Second Training Session on Youth-Led Geospatial Data for Climate Change Conducted this Week
Dili, May 2, 2025 – G-SIG successfully organized a training for 40 young participants on geospatial tools for addressing climate change. As part of G-SIG’s ongoing “Youth-led in Geospatial Data Tech for Climate Change” program in Timor-Leste. This special session brought together young people who have already been involved with the program to further strengthen their skills.
In this session, participants were introduced to tools and software such as QGIS and Ushahidi, learning how to use them in mapping activities related to waste management, disaster response, and tourism in Timor-Leste. The full-day session went beyond just learning the tools — participants also explored and discussed how to apply these tools in small-scale projects they plan to implement in the near future, with ongoing support from G-SIG.
Geospatial technology refers to a set of tools that use geographic information system (GIS) to analyze, map, and visualize data related to locations and spaces. This technology is crucial for policy-making, urban planning, and responding to natural disasters. In Timor-Leste, geospatial tools can be used across various sectors, including climate and disaster monitoring (such as floods and droughts), environmental conservation (such as mangrove and marine protection), urban development, agriculture, and mapping vulnerable areas for anticipatory action.
During the opening session, G-SIG President Mr. Ponciano da Costa de Jesus stated, “Timor-Leste is a small island country surrounded by the sea. Climate change has a severe impact on island country like ours. However, one of the biggest challenges we face is the lack of access to updated, accurate, and real-time information through available platforms. That’s why, as young people, we must come together and use available GIS technology to map and contribute digital information to our nation through maps.”
During the tools discussion, expert facilitators from G-SIG guided the young participants in learning how to use QGIS and Ushahidi in mapping activities. QGIS is a free and open-source Geographic Information System (GIS) software that can be used to Map geographic data (such as roads, rivers, and vulnerable areas), Analyze spatial information (e.g., areas affected by floods and other disasters), including Combine different map layers such as topography, land use, and population. Meanwhile, Ushahidi is an open-source online platform that uses maps to collect and display community-sourced information by Reporting disaster events (like floods, droughts, and strong winds), and Collecting crowd-sourced data from the community via SMS, web, email, and WhatsApp.
In the final session of the training, youth participants discussed action plans to apply the tools in mapping disasters, waste, and tourism. “We will focus on using QGIS to analyze flood data affecting the community in Santa Cruz,” said Julião Marques during the group project discussion. Another group focused on waste mapping shared, “Our target is to map waste locations in the Dom Aleixo and Vera-Cruz areas. We aim to identify around 60 or more waste sites using the Ushahidi mobile app,” said Abillio Monteiro during their group presentation.
It was inspiring to see the enthusiasm of these young participants, even those without prior geospatial backgrounds, actively engaging and eager to learn.
During the session, presentations on Ushahidi and QGIS were delivered by promising young members of G-SIG, who have already been using these tools in disaster mapping and other areas across Timor-Leste.