GIS and Spatial Solutions

Weighted Site Suitability Analysis

Build, weight, test and report a multi-criteria suitability model in QGIS that decision-makers can actually challenge.

PractitionerSite suitability and constraints analysisWritten content available for review

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Protected access: Disabled

Written course content

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Course overview

Suitability analysis is persuasive precisely because it looks objective, which is why it has to be built honestly. This course teaches criteria selection, normalisation, weighting, overlay, and — critically — sensitivity testing and transparent reporting, so that the weighting judgements behind a suitability map are visible rather than hidden inside a raster.

Professional problem addressed

An agency must choose between candidate sites and needs a method that is transparent, repeatable and defensible under challenge.

Real-world scenario

A public agency is selecting a location for a new facility from five candidate areas and must publish the reasoning behind its choice.

What participants will learn

Select criteria that answer the actual decision question.
Normalise dissimilar criteria onto a comparable scale.
Apply and document weightings.
Run a weighted overlay in QGIS.
Test sensitivity and report the result honestly.

Skills developed

Multi-criteria method design
Normalisation and weighting discipline
Sensitivity testing
Communicating contested evidence

Course outline

0 of 4 lessons open

Module 1 · 3 hours
Designing the criteria set
Make sure the model answers the question that was actually asked.
- Criteria selection as a planning judgement, not a data inventory.
  - Writing the decision question precisely.
  - Separating constraints (exclusions) from criteria (preferences).
  - Detecting correlated criteria that double-count the same effect.
  Practical task: Draft the criteria table with a justification per criterion.
  Video lesson: Not recorded — written lesson above
  Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download.
Practical activity
Criteria table with justifications and exclusions.
Expected output
Documented criteria set.
Module 2 · 6 hours
Normalisation, weighting and overlay
Build the model correctly and reproducibly.
- Normalisation choices and how they change the answer.
  - Linear, threshold and categorical normalisation.
  - Handling directionality: more is not always better.
  - Documenting the transformation for each criterion.
  Practical task: Normalise every criterion layer.
  Video lesson: Not recorded — written lesson above
  Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download.
- Turning professional judgement into declared numbers.
  - Weighting approaches and how to record who set the weights and why.
  - Weighted overlay processing and reproducibility.
  - Producing a classified suitability surface.
  Video lesson: Not recorded — written lesson above
  Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download.
Practical activity
Weighted suitability surface with a documented model.
Expected output
Classified suitability map.
Module 3 · 5 hours
Sensitivity and reporting
Show how robust the result is before someone else finds out.
- Alternative weight sets and what stays true across all of them.
  - Building two or three plausible alternative weight sets.
  - Identifying areas that rank highly under every scenario.
  - Reporting the robust result rather than the single run.
  Practical task: Produce the sensitivity comparison and write the findings.
  Video lesson: Not recorded — written lesson above
  Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download.
Practical activity
Sensitivity comparison plus spatial-analysis report.
Expected output
Spatial-analysis report with maps.

Practical project brief

Setting and role: A district with five candidate areas for a new public facility. Spatial analyst advising a public agency..
Client or agency context: A government agency that must publish the basis for its site choice.
Study area: District-scale synthetic study area supplied with the course.
Planning question: Which area is most suitable, and how sensitive is that answer to weighting?

Constraints

Hazard exclusion zones
Existing incompatible land uses

Required analysis

Criteria design
Normalisation
Weighted overlay
Sensitivity across at least two alternative weight sets

Required assumptions

Weights are professional judgements and must be recorded as such
Data currency limits are stated

Required outputs

Suitability map series
Spatial-analysis report

Data used: Synthetic training data · Publicly available data · Learner-created data. Learner keeps their own work; no submission system is active.

Learner deliverable: Spatial-analysis report

What a satisfactory output contains

Decision question
Criteria table with justifications
Normalisation and weighting record
Suitability map series
Sensitivity comparison
Stated limitations

A challenger can see exactly which judgements drove the result and test them.

How to improve it: Remove correlated criteria, widen the sensitivity scenarios, and rewrite the conclusion around what holds across all scenarios.

Suitable for internal professional review and as supporting evidence in a wider study. It is not a decision, an approval or a statutory determination.

Quality-control checklist

Decision question written down
Constraints separated from criteria
Normalisation documented per criterion
Weights declared with reasons
At least two alternative weight sets tested
Robust and marginal results distinguished

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Presenting weights as objective facts.
State who set them, on what basis, and test alternatives.
Including three criteria that measure the same thing.
Check correlation and merge or drop.
Publishing a single run as the answer.
Report only what survives the sensitivity test.

Assessment and review

Self-assessed model and report against the rubric. No grade or certificate is issued.

Method design
Criteria answer the decision question.
Technical accuracy
Normalisation and overlay correct.
Quality of analysis
Sensitivity genuinely tests the result.
Communication
Maps and text are consistent.
Identifying limitations
Weighting subjectivity acknowledged.

Reflection and improvement task

Argue the opposite case: build the weight set that favours the runner-up area, then explain in writing why your recommendation does or does not survive it.

Expected professional outcome

The learner can build and defend a transparent suitability model under professional and public challenge.

Government and planning-authority relevance

Directly applicable to agency site selection, infrastructure prioritisation and published decision reasoning.

Course details

Intended for: GIS and geospatial professionals · Planning consultants · Government ministries, departments and agencies · Universities and research institutions · NGOs and development organisations
Professional roles: GIS analyst · Spatial planner · Research officer · Policy analyst
Delivery format: Individual learning · Practical studio format · Cohort delivery
Estimated learning time: 2–3 days equivalent
Software requirement: QGIS · Spreadsheet software
Prerequisites: Constraints and Opportunities Mapping, or equivalent QGIS competence.
Required knowledge: QGIS basics · Basic spreadsheet use
Materials: Synthetic criteria layer pack · Weighting workbook template
Availability: Curriculum Designed

None of these courses can be booked, enrolled in, purchased or downloaded. Video lessons have not yet been recorded, and there are no certificates, no accreditation and no learner accounts. Written teaching content, where it exists, is published for review. Registering interest tells us which subjects to finish first.

