mt. Makiling Forest Reserve (MMFR). This was done through participatory mapping activities, which are integrated in household interviews and a focus group discussion, along with key informant interviews involving relevant stakeholders. The data gathered were then analyzed through thematic analysis, and a thematic LEK map was generated based on the findings. At the end of the study, findings show that the LEK of the agroforestry farmers in Barangay Lalakay is influenced by a multitude of factors, including Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems (MCME) technical training sessions, direct interaction with the environment, intergenerational transmission, economic optimization, local innovation, and the history of the community’s settlement in the area. They were also able to demonstrate their ability to adapt to the changing environment through the development of farming system innovations, such as the diversification of crop selections. These innovations are aided by the training sessions provided by MCME, which show the potential for the academic community to enhance LEK. These findings show that integrating LEK in forest land use planning demonstrates a participatory approach in integrated forest management.

This study examines how climate variability and land-use change in the Benue Valley, with a focus on Adamawa State, have altered agroecological systems and influenced local conflict. Land use and land cover data for 1984, 2004, and 2024, combined with interviews in riverine communities, reveal sustained vegetation loss, expansion of bare surfaces, reduced water bodies, and settlement growth. Vegetation declined from 13,743.6 km² (42.83 per cent) in 1984 to 6,586.1 km² (20.52 per cent) in 2024, while bare surfaces increased from 17,866.0 km² (55.67 per cent) to 24,936.6 km² (77.71 per cent). Waterbodies decreased from 317.3 km² (0.99 per cent) to 182.4 km² (0.57 per cent). These trends are visible in communities such as Dasin, Fufore, Opalo, Imburu, and Waduku. Interview evidence connects these shifts to disputes over farmland, grazing routes, and river access. Land degradation and reduced water availability intensify farmer–herder clashes, intra-farming group competition, and livelihood-related crime. Sand mining, dry-season cultivation, and upstream impoundments add pressure on already weakened ecosystems. The study identifies the need for GIS-based water management, climate-smart agroecological support, participatory mapping of transhumance corridors, and youth-focused green livelihood programs to address the link between environmental decline and conflict in the Upper Benue Basin.

Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) significantly constrains women’s and gender diverse individuals’ mobilities, especially in urban environments where perceived and actual risks shape access to public spaces, transportation, and community engagement. This scoping review synthesizes how mobility-based SGBV has been identified, mapped, and analyzed within the built environment using geographic information systems (GIS). Drawing on established scoping review frameworks, we systematically searched Google Scholar, Web of Science, and Geobase, identifying 316 relevant studies. Our findings are organized into four thematic approaches: (1) innovative and emerging technologies; (2) mainstream spatial analysis and crime mapping; (3) quantitative and mixed methods approaches; and (4) perception-based qualitative mixed methods. We identity a persistent disconnection between technological solutions (e.g. safety apps) and spatial analyses grounded in urban planning, alongside a broader gap between feminist-informed methodologies and dominant GIS practices. While GIS-based crime mapping offers valuable spatial insights, it often omits participatory and feminist-informed perspectives that better account for lived experiences of mobility injustice. We thus propose ‘feminist spatial participatory action research’ as a methodological orientation that integrates participatory mapping, qualitative GIS, and spatial analysis. We argue this approach advances interdisciplinary, survivor-centered mobilities research and offers a holistic foundation for addressing SGBV through inclusive spatial interventions.

Transmigration has long served as a tool for regional equity and reducing population pressure in Java-Bali, but its success was often judged by physical outputs alone. This study synthesizes cross-era evidence to (i) map shifting policy rationales and instruments, (ii) summarize recurring socio-ecological impacts, and (iii) draw operational lessons for village governance. Using a Scopus-based Systematic Literature Review of publications from 1959 to 2025, 95 articles were selected after title, abstract, and full-text screening. Thematic synthesis covers three periods: 1959-1999, 2000-2014, and 2015-2025. Over time, there has been a shift from standardized interventions to context-sensitive and governance driven approaches: spatial planning based on land and water suitability, basic services aligned with livelihood cycles and market access, community forest management, and stronger procedural justice through inclusive participation and rights recognition. Recent trends emphasize rapid land conversion, frontier related relocations, and the need for conflict mediation at the village level. Today, transmigration success is better measured by the quality of spatial choices, livelihood stability, and policy legitimacy. Village administrations play a central role through participatory socio-biophysical mapping, adaptive service SOPs, socio-ecological regulations, and transparent mediation tools bridging national policies with practical, local outcomes.

