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The role of geographic information systems (GIS) in sustainable development
2024-01-06
Upper Euphrates Basin Developing Centre / University of Anbar
Sustainable Development:
Sustainable development is a term used in general and widely to describe a complex series of goals, activities and behaviors of man towards the environment, which must correspond to the needs and aspirations of the present and without compromising on the ability of future generations to meet their requirements and ambitions, and this term includes that both the technical and social conditions of human activities are taken into account research that does not exceed the energy of the biosphere to contain its negative effects, and this is what was agreed upon as a general definition of sustainable development. Some define it as an international socio-economic term, with which the United Nations has drawn a map for environmental, social and economic development worldwide, whose first goal is to improve the living conditions of each individual in society, develop the means and methods of production, and manage them in ways that do not lead to the depletion of the planet's natural resources, so as not to overload the planet and guarantee the rights of future generations.
The process of sustainable development began at an international summit held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992 and the participation of 180 countries called the Earth Summit (on an implementation plan and agenda for the twenty-first century. The success of this initiative was recognized ten years later at the Johannesburg meeting in South Africa, where the results of this initiative and proposals for a new path were presented. Many governments, international organizations and individuals have contributed significantly to the definition, promotion and achievement of The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with such a broad awareness of a comprehensive plan such as the Agenda for the Twenty-first Century, has made it a fertile reference and a structure for action worthy of attention.
Sustainable development and its relationship to geographic information systems:
The current time we live in is characterized by the era of the information revolution, where countries and institutions are racing to collect, organize and benefit from information in various fields of development, and in the past few decades man has invented several modern technical means such as electronic computers and satellites that allowed the availability of huge amounts of information about the earth's environment and its content of landmarks and natural resources, in addition to that, information was available about other planets surrounding the globe, Hence, the urgent need for accreditation of specialized programs such as geographic information systems software has increased, collecting, storing, organizing, analyzing and processing this huge amount of spatial and non-spatial data, in recent decades there have been wide leaps in the fields of development studies due to the growing economic, urban and population problems in their various dimensions. Studies to the need for advanced supplies, technologies and devices to give a realistic picture of the variables and related factors, and among those technologies emerged geographic information systems (GIS), in addition to the availability of geographic information systems (GIS) software for specialists and decision-makers in this field around the world to reach how to secure or meet the needs of individuals of resources of various kinds, in addition to efficient land planning Using and protecting the environment (natural resources) to ensure the survival of future generations also provides insights, highlights opportunities, identifies shortcomings and fosters cooperation to ensure that governments and institutions make smarter and more sustainable economic decisions.
The economic, social and environmental processes are by nature spatial, and it is difficult to understand them without their spatial dimensions, and the link between man and the environment cannot be represented without reference to a specific place, because the environment is described through its topological (spatial) relationship with physical things such as (soil or air components, areas where water and solar radiation are located in an area of the earth... On the other hand, human activities produce spatial effects on the environment, as the effect is mutual between man and the environment. As mentioned earlier, the Agenda for the 21st Century focused on certain topics, goals and ways (processes) that lead to their achievement, the goal here is to solve spatial problems while processes involve sharing knowledge with the intention of cooperation, transparency and participation in decision-making, both of which serve to achieve the highest goals set by the principles of sustainable development, GIS technology (GIS) has proven) on its ability to provide theories, methods and applications that effectively assign the following tasks, which together constitute a broad and comprehensive application of the principles of Agenda 21 for sustainable development, namely:
· Producing and maintaining geospatial information is an absolute necessity.
· Promotes easy access to environmental data (spatial data infrastructures).
· Solving spatial problems (spatial analysis, environmental modeling).
· Promotes collaborative decision-making (decision-making group).
In planning, decision-making and management, geographic information systems have been considered one of the most effective advanced tools to address complex problems (spatial problems) in the economic, environmental and social fields, and it is an essential tool when used appropriately providing effective support for spatial planning and decision-making because the geographical elements of the problem under study have their presence when addressing sustainable development goals and policies for implementing their procedures, so geospatial techniques (GIS) It is a machine that leads not only technically, but also socially and organizationally and embeds knowledge based on an open and integrated ground when analyzing information, when collaborating to solve problems, when planning and making decisions.
There have been attempts to study various problems related to sustainable development using geographic information systems to solve complex problems faced by planners and those concerned with including sustainable development goals and turning them into policies and practical executive procedures, the aim is to address a wide range of topics related to GIS applications that have contributed to improving horizontal and vertical cooperation formulas in decision-making processes for all workers in the sustainable development process and at the level of all national, regional and local institutions, that the growing availability of data Spatial and the development and increasing progress of geographic information science have allowed for in-depth research into the processes of information planning (analysis, design, evaluation, spatial modeling, decision, management).
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