Evidence Based Planning

According to the report Spatial Strategies on the Island of Ireland: Development of a Framework for Collaborative Action, one of the key requirements for collaborative spatial planning is consistent and comparable data on key thematic issues. In support of evidenced-based planning, ICLRD will undertake the following activities:


Supporting Evidence Based Planning

In 2007 a Working Group was established among practitioners, policy makers and academics to identify the key themes for which data are needed, and the desirable form and spatial scale of such data. The Working Group included: members of the Regional Studies Association (Irish Branch); ICLRD partners led by NIRSA and University of Ulster; the National Centre for Geocomputation (NCG); and other interested policy makers and academics.

The Working Group held its first workshop at NUI Maynooth in February 2007 and a second at the University of Ulster Jordanstown in June 2007. Based on feedback from the workshops, ICLRD hosted a half-day conference in November 2007 on the development of spatial planning. Read more about the conference


All-Island Mapping

ICLRD’s introduction of up-to-date all-island maps in the collaborative strategies report was very well received. The maps have been widely viewed and used by various groups.  In support of the above referenced research projects, as well as supported evidenced based planning, ICLRD will work with its partners to identify and map key census data and selected indicators. Specific products to be further elaborated include:

• A web-based or printed atlas of selected cross-border maps that would inform all-island cross-border planning activities. Read more about the completed All-Island Atlas
• Elaboration of a cross-border profile for rural areas based on land area, demographics, age dependency, household composition, economic status and employment sectors, educations levels, religious affiliation, access to health, car ownership, travel to work patterns as well as other relevant indicators.

An opportunity exists to work with the cross-border planners group to identify key indicators and maps that would be useful to decision makers and cross-border practitioners.

ICLRD partners will continue to cooperate with AIRO, the All-Island Research Observatory, in analysing maps that can support practitioners and policy makers.


Enabling Networks--Mapping Cross-Border Activities and Organisations

As the amount of information generated on cross-border co-operation has grown, so has the need to adopt a comprehensive and disciplined approach to managing information and understanding its value. Different efforts are underway to tap the growing capacity of spatial analytical techniques for North/ South policy decision making.

In 2006 with funding from the Special EU Programmes Body, the Centre for Cross Border Studies, the Institute for International Urban Development and the National Institute for Spatial and Regional Analysis (NIRSA) successfully demonstrated a spatial mapping programme to visualize information on cross-border co-operation held in the Border Ireland database.  

The notion of fully integrating the mapping application into the Border Ireland website was broadly welcomed by reviewers of the pilot mapping initiative as a “natural next step in the development process”. In 2007, the same partners began a second phase of work to fully integrate the prototype mapping programme into the online Border Ireland database. This will allow users to interactively explore cross-border co-operation by abstracting, summarizing and spatially presenting the large volume of cross-border data.

Download Mapping Report 1 and Mapping Report 2


New Project!    Mapping Infrastructure Accessibility

Based success of the publication by AIRO and ICLRD of the Atlas of the Island of Ireland, both organisations have been asked by the Strategic Investment Board in Northern Ireland to explore methods for mapping infrastructure accessibility with an initial focus on Northern Ireland and selected infrastructure on a cross-border basis. This will allow policy makers to access new evidence on regional access to infrastructure and the impact of the border on accessibility to essential services. This work will be undertaken in cooperation with senior officials from the concerned spatial planning and investment departments in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.