Many planning projects and management strategies can profit by the involvement of citizens such as the local population, interested laypersons or school classes. Often named as citizen science, collaborative planning or grassroots projects, the involvement of citizens has become easier with the widespread of mobile devices and increased network coverage. All mapping tools used within the SPARE project (reference database and geodata addressing the ecological status and protection priority) are based on the research project ThinkSpatial! that developed spatial tools for collaborative actions and learning. The tool offers the possibility to develop own mapping projects, where users can contribute to individual research questions (e.g. ecosystem monitoring, personal history, citizens as sensors, etc.)

On http://thinkspatial.boku.ac.at (only in German language) further information is provided, and the project team can be contacted for a user account.

The following video explains the basic idea and the possibilites of ThinkSpatial!

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