A-MANO

A-MANO is a visual mapping tool for community-based development that empowers local people to analyze their environment, monitor change over time, propose solutions, and plan for a better future. Stakeholders transform a satellite image into a dynamic map of a project's focus area. In sequential mapping sessions, local people and technical specialists collaborate to put their respective knowledge on the map, making it more than a visual representation of the community. When practitioners add to the map the technical data they have gathered, local people gain access to a valuable body of knowledge. What’s more, this knowledge is recorded in an accessible format that they can draw upon in their relations with local governments and NGOs. Although the tool was developed to support an integrated water resource management initiative in Central America, the methodology can easily be applied to meet the needs of any community-based initiative anywhere. The tools and techniques presented in this guide were selected as the most user-friendly, flexible, low-cost, and powerful of their kind.