Jurisdiction

General professional method

The method taught here is general professional practice and is transferable internationally. Statutory requirements, standards and approval procedures differ by country and by authority, and must be confirmed with the relevant planning authority. Nothing in this course is legal advice, and completing it does not qualify anyone to practise in any jurisdiction.

Software and data

QGIS is obtained from the official QGIS project website by the learner. No installer is hosted here, no endorsement is claimed, and no software certification is granted.

Synthetic multi-criteria layer pack prepared for training
Optional publicly available open data for a local substitute study area, cited
No confidential agency or client data is used

Software access and licensing

Ideeplan Consult provides professional instruction, exercises, synthetic practice data and learning resources. It does not provide, purchase or pay for software licences on behalf of learners.

Required software

QGIS
Suggested version: QGIS 3.x long-term release. Learners or their employers must obtain lawful access.
QGIS project (official website)
Alternative: Browser-based map-reading exercise — Where a learner has no GIS software, selected exercises can be followed as view-only demonstrations. This is not full hands-on GIS training.
Spreadsheet software
Suggested version: Any modern spreadsheet application. Learners or their employers must obtain lawful access.
LibreOffice Calc (official website)
Alternative: Google Sheets — A browser-based alternative suitable for the calculation exercises. It is not identical to desktop spreadsheet software.

Learners or their employers must obtain lawful access to any required software before starting the practical exercises.
Only official software-provider websites are linked from this site. Ideeplan Consult does not host installers.
No shared accounts, passwords, activation keys or cracked software are provided, and software credentials are never collected or stored.
Ideeplan Consult claims no endorsement, partnership or sponsorship by any software provider.
Software licence costs are not included in any Ideeplan course fee, and no trial, student, educational or free licence is promised to be available.
Where a legitimate alternative is suitable, it is identified separately and is not claimed to be identical to the required software.
If a learner lacks the required software, a view-only demonstration or browser-based exercise may be offered where possible; this is never described as full hands-on software training.

Where to obtain project data

Every exercise in this course uses synthetic or Ideeplan-owned training data. This section explains how to replace that training data with lawful local project data in your own jurisdiction when you apply the method to a real site.

Free access and free reuse are different things. A dataset you can view or download is not automatically a dataset you may republish, adapt or use in a paid commercial deliverable.
Confirm the current licence on the source website before you reuse anything. Terms, prices and availability change without notice.
Ideeplan Consult does not host, redistribute or resell any third-party dataset, and links only to official or openly licensed public sources.
Never use private, confidential, pirated, scraped or otherwise unauthorised data. If a source requires a licence or a fee, obtain it properly or use an alternative.
Record the version, extraction date and coverage of every dataset you use, and cite it in the report and in the map credit block.
Ideeplan training coordinates are supplied on a named local grid (IDP-LOCAL-GRID) in metres. Local synthetic training grid in metres: not georeferenced to the Earth and not suitable for overlaying with real-world basemaps without a separately supplied transformation. Never attach an EPSG code, projection file or real-world CRS to training data that has none.
When you move to a real site, obtain the coordinate reference system from the survey or the mapping agency and record it in the drawing and the report. Do not infer or guess a CRS from the numbers.
If a public source becomes unavailable, changes its terms or starts charging, use the alternative listed here — the synthetic training dataset remains available for practice either way.

