PROJECT ‘KHERSON REGION GEOINFORMATION PORTAL’: INITIATIVES OF CIVIL SOCIETY TO SUPPORT REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

In 2021, for the first time in Ukraine, a project on creating and supporting a geo-information system for the oblast region was implemented—Geoinformation portal of the Kherson region. Conceptually, the project is based on an inclusive approach: the representation of the region as a complete spatial system through the use of methodological apparatus and tools of geographical research combined with practice-oriented and people-centric direction. This made it possible to comprehensively describe all traditional areas, as well as modern, actual directions of the spatial development of the region. The geo-information portal presents 11 thematic sections containing 58,502 objects, showing 309 indicators and 394 layers of data. The project is an example of successful collaboration between institutions of local government and civil society: the Public Organization Researchers of Ukraine Society, Kherson Regional State Administration, Kherson State University, and territorial communities of Kherson Region. It became the most powerful and successful initiative to support the regional and local development of the Kherson region on the eve of the war. Key characteristics that determine the uniqueness of the implemented project include: (1) generalization in a single register of fundamental scientific geospatial data and relevant information to ensure the daily needs and requests of regional administration and local self-government; (2) strengthening practice-oriented and human-centered accents in the proposed cartographic products through the presentation and visualization of individual ‘non-traditional’ indicators and layers of spatial data; (3) the possibility of using the information system of the portal as an effective decision-making tool both at the level of individual territorial communities and at the level of the region; (4) interactive nature, intuitive interface, which ensures accessibility and ease of use regardless of age characteristics and professional training of the user; (5) the possibility of building educational strategies for schooling and professional education in the region using the resources of the geo-information portal as a digital learning environment.