Integrating digital and human data sources for environmental planning and climate change adaptation: From research to practice in Central Vietnam

Climate-related and climate change-related events are causing problems foragricultural communities in many developing countries, and are requiringnew practices that enable these communities to adapt. In planning adaptationpractices, two quite different data sources have been common - top-downdigital sources such as those provided by remote sensing, and bottom-uphuman sources such as those provided by participatory events. These canbe brought together via geographic information systems to produce a morerobust guide for adaptational decision-making. This paper reports one suchinitiative in Central Vietnam which integrated local and external data sources - geographical, economic, political, and agricultural - in order to provideguidance on environmental planning. The paper reports on the transfer fromresearch modelling to environmental practice, and also draws some broaderconclusions about data source integration for ICT4D practitioners includingthe need to re-engineer planning processes rather than simply automatetraditional - often narrowly-scientific and top-down - approaches. © 2012 Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, Singapore. All rights reserved.