Advanced GIS Training for Planning and Decision Support

Course Overview

As geospatial technologies evolve, their application in strategic planning and high-level decision-making has become essential. This course is designed for professionals who already have foundational GIS skills and are ready to build advanced technical competencies for complex spatial analysis, predictive modeling, and multi-sector planning.

This course helps you integrate advanced GIS methods into policy formulation, urban and regional planning, environmental assessment, infrastructure development, and disaster risk management. You will work with real-world datasets to conduct spatial modeling, overlay analysis, geostatistics, suitability mapping, and scenario-based planning. Emphasis is placed on using GIS not just as a mapping tool, but as a decision support system (DSS) that enables data-driven strategies.

By the end of the course, you will be able to build sophisticated GIS workflows that inform policy, optimize resource allocation, and support evidence-based, geographically sensitive interventions.

---

Course Objectives

By the conclusion of this course, you will be able to:

• Apply advanced GIS tools for spatial analysis, modeling, and planning
• Use GIS to support infrastructure development, land use zoning, and impact assessment
• Conduct suitability and risk analysis for multi-criteria decision making
• Integrate remote sensing, field data, and spatial statistics for planning support
• Design and implement spatial decision support systems (SDSS)
• Communicate spatial intelligence through advanced mapping and dashboard tools

---

Who Should Attend

This course is ideal for professionals with foundational GIS skills who are ready to advance them.

• Urban and regional planners
• Environmental specialists and natural resource managers
• GIS professionals and spatial analysts
• M&E and planning officers in government and NGOs
• Engineers, economists, and sectoral planners
• Decision support teams in infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and public health

---

How the Training Works

Sessions build on foundational GIS skills through advanced, case-based technical work.

• Advanced instructor-led sessions with live software demonstrations
• Case-based learning with GIS decision support scenarios
• Hands-on exercises using QGIS, ArcGIS Pro, and planning tools
• Group-based modeling of real development challenges
• Scenario simulation using raster and vector data integration
• Development of actionable GIS dashboards and map reports

---

What You Will Walk Away With

You will leave with the ability to build and apply spatial models for real planning challenges.

• Spatial models built and applied to real-world planning challenges
• High-impact visualizations ready to inform stakeholders and policymakers
• Skills to use geospatial data for forward-looking, resilient development planning
• Experience supporting organizational planning units with GIS-based decision support
• Readiness to lead or contribute to GIS-based planning initiatives across sectors

---

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need prior GIS experience for this course?

This course assumes you already understand core GIS concepts, such as spatial data types, basic mapping, and simple spatial analysis. It moves directly into advanced methods including weighted overlay, geostatistics, scenario modeling, and spatial decision support systems. If you are new to GIS, the Introduction to GIS Training for Professionals course covers the foundations you would need before taking this one.

What is a spatial decision support system (SDSS)?

A spatial decision support system, or SDSS, combines spatial data, analytical models, and visualization tools into a structured system that helps decision makers weigh options. Instead of producing a single map, an SDSS lets users test scenarios, compare criteria, and see how different choices affect outcomes. This course teaches you to design and build these systems for real planning problems.

What is multi-criteria decision making in GIS?

Multi-criteria decision making uses several weighted factors, such as slope, land use, infrastructure access, and environmental risk, combined into a single suitability score. Planners assign weights based on priorities, then GIS calculates which locations score highest across all criteria. This produces defensible site selection or risk assessment results instead of a decision based on a single factor alone.

Who should attend this training?

This training suits urban and regional planners, environmental specialists, and GIS professionals who already work with spatial data. M&E and planning officers, engineers, economists, and sectoral planners in infrastructure, agriculture, energy, and public health also benefit. It works best for decision support teams who need to translate spatial analysis into policy or investment choices.

What kind of planning problems does the course cover?

You will build spatial models and decision support tools for scenarios such as land use change, flood or drought risk, and urban expansion. The course culminates in a capstone project where you design and present a GIS-based planning decision model of your own. This gives you a complete example you can adapt for real planning challenges in your organization afterward.

---