Abstract:

The concept of spatial citizenship (SPACIT) originates from the individual and collective appropriation of space and supports learners to acquire competences that will enable them to more actively participate in society. Spatial citizenship adds a spatial domain to citizenship education. It implies that besides technological skills, further competences are required. These may be termed competences to:
a) deconstruct the spatial information openly available from various sources,
b) to further one’s own visions of social space by
c) being able to translate and communicate them with the help of GI.

SPACIT addresses the roles of (spatial) information and information processing in the generation of innovation and the process of creativity. It explores the competences necessary to engage in acquiring, processing and using (spatial) information, to establish dialogue when contributing to GISociety. SPACIT is concerned with identity and ownership, it offers concepts that emphasize the place/region/nation/world as a central form of spatial identification.

The spatial citizenship approach stems from the fact that the use of technologies and geoinformation is argued from the perspective of our everyday lives and the individual/collective appropriation of space. This is the basis for participation in collective social decision-making. Developing participatory and community-based engagement approaches through SPACIT technologies in secondary education allows teachers and students to become aware of the power of spatial thinking, geoinformation and the use of the Web as a communicative and participatory tool for citizens to engage with.

Spatial Citizenship combines ideas from geography, politics, community mapping, civic engagement, and social responsibility. As they participate fully in society, spatial citizens access, interpret, and critically reflect on spatial information; communicate through the use of maps and other spatial representations; and turn to the use of geo-media for expressing location-based opinions, making decisions, and accessing goods and services. Geo-media, media that use the spatial localization of information, are at the core of this. While GIS and GIScience are often the domains of a professional, industrial, and scientific work-force, we propose that geo-media bring the inclusion of GI into the everyday lives of individuals, through the use of mobile technologies, smart phones, VGI, and ubiquitous mapping. If this is the direction that engaged citizenship is going.

The presentation reports on the development of a teacher training course and the outcomes of a pilot study.

Keywords:

Citizenship, geoinformation, space, geo-media.