Participatory Tools and Technologies for Ecosystemic Democracy | BOT Carapé

2025–2026

Institution:

Research Team:

Ignacio Cardona — General Coordinator

Laura Contreras — Local Coordinator

Ana Liz FLores

Soledad Ghione

Stephan Heit

Ricardo Avella

Partners:

Intendencia de Maldonado, Ambá, and The Wyss Foundation

Wentworth Institute of Technology

Spatial Opportunity Lab (SOLAB)

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The participatory methodology developed for the Bases de Ordenamiento Territorial del Gran Parque Carapé (BOT Carapé) explores how technology can expand participation in territorial planning by connecting human knowledge, ecological evidence, and spatial analysis within a shared decision-making process.

The methodology unfolds through eight interconnected phases. The first four focus on analysis and diagnosis, rhe final four focus on results and dissemination.

Across the process, technologies such as GIS, digital cartography, mobile mapping, trail cameras, AI ecological diplomats, participatory mapping platforms, digital surveys, and visualization tools operate as a shared democratic infrastructure. Their role is not simply to produce more data, but to make different forms of knowledge visible, comparable, and negotiable, strengthening participation and extending deliberation across human and more-than-human communities.