Data used in this course

Base mapping and street networks
Access: Varies by jurisdiction
What you need: A base map of roads, footways, buildings, water features and place names covering the study area.
Why it is required: Every site plan, constraints plan and analysis drawing needs a locational base so the reader can orient the proposal against real streets, blocks and landmarks.
Preferred source: The national mapping agency of the country in which the site sits — National mapping agency. National mapping agencies publish the most positionally reliable base mapping. Access and licensing differ by country: some publish open products, others license mapping commercially or to registered professionals only. Confirm the terms with the agency before reuse.
Alternative: OpenStreetMap — OpenStreetMap Foundation and its contributors. Global, openly licensed and editable. Completeness varies sharply between areas.
Alternative: Geofabrik OpenStreetMap extracts — Geofabrik GmbH. Country and region extracts of OpenStreetMap data in GIS-ready formats.
Licence: OpenStreetMap data is published under the Open Database Licence (ODbL) 1.0. National mapping agency products carry their own licence, which is often not open.
Permitted reuse: ODbL permits copying, adaptation and commercial use provided the source is attributed and any distributed derivative database is shared under the same licence. This share-alike condition is a real obligation on consultancy deliverables that distribute data, so read it before use. Agency mapping may prohibit reuse entirely without a licence.
Required attribution: For OpenStreetMap: "© OpenStreetMap contributors", with a reference to the ODbL. Agency mapping must carry the credit wording that agency specifies.
Date, version and coverage: OpenStreetMap is continuously edited, so record the extraction date. Coverage is global. Agency mapping has a stated revision cycle and covers that country only.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: OpenStreetMap has no guaranteed positional accuracy, no consistent capture scale and uneven attribute completeness; building footprints and address data are missing in many areas. It is suitable for context and analysis, not for boundary determination or measured survey.
How to access lawfully: View directly in the browser, or download a regional extract and open it in GIS software. Do not scrape the live map tiles in bulk.
How to cite: OpenStreetMap contributors (year) OpenStreetMap [dataset]. Extracted [date]. Licensed under ODbL 1.0. Available at openstreetmap.org.
Administrative boundaries
Access: Varies by jurisdiction
What you need: Boundaries of the country, state or region, local government area and ward or district containing the site.
Why it is required: Boundaries define which authority determines the application, which policies apply and how statistics are aggregated for the study area.
Preferred source: The national statistical office or national mapping agency of the country concerned — National statistical office. Official boundaries are the only defensible source for reporting, because they match the units used in published statistics.
Alternative: Humanitarian Data Exchange (HDX) common operational datasets — UN OCHA. Country administrative boundary sets, usually endorsed by the national authority. Licences differ per dataset.
Alternative: Natural Earth — Natural Earth. Small-scale global boundaries in the public domain. Suitable for context maps only.
Licence: Natural Earth is public domain. HDX datasets carry per-dataset licences, commonly Creative Commons. National datasets carry the publishing authority's terms.
Permitted reuse: Public-domain boundaries may be reused freely, including commercially. Creative Commons datasets require attribution and may add conditions. An authority's boundary file may be viewable online yet still not licensed for redistribution — check before including it in a deliverable.
Required attribution: Name the publishing authority and the dataset title in the map credit block, with the licence where one is stated.
Date, version and coverage: Boundaries change through reorganisation, so record the release year and confirm it is the version in force at the assessment date. Coverage is national.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: Generalised boundary files are drawn for cartography, not for legal boundary determination. Coastal and river boundaries are frequently simplified. Never use them to determine ownership or a legal limit.
How to access lawfully: Download from the publishing authority's open-data portal, or from HDX where the authority has released it there.
How to cite: [Publishing authority] (year) [Dataset title], version [x] [dataset]. Accessed [date]. Available at [official URL].
Aerial and satellite imagery
Access: Open access
What you need: Recent imagery of the site and its surroundings for context, land-use reading and change detection.
Why it is required: Imagery evidences existing site conditions, vegetation, access and surrounding development at a known date, which supports the appraisal narrative.
Preferred source: Copernicus Sentinel-2 imagery via the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem — European Union / European Space Agency.
Alternative: USGS EarthExplorer (Landsat archive) — United States Geological Survey. Long historical archive, useful for change over decades.
Alternative: OpenAerialMap — Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team. Openly licensed aerial imagery contributed by others. Coverage is patchy.
Licence: Sentinel data is published under the Copernicus open and free data policy. Landsat products from USGS are in the public domain. OpenAerialMap imagery carries the licence chosen by each contributor, commonly CC BY 4.0.
Permitted reuse: Copernicus and USGS products may be reused, adapted and used commercially with attribution. Imagery viewed inside a commercial web-map viewer is a different matter entirely: being able to see it in a browser does not license you to export, trace or publish it.
Required attribution: "Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [year]" for Sentinel; "Courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey" for Landsat; the contributor credit and licence for OpenAerialMap.
Date, version and coverage: Record the acquisition date of the specific scene, not the download date. Sentinel-2 revisits every few days globally; Landsat covers 1972 onwards.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: Sentinel-2 is 10–20 m ground resolution and Landsat is 30 m, so neither shows individual building detail. Cloud cover, shadow and seasonal vegetation change all affect interpretation. Imagery is not a survey and must not be measured from as though it were.
How to access lawfully: Register a free account with the provider, search by area and date, filter by cloud cover, then download the scene. Do not download tiles from a commercial basemap outside its terms.
How to cite: European Union / ESA / Copernicus (year) Sentinel-2 scene [ID], acquired [date] [satellite image]. Accessed [date].
Elevation and terrain
Access: Open access
What you need: A digital elevation model for slope, aspect, drainage direction and levels context.
Why it is required: Slope and drainage govern developable area, road gradients, earthworks cost and surface-water risk, so terrain shapes the layout before anything is drawn.
Preferred source: Copernicus DEM via the Copernicus Data Space Ecosystem — European Union / European Space Agency.
Alternative: NASA SRTM via USGS EarthExplorer — NASA / USGS. Approximately 30 m global elevation, widely used for screening.
Alternative: OpenTopography — OpenTopography Facility. High-resolution lidar where a survey has been flown and released; coverage is limited and per-dataset licences apply.
Licence: SRTM products from USGS are public domain. Copernicus DEM instances are released under the Copernicus licence, which permits reuse with attribution. OpenTopography datasets carry the licence set by each data owner.
Permitted reuse: Reuse, adaptation and commercial use are permitted for the public-domain and Copernicus products with the required credit. Confirm the per-dataset terms on OpenTopography before including a lidar derivative in a paid deliverable.
Required attribution: Credit the mission and steward, for example "Contains modified Copernicus DEM data" or "SRTM data courtesy of NASA/USGS".
Date, version and coverage: SRTM was captured in 2000 and does not reflect later earthworks. Copernicus DEM is compiled from more recent acquisitions. Both are near-global; note the tile version.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: Global DEMs are roughly 30 m horizontal resolution with vertical error typically measured in metres, and they represent surface height including tree canopy and buildings, not bare ground. They are screening tools only and never a substitute for a topographic survey for design levels.
How to access lawfully: Register with the portal, select tiles covering the study area, download, then reproject into the local projected coordinate system before deriving slope.
How to cite: [Mission] (year) [Product name], tile [ID] [dataset]. Accessed [date]. Available at [official URL].
Land cover and land use
Access: Open access
What you need: A land-cover classification showing built-up area, cropland, vegetation, bare ground and water.
Why it is required: Land cover supports constraint mapping, loss-of-agricultural-land arguments, green-infrastructure analysis and the growth narrative in a settlement study.
Preferred source: ESA WorldCover — European Space Agency.
Alternative: Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) — European Commission Joint Research Centre. Built-up surface and settlement layers, useful for urbanisation trends.
Alternative: The land-use record of the local planning authority — Local planning authority. Where published, an authority's own land-use survey is more authoritative locally than any global product.
Licence: ESA WorldCover and GHSL products are published under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Local authority land-use records carry the authority's own terms and are often view-only.
Permitted reuse: CC BY 4.0 permits copying, adaptation and commercial use with attribution. A land-use map an authority displays on a public viewer may not be licensed for extraction — ask the authority for a data licence rather than digitising the screen.
Required attribution: Credit the producer, product name, year and the CC BY 4.0 licence in the map credit block.
Date, version and coverage: State the product year, for example WorldCover 2021. Coverage is global at that epoch, so it will not reflect development completed since.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: Global land cover is typically 10–100 m resolution with class accuracy in the region of 75–80 per cent, and it confuses similar classes such as bare ground and low-density development. Verify against imagery and a site visit before relying on any single pixel.
How to access lawfully: Download the tiles covering the study area from the producer's portal, or consume the published web service inside GIS software.
How to cite: [Producer] (year) [Product name] v[x] [dataset]. Licensed under CC BY 4.0. Accessed [date].
Environmental, flood and climate data
Access: Restricted access
What you need: Flood extents, watercourses, protected sites, air-quality monitoring and long-run climate normals for the study area.
Why it is required: Environmental constraints determine developable area, sequential and exception tests, mitigation requirements and the credibility of any concept plan.
Preferred source: The national environment agency or equivalent regulator for the country concerned — National environment agency. Regulator flood maps and designated-site registers are the only defensible source for a statutory constraint.
Alternative: Protected Planet (World Database on Protected Areas) — UNEP-WCMC and IUCN. Global protected-area boundaries. Terms of use restrict commercial redistribution — read them.
Alternative: WorldClim — WorldClim. Gridded historical climate normals for context, published for academic and other non-commercial use.
Licence: Regulator datasets carry the regulator's licence, often open with attribution but sometimes view-only. Protected Planet has its own terms of use with restrictions on commercial reuse. WorldClim is stated by its publisher as free for academic and other non-commercial use.
Permitted reuse: This is the category where free viewing is most often mistaken for free reuse. A flood map you can inspect on a regulator's public viewer may not be licensed for reproduction in a commercial report; request the licensed dataset instead. Do not use a non-commercial dataset in a paid deliverable.
Required attribution: Reproduce the regulator's required credit line verbatim, with the extract date, and state that the map is indicative unless the regulator says otherwise.
Date, version and coverage: Flood modelling is revised regularly, so record the extract date and the modelled scenario or return period. Climate normals state their baseline period.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: National flood maps are strategic-scale and do not account for local defences, culverts or site levels; a site-specific flood risk assessment is a separate exercise by a qualified specialist. Protected-area boundaries may be generalised. Climate grids are interpolated between stations.
How to access lawfully: Use the regulator's data download service where one exists, or request the dataset under its published data-request process. Do not digitise from a screenshot of a public viewer.
How to cite: [Regulator] (year) [Dataset title], scenario [x] [dataset]. Extracted [date]. Reproduced under [licence].
Cadastral, land-tenure and ownership information
Access: Paid or licensed
What you need: Parcel boundaries, plot numbers, registered interests and tenure status for the site and adjoining land.
Why it is required: Site extent, ransom strips, access rights and assembly risk cannot be assessed without knowing who holds what, and multi-ownership changes the phasing strategy.
Preferred source: The land registry or lands bureau with jurisdiction over the site — Land registry / lands bureau. Only the registry can confirm a registered interest. Many registries provide official searches for a fee.
Alternative: The local planning authority's public application register — Local planning authority. Site boundaries submitted with previous applications indicate extent, though never ownership.
Licence: Registry information is normally supplied under a licence for a stated purpose, and is frequently charged per title or per search.
Permitted reuse: Reuse is usually limited to the transaction or instruction for which the search was made. Redistributing register extracts, republishing parcel data or placing ownership information on a public website is commonly prohibited and may also breach data-protection law where an owner is a living individual.
Required attribution: State the registry, the title or parcel reference and the search date, and keep the extract itself in the confidential appendix rather than the public document.
Date, version and coverage: Registry information is correct only as at the search date and coverage is limited to registered land, which in many jurisdictions is a minority of all land.
Scale, accuracy and limitations: Registry boundaries are often general boundaries, not precise legal lines, and unregistered, customary or communal tenure may not appear at all. Never present a cadastral extract as a boundary determination.
How to access lawfully: Apply through the registry's official search service and pay the prescribed fee. Never use an unofficial copy, a scraped parcel dataset or a leaked register.
How to cite: [Land registry] (year) Official search of title [reference], searched [date]. Reproduced under licence.

