Spatial tools for river management: capacity building through GIS

ABSTRACT It is widely documented that rivers and their ecosystems are subject to enormous pressure worldwide. They are affected by various human activities, and climate change. These drivers are characterized by complex (inter-)dependencies and processes, which need to be addressed for successful river management. This requires data, tools and capable stakeholders to use them. Therefore, the aim of this paper is 1) to provide a comprehensive overview of challenges in river management, 2) to elaborate the central role of geographical information systems (GIS) in addressing these challenges and 3) demonstrate the need for GIS related capacity building for stakeholders. Part 1 and 2 of the paper provide an interdisciplinary literature review, citing case studies and theoretical discussions on spatial aspects and tools for river management. Part 3 illustrates potentials of GIS training for institutional capacity building based on interviews, surveys and practical experience from a current project, in which the authors were involved. The evaluation of the project indicates that the participants could archive considerable improvements in their ability to apply GIS methods in river management. The project also developed a QGIS plugin and guidelines for river geodata to facilitate collaboration between local stakeholders.