Coastal and marine ecosystems mangroves, tidal marshes, seagrasses, oyster reefs, coral reefs, kelp forests and sandy shores are central to climate mitigation, biodiversity conservation and coastal protection, yet they are rapidly degrading under the combined pressures of climate change, sea-level rise, pollution and unsustainable development. Recent advances in blue carbon science, restoration ecology, seascape ecology and marine spatial planning (MSP) offer new opportunities to regenerate these systems and upscale restoration in line with global targets such as the Kunming Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. Building on earlier syntheses of coastal restoration and blue carbon, this review integrates recent literature spanning ecosystem-specific restoration experiments, decision-support tools, legal and governance innovations, and bibliometric analyses of blue carbon and sea-level rise research. We first summarise how ecological theory and empirical evidence have refined understanding of restoration feasibility, co-benefits and trade-offs across vegetated blue carbon ecosystems and biogenic reefs. We then examine emerging spatial planning and modelling tools, including Marxan based approaches, connectivity analyses, environmental niche and habitat suitability models, and multi-criteria GIS frameworks for identifying resilient restoration sites and prioritising interventions. A third theme explores the social, legal and governance dimensions of upscaling marine and coastal restoration, highlighting the roles of social data, participatory mapping, rights, tenure and risk allocation. Finally, we synthesise cross cutting knowledge gaps and propose a research agenda centred on system wide carbon accounting, social ecological integration, and climate-resilient restoration pathways. By consolidating multi-disciplinary evidence, this review aims to support more strategic, just and climate-smart restoration of coastal seascapes and to inform science, policy and practice at landscape and seascape scales. Keywords: Blue carbon restoration, Coastal and marine ecosystems, Marine spatial planning, Seascape ecology and connectivity, Climate change and sea-level rise, Ecosystem services and co-benefits, Nature-based coastal protection

Participatory Mapping of risk by, with, and for, children - what is ethical good practice?

This paper examines Palestinians’ production of place in Jerusalem through participatory mapping and narrative analysis, based on survey data collected between 2019 and 2020. It draws on the voices of Palestinians from Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territories, within 1948 borders, and Jerusalem itself. Together, these accounts show how narrative place-making sustains place under siege, displacement, and occupation. Although Gazans were initially excluded from the research due to their inability to access the city, their unexpected engagement reshaped the project's trajectory and helped reveal a broader pattern of place-making across Palestine. Through this process, the survey became a means of symbolically and narratively re-emplacing Palestinians in Jerusalem and reconstructing it in their image. The paper makes two key contributions. First, it demonstrates how participation in research can itself become an act of representational place-making and resistance. Second, it uncovers the strategic logic of collective place-making by integrating a diversity of affects produced under Israel's settler-colonial regime. Taken together, the narratives illustrate how seemingly spontaneous actions generated a unified, temporally and spatially contiguous place, amounting to a profoundly unique and embodied form of resistance.

Enhancing Urban Accessibility: Participatory Mapping and Technology for Inclusive Digital Maps

Pastoral systems in Sub-Saharan Africa, especially East Africa, are undergoing significant changes driven by diverse environmental and socio economic pressures. To sustainably manage livestock and pastoral resources, detailed insights into land use and migration patterns are crucial but often scarce. This study employs an integrated approach, combining participatory mapping and GPS collar tracking, to document pastoral land use and migration behaviors in Karatu, Longido, and Monduli districts in northern Tanzania. Participatory mapping was conducted in 219 villages, where community members identified critical livestock resources such as seasonal grazing areas, water sources, livestock dips, and migration corridors. These community generated maps were then digitized into a comprehensive geospatial database ( dtlp.nottech.co.tz ). Additionally, GPS collars were deployed on selected cattle herds to record precise herd movements over several months, offering quantitative insights into livestock migration and resource use. Initial results demonstrate continued reliance on nomadic practices and communal grazing in Longido and Monduli. Conversely, in Karatu, expanding agricultural activities have compelled pastoralists to adopt agro-pastoral strategies, including crop cultivation and stall feeding livestock. Across all districts, pasture scarcity remains a critical challenge despite extensive grazing lands, driving pastoralists to seasonal migrations. The GPS data that was collected put a concrete number that approximately an animal can walk a distance of 4,000 km in less than a year. Although migration is essential for survival during dry periods, it increases risks such as disease transmission due to herd convergence at limited grazing areas or water points. This integrated methodological approach effectively captures on-the-ground pastoral land use details not visible through satellite imagery alone, with GPS tracking providing essential quantitative validation. The findings emphasize the practical benefits and feasibility of combining indigenous knowledge and modern tracking technologies. Ultimately, this methodology supports community driven land use planning and enhances sustainable resource management practices within pastoralist contexts.