Where no suitable public source exists in your jurisdiction, complete the exercise with the synthetic training dataset and record the data gap as a limitation in your report. Stating a limitation honestly is professional practice; inventing data is not.

Related Ideeplan services

Source and attribution

Authored by Ideeplan Consult. All exercise layers are synthetic training data.

Review status: Not yet reviewed.

Related courses

Related pilot courses

Other courses in the verified Academy catalogue whose written teaching content is published for review.

PractitionerWritten content available for review
Constraints and Opportunities Mapping
Build a defensible constraints and opportunities plan in QGIS, from raw layers to a clean, printable planning drawing.
FoundationWritten content available for review
Structuring a Professional Planning Report
Plan, structure, write and self-edit a planning report that a client, committee or agency can act on without asking for a summary.

Enrolment status

Enrolment is not currently available. This course is still undergoing content, media and professional review.

Register Interest is an expression of interest only. It works without an account, creates no enrolment, no reserved place and no payment order.

Protected lessons, approved videos and approved resource files are not accessible. No protected file URL, signed link or download entitlement is created.

Payments are disabled. No price, checkout, payment provider, payment order or paid-course claim exists in the Academy.

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Progress, assessment and certificates

Submission access is not currently available

Lesson and course progress tracking is not active. No progress record, completion percentage or completed lesson exists for any account, and no course can record progress until enrolment opens.

