GIS as a storytelling platform: Case studies from the rural communities

With the emergence of web mapping technologies, maps have moved from the once static, fixed and non interactive media to that having multimedia content, text, images and photos that integrates the voices of the researched, allowing an interactive experience which leaves a reader with a feeling of having being part of the process. What we call getting more for less. Here we share our experience of using GIS as a story telling platform via a web mapping interface, as a front end to visualize and communicate narratives on globalisation (migration, remittances, food and agriculture and health) and its making and remaking of rural communities around the world. We present findings from a case study using historical data on the global sugar trade sourced from open data catalogues integrated with qualitative data and multimedia content from primary research and archives dating as far back as the 20th century. We discuss the methodologies applied, the product, challenges and the way forward.