This study aims to develop a creative tourism model to promote local economic development in the Songwat area, a historic district in Bangkok undergoing cultural and commercial transformation. Although Songwat has recently emerged as a vibrant creative corridor, research gaps remain in understanding how cultural identity, community participation, and stakeholder collaboration collectively shape its sustainable development. To address these gaps, this study proposes a Collaborative Creative Living District Model that integrates four core dimensions: tourism experience, local identity, community engagement, and balanced benefit distribution. A qualitative research design was employed, utilizing field observation, in-depth interviews, participatory mapping, and document analysis. Participants included residents, cultural practitioners, tourism operators, creative entrepreneurs, community leaders, and visitors. Data were analyzed through thematic coding, pattern matching, and model synthesis. The findings reveal that creative tourism activities, such as craft workshops, heritage storytelling, and cultural walking routes, serve as catalysts for economic revitalization by generating new income opportunities and attracting diverse visitor groups. Local identity, particularly Songwat’s Thai–Chinese heritage and architectural character, plays a critical role in enhancing authenticity and reinforcing destination distinctiveness. Community engagement strengthens cultural continuity and fosters co-creation, while collaboration mechanisms among stakeholders enable adaptive management of tourism growth. The proposed model demonstrates that sustainable creative district development requires not only economic gains but also equitable benefit sharing, cultural preservation, and inclusive participation. The study contributes to creative tourism scholarship by offering an integrated framework applicable to other culturally rich urban districts seeking balanced and community-centered development.

This paper explores the ethical entanglements and tensions that arise when using a decolonial feminist approach to digital participatory action research (DPAR) within the context of bicycling, mobilit(ies), and gender justice in rural Nicaragua. Grounded in a reflexive feminist ethics of care and relational mobilities, I reflect on a collaborative DPAR project with co-researchers that aimed to address the intertwined issues of mobility justice, sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) and climate change. Through digital methods – such as photovoice and participatory GIS mapping using GoPro cameras – co-researchers mapped specific community spaces marked by SGBV and environmental precarity, revealing the layered dynamics of gendered, racialized and ecological injustice that shaped their everyday mobilities. Drawing on these experiences, I offer critical reflections on the possibilities and tensions of decolonial feminist DPAR, including (1) the necessity of a feminist reflexive ethics of care; and (2) the ethical entanglements involved in using technological interventions that may inadvertently reproduce structural inequalities. While digital technologies may pry open opportunities for collective storytelling and community advocacy, I contend that their use must be guided by ongoing ethical considerations to ensure that relational mobilities and accountabilities – and the voices of co-researchers in DPAR projects – remain central.

Leadership education must develop learners' capacity to navigate complexity and foster collective action for sustainable change. This article presents educational activities conducted as part of a community-engaged project in Panajachel, Guatemala, where leadership educators, practitioners, and learners collaborated in a week-long initiative to develop a sustainable development agenda. Through three systems-informed activities-telling systems stories, participatory mapping, and co-creation planning-participants explored community assets, challenges, and priorities as necessary sources of insights for decision-making related to community development. By engaging local residents in the design, execution, and meaning-making processes of systems change, this project not only yielded valuable insights into community realities that will inform evidence-based interventions but also offered significant lessons for systems-informed leadership broadly. Large systems change requires (1) multiple rounds of learning, action, and reflection, (2) intentionally designed processes to engage many different perspectives, and (3) deep understanding of the past and present, as well as a commitment to co-creating new possibilities. This article highlights the transformative potential of leadership education as a catalyst for contextually grounded, participatory systems change.