Practical assessments cannot be submitted. Submission access is not currently available: there is no active enrolment, no upload configuration and no authorised reviewer workflow in operation.

No assessment has been marked, reviewed, corrected or passed. Reviewer feedback, correction tasks and pass decisions are made by an authorised human reviewer and none exists.

No certificate is issued, approved or pending. A future Academy certificate would be a course-completion certificate only — not a professional licence, statutory qualification, accreditation or government-recognised award.

Certificate verification is disabled until a certificate is genuinely issued. No verification result is produced for any reference.

Assessment formats planned for the Academy

Written briefs, required deliverables and marking criteria are published inside the course content above for open review. None of them can be submitted or marked at present.

Practical planning task
GIS mapping exercise
Site-appraisal task
Feasibility assessment
CAD or drawing task
Revit coordination task
Planning-report task
Policy-assessment task
Transport or access analysis
Environmental or green-infrastructure exercise
Final course project

Outstanding before completion or a certificate could exist

Outstanding — Learner identity verified by an authorised member of staff
Outstanding — Learner holds a valid active or completed enrolment
Outstanding — All required lessons completed
Outstanding — All required practical assessments passed
Outstanding — A recorded assessment decision exists for every required task
Outstanding — All requested corrections completed
Outstanding — Course content professionally reviewed and signed off
Outstanding — Authorised reviewer has approved completion
Outstanding — Course certificate policy approved
Outstanding — Certificate wording approved by Ideeplan Consult
Outstanding — Course is officially available
Outstanding — Unique certificate numbering and a secure verification route configured

Practical resources

Resources for this course

17 resource records · 17 with a written preview · 0 with a file under preparation · Download access not yet enabled.

All demonstration material is synthetic, publicly licensed or owned by Ideeplan Consult and is labelled as demonstration material. No confidential client file, personal information, private agency document or unreleased project drawing is used.

Practical project brief
Sets the professional situation, the role the learner takes and what must be produced.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Brief
Format
Written brief shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — One brief governs the whole course: every lesson exercise contributes to the same final deliverable.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- A district with five candidate areas for a new public facility.
- Your role: Spatial analyst advising a public agency.
- Study area: District-scale synthetic study area supplied with the course.
- Planning question: Which area is most suitable, and how sensitive is that answer to weighting?
- Available information: Synthetic accessibility, slope, land-use, service-coverage and hazard layers
- Available information: A written decision question from the agency
- Required analysis: Criteria design
- Required analysis: Normalisation
- Required analysis: Weighted overlay
- Required analysis: Sensitivity across at least two alternative weight sets
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Client-style instruction and problem statement
Gives the learner the instruction as a practitioner would receive it, and names the problem to be solved.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Brief
Format
Written statement shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — Scenario framing applies to every lesson in the course.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
Module 1 learner worksheet — Designing the criteria set
Lists the practical steps the learner carries out in this module, in order.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Worksheet
Format
Written worksheet shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Documented criteria set.
Lessons supported
1 — Supports the 1 lessons in module 1, which build one shared output.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- From decision question to criteria — Draft the criteria table with a justification per criterion.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Module 2 learner worksheet — Normalisation, weighting and overlay
Lists the practical steps the learner carries out in this module, in order.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Worksheet
Format
Written worksheet shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Classified suitability map.
Lessons supported
2 — Supports the 2 lessons in module 2, which build one shared output.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Putting criteria on a common scale — Normalise every criterion layer.
- Weighting and weighted overlay in QGIS — Weighted suitability surface with a documented model.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Module 3 learner worksheet — Sensitivity and reporting
Lists the practical steps the learner carries out in this module, in order.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Worksheet
Format
Written worksheet shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report with maps.
Lessons supported
1 — Supports the 1 lessons in module 3, which build one shared output.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Testing the model — Produce the sensitivity comparison and write the findings.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Task checklist
Confirms every required piece of work has been produced before submission.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Checklist
Format
Written checklist shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — A single task checklist tracks progress across all modules.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Suitability map series
- Spatial-analysis report
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Example data and drawing base

Written decision question. GIS exercises are planned around plain, checkable formats: CSV and clearly labelled local-grid JSON on the named grid IDP-LOCAL-GRID. GeoJSON is not used for local-grid training data because the format asserts WGS 84 degrees. No QGIS project file, GeoPackage or raster file is claimed.

Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available

Resource type: GIS exercise pack
Format: CSV and local-grid JSON (planned) — no GeoJSON, QGIS project, GeoPackage or raster file is claimed
Status: Planned
Data classification: Synthetic demonstration data
Licence or ownership: Synthetic demonstration material prepared by Ideeplan Consult. No client file, personal information, private agency document or unreleased project drawing is used.
Related deliverable: Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported: 4 — One demonstration data base is used by every lesson so results stay comparable.
Access: No account required — written preview is public

Demonstration data item	What it contains and how it is used
Data ownership and licence	Synthetic training data prepared and owned by Ideeplan Consult. It is fictional: it is not a real client project, a real site or a real location, and it must not be presented as one. Free to study on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Module 1 input — Designing the criteria set	Written decision question.
Module 2 input — Normalisation, weighting and overlay	Normalised criteria layers.
Module 3 input — Sensitivity and reporting	Suitability surface.
Lawful sourcing where real data is substituted	Where a learner substitutes real data, use only openly licensed or lawfully obtained sources, record the publisher, dataset title, version and access date, and cite them in the final deliverable. Do not use restricted, confidential or personal data.

Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Analysis and calculation template
Structures the analysis so assumptions are visible and checkable. Any figures used in a template are teaching assumptions, not market evidence. Local costs, policies, standards and valuation assumptions must be independently confirmed before any of this is applied to a real project.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Suitability matrix
Format
CSV matrix (planned)
Status
Planned
Data classification
Synthetic demonstration data
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — The same analysis structure is completed progressively through the course.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Record every assumption on its own labelled row, with the source or reason beside it.
- Module 1 working section — Documented criteria set.
- Module 2 working section — Classified suitability map.
- Module 3 working section — Spatial-analysis report with maps.
- Required output carried into the analysis — Suitability map series
- Required output carried into the analysis — Spatial-analysis report
- Check row: totals, units and areas reconcile before the result is carried into the deliverable.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Final deliverable template
Sets the expected structure and presentation standard for Spatial-analysis report.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Planning-report template
Format
Structured document outline (planned)
Status
Planned
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — The final deliverable draws on every module output.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Final named deliverable — Spatial-analysis report
- Section 1 — Documented criteria set.
- Section 2 — Classified suitability map.
- Section 3 — Spatial-analysis report with maps.
- Must be present — Suitability map series
- Must be present — Spatial-analysis report
- Presentation and submission standard — Learner keeps their own work; no submission system is active. Map series at consistent scale and symbology; report with method annex.
- Sources and citations: list every dataset, publisher, version and access date used, and state clearly where synthetic Ideeplan training data was used.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Quality-control checklist
Professional checks to run before the work is treated as finished.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Checklist
Format
Written checklist shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — Quality control is applied to the whole submission, not to a single lesson.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Decision question written down
- Constraints separated from criteria
- Normalisation documented per criterion
- Weights declared with reasons
- At least two alternative weight sets tested
- Robust and marginal results distinguished
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Marking and review rubric

States what a satisfactory professional standard looks like for each criterion.

Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available

Resource type: Marking rubric
Format: Written rubric shown on this page
Status: Draft
Data classification: Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership: Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable: Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported: 4 — One rubric reviews the final deliverable produced across all modules.
Access: No account required — written preview is public

Criterion	Satisfactory standard
Method design	Criteria answer the decision question.
Technical accuracy	Normalisation and overlay correct.
Quality of analysis	Sensitivity genuinely tests the result.
Communication	Maps and text are consistent.
Identifying limitations	Weighting subjectivity acknowledged.

Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Correction-task sheet
Common professional mistakes and the correction the learner practises.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Correction-task sheet
Format
Written task sheet shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — Correction tasks address mistakes that can appear anywhere in the course.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Presenting weights as objective facts. — State who set them, on what basis, and test alternatives.
- Including three criteria that measure the same thing. — Check correlation and merge or drop.
- Publishing a single run as the answer. — Report only what survives the sensitivity test.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Submission guidance
How the finished work should be assembled and presented for professional review.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Checklist
Format
Written guidance shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — Submission guidance covers the single final deliverable.
Access
No account required — written preview is public

Data dictionary and data-sourcing note

Describes what data the course uses, where each item comes from, and what may lawfully be done with it.

Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available

Resource type: Synthetic dataset
Format: Written data dictionary shown on this page
Status: Draft
Data classification: Synthetic demonstration data
Licence or ownership: Synthetic demonstration material prepared by Ideeplan Consult. No client file, personal information, private agency document or unreleased project drawing is used.
Related deliverable: Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported: 4 — The data dictionary describes the one demonstration data base used by every lesson, so results stay comparable.
Access: No account required — written preview is public

Data item	Source, licence and permitted reuse
Synthetic multi-criteria layer pack prepared for training	Provenance category recorded for this course: Synthetic training data; Publicly available data; Learner-created data
Optional publicly available open data for a local substitute study area, cited	Provenance category recorded for this course: Synthetic training data; Publicly available data; Learner-created data
No confidential agency or client data is used	Provenance category recorded for this course: Synthetic training data; Publicly available data; Learner-created data
Module 1 input — Written decision question.	Documented criteria set.
Module 2 input — Normalised criteria layers.	Classified suitability map.
Module 3 input — Suitability surface.	Spatial-analysis report with maps.
Synthetic material label	Valid synthetic geospatial training data — fictional site, not a real client project.
Public data used instead of the synthetic pack	Permitted only where the publisher's own licence allows it. Record the publisher, licence name and version, release date, coverage and date accessed on the output itself.
Excluded outright	Confidential client files, personal data, private agency documents, unreleased drawings, and any scraped or forwarded dataset.

Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Step-by-step working guide
The order of work from opening the data to finishing the deliverable, written so it can be followed without a video or a download.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Worksheet
Format
Written working guide shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — One working guide runs the whole course: each module's steps feed the next module's input.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- Step 1 — Designing the criteria set: start from Written decision question.
- Step 2 — carry out the work: Criteria table with justifications and exclusions.
- Step 3 — stop and check before moving on: Each criterion justified; No double-counting. You should now hold Documented criteria set.
- Step 4 — Normalisation, weighting and overlay: start from Normalised criteria layers.
- Step 5 — carry out the work: Weighted suitability surface with a documented model.
- Step 6 — stop and check before moving on: Model reproducible; Weights declared and justified. You should now hold Classified suitability map.
- Step 7 — Sensitivity and reporting: start from Suitability surface.
- Step 8 — carry out the work: Sensitivity comparison plus spatial-analysis report.
- Step 9 — stop and check before moving on: Sensitivity shown; Robust areas identified; Method reproducible. You should now hold Spatial-analysis report with maps.
- Finish: assemble Spatial-analysis report. Map series at consistent scale and symbology; report with method annex.
- Software screens: Authentic software screen capture required — not yet available. The written steps above are complete on their own and do not depend on a screenshot.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Worked-example outline
Describes, in words, what a satisfactory finished submission contains so the learner can compare their own work against it.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Brief
Format
Written outline shown on this page — no example file is claimed
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — The worked-example outline describes the finished work the whole course builds towards.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- The finished work is Spatial-analysis report.
- It must contain: Decision question
- It must contain: Criteria table with justifications
- It must contain: Normalisation and weighting record
- It must contain: Suitability map series
- It must contain: Sensitivity comparison
- It must contain: Stated limitations
- Satisfactory standard: A challenger can see exactly which judgements drove the result and test them.
- A reviewer will look for: Weights declared
- A reviewer will look for: Sensitivity presented
- A reviewer will look for: Conclusion distinguishes robust from marginal results
- Expected outcome: The learner can build and defend a transparent suitability model under professional and public challenge.
- Route to improvement: Remove correlated criteria, widen the sensitivity scenarios, and rewrite the conclusion around what holds across all scenarios.
- No worked-example file, drawing or model is offered. This outline is the comparison standard.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.
Citation and attribution guide
How to record and cite every data source used, and what may not be used at all.
Written preview available — downloadable file not yet available
Resource type
Checklist
Format
Written guide shown on this page
Status
Draft
Data classification
Ideeplan-owned demonstration material
Licence or ownership
Ideeplan Consult-owned teaching material. Free to read on this page; redistribution is not permitted.
Related deliverable
Spatial-analysis report
Lessons supported
4 — Citation and attribution apply to every output produced in the course.
Access
No account required — written preview is public
- What data is needed: the course lists its own data requirements above. Work through that list before opening any software.
- Official or open source: use the dataset published by the body that actually produced it, reached through that body's own website. Ideeplan Consult names no agency, portal or licence on your behalf — confirm the publisher yourself.
- Alternatives: where no official dataset is open, the supplied synthetic training pack is the alternative for this exercise. Do not substitute scraped, forwarded or privately shared data.
- Access type: record whether the dataset was openly downloadable, request-based, licensed on payment, or supplied only for viewing. Write this down at the moment you obtain it.
- Licence and permitted reuse: read the licence on the download page and record its exact name and version. Downloadable does not mean free to reuse. If the licence does not permit your use, do not use the data.
- Attribution: reproduce the attribution wording the publisher asks for, word for word, on the map, table or report page where the data appears.
- Version and geographic coverage: record the edition or release date and the exact area covered. Data that stops at the study-area boundary must be shown as stopping there.
- Accuracy limitations: record the capture scale, resolution, currency and any stated accuracy. Do not present data at a scale finer than the source supports.
- Lawful access steps: obtain data through the publisher's own access route, keep the confirmation or licence page, and keep any conditions attached to it.
- Citation format: Publisher. Dataset title. Edition or release date. Licence name and version. Date accessed. Access route. Use the same pattern for every source in the deliverable so the reader can retrace it.
- Synthetic material carries its own label instead of a citation: Valid synthetic geospatial training data — fictional site, not a real client project.
Resource file not yet available. The written instructions on this page are complete and can be followed without any download, account, enrolment or payment.

Media status

Video lessons for this course

Video lessons: Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.
Narration: Professional narration — planned, not produced
Captions: Not yet produced
Transcript: Not yet produced
Software demonstration: Genuine screen capture from the real application only — no mockup, simulated interface or AI-generated screen.
Software version and operating system: No software version is published until it has been read from the actual recorded session. Until then the version reads “To be stated from the recorded session”.
Production plan: Prepared for professional review
Enrolment, payment and downloads: Disabled

Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required. The written lesson on this page is complete and can be read in full without a video, an account, enrolment or payment.

Authentic software screen capture only — non-negotiable standard

Applies to every software demonstrated in the Academy, including AutoCAD, QGIS, Revit, ArcGIS, SketchUp, Lumion, Civil 3D, Rhino and any other software used. The final video must accurately represent what a learner sees when using the stated software version.

Every demonstration is a genuine screen recording or screenshot captured from the actual installed software being taught.
The exact software name, version, operating system and relevant workspace are stated on screen and in the lesson notes, as read from the recorded session.
The real interface is shown: menus, panels, toolbars, properties, layer controls, settings and the command line or log.
The real cursor, tool selection, commands, settings and the resulting output are visible.
Capture is 16:9 and readable at 720p, with clear, unhurried cursor movement; the screen stays clear enough for learners to follow.
The view zooms in whenever text, settings, coordinates or field values would otherwise be hard to read.
The exact command, menu path or tool name is shown as it appears in the software.
Useful keyboard shortcuts are shown alongside the menu path, never instead of it.
Differences between software versions or operating systems are stated wherever the interface may display differently.
Steps are numbered on screen, with callouts pointing at the actual control being used.
Any annotation is added only after recording and must never alter or misrepresent the software interface.
Captions and a complete transcript are produced before professional review.
Any presenter window stays small, is positioned clear of technical content, and is hidden on mobile widths and on dense technical screens.

Interface visibility on every recording

The full application interface is shown at the beginning of every demonstration, with the application identity and exact version clearly visible.
The relevant menu bar, ribbon, toolbar or toolbox stays visible while each step is explained; the interface context is never cropped away.
Layers, properties, project browser or data panels are shown wherever applicable.
The command line, status bar or coordinate/CRS information is shown wherever relevant.
Real cursor movement and visible clicks are captured, with visible cursor highlighting or click indicators.
The selected tool and its effect are visible, and complete dialog boxes and settings are shown whenever one is opened.
The resulting drawing, map, model or output is shown in the recording.
Zoom is used only when necessary for small text or settings, always retaining enough context to identify the application and tool in use.
The standard applies to every software course and is verified before any video is marked recorded or approved; if the required authentic interface is not visible, the lesson remains “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”

Never used

Generic website mockups standing in for a software workspace.
Simulated, redrawn, reconstructed or redesigned replica interfaces for any software.
AI-generated software screens, panels, dialogs or map canvases.
Generic illustrations replacing the real interface.
Unverified screenshots taken from any source other than the recorded session.
Fake video players, placeholder thumbnails or invented durations.
Invented menus, tool names, command names, dialog options or keyboard shortcuts.
Hiding important controls or covering them with a presenter window.
Annotations that alter or misrepresent the recorded software interface.
Claiming or implying that a simulated screen is an authentic software demonstration.

