At the 2019 Washington GIS Conference in May, Nicole Franklin, Chief Equity Officer for King County IT, and I will present a brand-new workshop, Introduction to GIS for Equity and Social Justice. The workshop is intended for GIS professionals and for Equity & Social Justice (ESJ) and public policy practitioners.  The cost for this half-day workshop is just $100!

For hundreds of years mapping has sometimes been a tool for creating and preserving inequity. Modern GIS professionals are bound by the GIS Code of Ethics to consider the impact of their work on society. During the past 25 years GIS has gradually and increasingly been used to identify and ameliorate inequity and to promote social justice. Introduction to GIS for Equity and Social Justice will survey recent trends and practices in applying GIS to ESJ issues.

We will explore critical race theory (CRT) and trends in critical race spatial analysis. We will review recent literature and academic programs around the topic of GIS for ESJ. Most importantly, we will outline best practices for GIS professionals in applying GIS to ESJ work. This includes the creation of a data/mapping/application support framework, both for their own work and to support the work of non-GIS professionals.

Non-GIS professionals will become the largest community doing actual ESJ work with GIS tools and methods. These non-GIS professionals include those who work for agencies, non-profits, and NGOs that have ESJ missions, as well as government policy professionals who want to use GIS to support an ESJ lens for developing upstream agency policies.

Specific topics covered in this half-day workshop will include:

1. Why GIS for Equity and Social Justice
2. GIS code of ethics and moral imperative
3. Principles of equity and social justice
4. The role of GIS professionals
5. The role of ESJ practitioners
6. The role of public policy
7. Critical race theory
8. Critical race spatial analysis
9. How upstream policies impact downstream outcomes
10. Understanding how maps and GIS can be used to create long-term inequity
11. How GIS and maps can expose oppression and inequity
12. How GIS can be used to manage and monitor pro-equity policies
13. Examples of public agencies with ESJ policy priorities
14. Educational resources for GIS professionals
15. The URISA GIS for ESJ workgroup

For background reading on GIS for Equity and Social Justice, check out this GIS & You article: The Role of GIS Professionals in Issues of Equity and Social Justice.

Register today for Introduction to GIS for Equity and Social Justice and Nicole and I hope to see you at the 2019 Washington GIS Conference in Tacoma on May 21!