Developing Ethical Guidelines and Best Practices for the Use of Volunteered Geographic Information and Remotely Sensed Imagery in Crisis Situations

该项目将制定伦理原则和指导方针，并起草在危机情况下使用遥感和自愿提供的地理信息的最佳做法。由于目前没有指导这类研究的指导方针或最佳做法，该项目的结果将对该领域的研究人员和合作者产生变革性影响。此外，它将通过开发教育材料产生连锁反应，使未来的研究人员在与非科学家开展合作研究时了解并优先考虑他们的责任。遥感和VGI产生的地理定位数据不仅供科学家使用，而且供没有受过多少科学培训的从业人员在危机局势中进行干预时使用，危机局势往往发生在脆弱人口居住的偏远和危险地区，可能涉及侵犯人权、人道主义和灾害应对以及冲突期间对文化遗产的威胁。因此，该项目不仅将促进研究人员对这些技术的道德和严格使用，还将指导学术界以外的利益攸关方的工作，这是降低人口风险的关键一步。考虑到危机出现的全球环境，这个项目超越了传统的学术受众，传播研究成果和方法。它将包括非科学家用户和代表不足的群体的声音，如发展中国家的人和妇女，以便使关于保护实地研究人员、信息志愿者和那些受到地理位置信息滥用或疏忽传播威胁的最佳方式的讨论多样化。地理学家处于有利地位，可以开发和应用遥感和VGI方法来处理重要的社会问题。然而，方法上的失误可能会阻碍进一步的进展。该项目涉及的一些方法问题包括：数据来源；数据收集和分析中的质量控制；收集的数据的代表性；以及性别和获得技术等因素可能造成的数据差距。这些是专业学科如何为评估其方法和工具的严密性和准确性建立标准，以及如何以道德上可接受的方式应用这些方法的核心问题。虽然这些问题属于专业领域，但在当今的社会背景下，如果不与非科学家用户对话，就不能完全理解这些问题。这项研究探讨的两个关键研究问题包括：1.危机情况下地理定位数据的收集、分析、使用和传播需要什么标准？无标准运作危及当地人民的安全，并使确定保护和援助民众的适当政策和干预措施的努力复杂化。2.如何使不同的地理学者和用户参与制定和传播这些标准--道德原则、准则和最佳做法--以便在危机情况下使用地理定位数据的研究中被接受和实施，最佳办法是什么？这些问题和其他问题将通过一系列邀请讲习班和征求利益攸关方社区的反馈来解决。与会者将来自国际学术、人道主义、文化遗产、危机地图、灾难和人权界。

This project will develop ethical principles and guidelines, as well as draft best practices for the use of remote sensing and volunteered geographic information (VGI) in crisis situations. Since there are no existing guidelines or best practices to guide such research, the results of the project will be transformative for researchers and collaborators in the field. Moreover, it will have a ripple effect through development of educational materials to prepare future researchers to understand and give priority to their responsibilities when conducting collaborative research with non-scientists. Remote sensing and VGI generate geolocated data used not just by scientists, but also by practitioners with little scientific training seeking to intervene in crisis situations, which often unfold in remote and dangerous locations inhabited by vulnerable populations and may involve human rights abuses, humanitarian and disaster responses, and threats to cultural heritage during conflict. Hence, the project will not only promote the ethical and rigorous use of these techniques for researchers, it will also guide the work of stakeholders outside academia, a crucial step to reducing risks to populations. Given the global settings in which crises emerge, this project reaches beyond traditional scholarly audiences to disseminate research findings and approaches. It will include non-scientist users and the voices of under-represented groups, such as people in the developing world and women, in order to diversify discussions on the best ways to protect on-the-ground researchers, the volunteers of information, and those threatened by the misuse or careless distribution of geolocated information. Geographers are well-positioned to develop and apply remote sensing and VGI approaches to socially important issues. Nevertheless, methodological lapses may impede further progress. Some methodological issues addressed by this project include: data provenance; quality control in data collection and analysis; representativeness of the collected data; and potential data gaps due to factors such as gender and access to technology. These are core matters for how a professional discipline establishes standards for assessing the rigor and accuracy of its methods and instrumentation, and how it applies those methods in an ethically acceptable manner. While such matters fall into the domain of the profession, they cannot be understood fully in the present day social context without dialogue with non-scientist users. Two key research questions explored by this study include:1. What standards are needed for the collection, analysis, use and dissemination of geolocated data during crisis situations? Operating without standards endangers the safety and security of people on the ground and complicates efforts to identify appropriate policy and interventions to protect and assist populations. 2. What are the best means for engaging a diverse set of geographers and users in developing and disseminating those standards - ethical principles and guidelines and best practices - so they are accepted and implemented in studies that use geolocated data in crisis situations?These and other questions will be addressed through a series of invitational workshops and solicitations of feedback from stakeholder communities. Participants will be drawn from the international academic, humanitarian, cultural heritage, crisis mapping, disaster, and human rights communities.