Participatory mapping with young people: Advancing on procedural justice

Abstract Sungai Manggar Protected Forest (SMPF) was designated as a protected area by the Indonesian Government in 1996, covering an area of 4,999 hectares, according to the Decree of the Minister of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia Number 267/Kpts-II/1996. The management of SMPF is carried out by the Protected Forest Management Unit of Balikpapan (FMU of Balikpapan/KPHL Balikpapan). However, the FMU of Balikpapan faces tenurial conflicts because of various interests. This study aims to map the typology, sources of problems, and parties involved in tenurial conflicts in SMPF, particularly those located at Kilometers 23 of the Balikpapan - Samarinda Road. The approaches used in this research are key informant interviews, focus group discussions, participatory mapping, and field observations. Data analysis used Rapid Tenure Assessment (RaTA), historical data, and qualitative descriptive methods. The results show that the tenurial conflict occurred due to the rejection of farmer groups that had been carrying out agricultural activities before the government established SMFP. The parties involved in the tenurial conflict include: FMU of Balikpapan, local community in Kilometers 23 Balikpapan – Samarinda Road, Balikpapan City Government, and the Department of Food Security, Agriculture and Fisheries of Balikpapan City (Dinas Ketahanan Pangan, Pertanian dan Perikanan Kota Balikpapan/DKP3). This study recommends resolving the conflict by considering the basis for land claims and referring to existing policies for resolving tenure conflicts, specifically the Land Tenure Settlement in the Framework of Forest Area Arrangements (Penyelesaian Penguasaan Tanah dalam Kawasan Hutan Negara dengan Penataan Kawasan Hutan/PPTPKH).

Abstract Global biodiversity loss and ecosystem degradation within protected forests constitute significant threats to ecological integrity and the sustainability of ecotourism. Only 40% of remaining forests globally retain high landscape integrity, and merely 56% of protected forest areas exhibit signs of ecological health. This study aims to integrate ecosystem restoration initiatives with community-based ecotourism development in the Balikpapan Protected Forest Management Unit (KPHL Balikpapan), East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It addresses the critical gap between conservation science and sustainable tourism development. The research introduces a novel adaptive framework that combines restoration techniques with diverse ecotourism models, moving beyond traditional approaches that treat conservation and tourism as separate entities. The methodology employs spatial analysis, GIS, remote sensing technologies, critical land mapping, and multi-criteria decision analysis to identify ecotourism sites. It also includes comprehensive socio-cultural observations through participatory mapping and stakeholder engagement. Key findings indicate that 61.97% of the study area necessitates restoration intervention, with critical land classified from potentially critical (28.38%) to very critical (0.49%) levels. The study proposed six adaptive restoration initiatives, including botanical gardens, edu-ecotourism, agroecotourism, silvofisheries, rainforest miniatures, and wildlife expeditions, which are strategically distributed across multiple ecotourism hotspots. Community perception analysis demonstrates strong local support for integrated restoration and ecotourism initiatives. Residents recognize the economic potential while maintaining environmental stewardship. The study offers benefits such as diversified profits, improved ecosystem services through carbon sequestration and biodiversity, stronger community unity, and evidence-based management for forest conservation. These contributions create a replicable model for sustainable ecotourism growth.

Abstract Extreme events are becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change. Ecologically fragile areas like Wetlands are vital livelihood assets for its dependent communities, and frequently face multiple vulnerabilities that threaten their well-being and the complete sustainability of the socio-ecological system. Loktak Wetland in Northeast India faces extreme weather events like drought and high intensity precipitation causing floods that disrupts the life of wetland reliant settlements. These impacts varying types of settlements near the wetland including the settlements on the fringe, floating huts as well as island settlements. This research on the Loktak wetland performs an exhaustive vulnerability analysis of the local settlements relying on the wetland, by employing Drivers-Pressures-State-Impacts-Responses (DPSIR) approach. The study applied a methodological process involving reconnaissance surveys, participatory mapping, and primary surveys of varying forms of settlements. The impact scores are derived by using DPSIR and primary village-level surveys for ascertaining the order of priority of the dimensions of vulnerability, in Environmental, Administrative/Governance, Economic, Physical Infrastructure, and Social Infrastructure sequence. The findings reveal that the local settlements grapple with a range of vulnerabilities, including, ecological disruptions, administrative neglect, constrained livelihoods, infrastructure deficiencies, and social service gaps. The multi-dimensional assessment and priority response approach developed in the study provide evidence to policymakers, planners, and practitioners for the management of Loktak wetland and its socio-ecological systems.