QGIS — what the recording must show

Exact QGIS version to be stated from the recorded session. Operating system to be stated from the recorded session; menu positions and file dialogs differ between systems.

1.Project CRS: Project Properties, the CRS tab and the selected coordinate reference system.
2.Layer loading: the Data Source Manager or Browser panel and the layer added to the canvas.
3.Layer properties: the Layer Properties dialog and each tab used in the lesson.
4.Symbology: the Symbology tab with the real renderer, classes and colour settings.
5.Attribute tables: the attribute table, field values, selection and expression use.
6.Processing tools: the Processing Toolbox with the tool searched and opened by its real name.
7.Analysis settings: every parameter in the tool dialog, including output location.
8.Map layout: the Print Layout window, page setup and map item.
9.Legend, scale and north arrow: each item added from the real layout toolbar.
10.Export and quality checks: the export dialog settings and a check of the exported file.

No authentic software recording or screenshot exists yet. Every software lesson remains “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”

Real professional classroom experience — every lesson

Applies to every future Academy lesson, software-based or not. The finished lesson presents as authentic professional training, professionally narrated and screen-led: video + written guide + supporting data + practical task + quality checklist + final named deliverable.

Lesson structure

1.Professional introduction.
2.Realistic project situation.
3.Learner role within that situation.
4.Problem statement.
5.Learning objectives.
6.Required software and data.
7.Step-by-step demonstration.
8.Explanation of the professional reasoning behind each action.
9.Practical learner task.
10.Checkpoint or pause activity.
11.Common mistake and its correction.
12.Quality-control review.
13.Final recap.
14.Named learner deliverable.

Video requirements

Professional narration that is clear, natural and paced for instruction, synchronised with the screen action.
Authentic screen recording from the actual software, with visible menus, tools, panels, commands, settings and outputs.
Natural cursor movement and deliberate pacing, with a clear explanation of why each action is taken.
Realistic corrections and troubleshooting shown, not edited away.
Clear 16:9 screen capture.
Captions and a complete transcript.
Chapter titles and lesson sections.
A small presenter window only where useful; it never covers technical content and is hidden on mobile or dense technical screens.

Never produced as a lesson

Automated slideshows.
Generic screen tours.
Silent software demonstrations.
Marketing videos presented as lessons.
AI-avatar presentations.
Simulated software tutorials.
Fast montages without explanation.
An invented tutor, instructor identity, voice, recording, thumbnail or completion status.

Lessons use only synthetic, publicly licensed or Ideeplan-owned examples. No confidential client information is used.

No genuine professional recording exists yet. Until one does, every lesson remains “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.” Enrolment, payments, certificates and protected learner access stay disabled during this production stage.

Professional narration and screen-first production

Every Academy lesson is planned as a professionally narrated, screen-led practical lesson with captions and a complete transcript.
No AI avatar, virtual presenter or artificial talking head is used, and no named person is imitated. No lesson is described as human-narrated, instructor-led by a named person or personally presented unless that is factually true.
No instructor identity is published until a real, named professional has recorded and approved the lesson.
Recordings are screen-first: the GIS view, planning drawing, AutoCAD or Revit workspace or document remains the main subject of the frame.
Any presenter picture-in-picture normally occupies about 8–10% of the frame, never covers technical content, and is reduced or hidden on small screens.
The Principal Consultant portrait is reserved for approved introductions and conclusions. It is never used as a repeated course thumbnail, and the Academy remains company-first.

No lesson has been recorded and no narration has been produced. Scripts exist as production plans only, and every lesson video status remains “Not recorded”.

Demonstration material is synthetic, publicly licensed or owned by Ideeplan Consult. No confidential client file, unauthorised agency dataset or private project information is used.

Methods are jurisdiction-neutral. Learners must confirm local laws, policies and technical standards before applying them to a real project.

A production plan describes how a lesson would be recorded. It is not a recording, and it does not create an enrolment, account, payment or reserved place.

4 lesson production plans · suggested recording time about 38 minutes in total (a planning estimate, not a recorded duration) · every lesson video status: Not recorded.

Lesson 1 · Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.
From decision question to criteria
Learning objective
Criteria selection as a planning judgement, not a data inventory.
Narration focus
Writing the decision question precisely.
Screen action
Criteria table with justifications and exclusions.
Required software
QGIS, Spreadsheet software
Example data
Synthetic demonstration data prepared by Ideeplan Consult for this module.
Expected learner output
Draft the criteria table with a justification per criterion.
Suggested length
About 8 minutes (planning estimate)
Captions and transcript
Required before professional review
Narration
Professional narration — not yet produced
Demonstration sequence
1. 1.Writing the decision question precisely.
2. 2.Separating constraints (exclusions) from criteria (preferences).
3. 3.Detecting correlated criteria that double-count the same effect.
Quality review checklist
- Technical content (map, drawing, model or document) fills the majority of the frame and stays legible at 720p.
- Presenter picture-in-picture, if used, stays at roughly 8–10% of the frame, never covers legends, dimensions, labels or annotations, and is hidden on mobile widths and dense technical screens.
- Software shown is limited to QGIS, Spreadsheet software, with no suggestion of provider endorsement.
- Capture is a genuine screen recording from the real application — no mockup, simulated interface, AI-generated screen or unverified screenshot.
- The exact software name, version and, where relevant, operating system are read from the recorded session and stated on screen.
- Menus, panels, toolbars, layer controls and the command line or log are visible and legible; the view zooms in wherever text, settings or coordinates would be hard to read.
- The full application interface is shown at the beginning; menus, tools and panels stay visible throughout and the interface context is never cropped away, with zoom retaining enough context to identify the application and tool.
- Real cursor movement with visible highlighting or click indicators is captured; the selected tool, its effect, complete dialogs and the resulting output are all shown.
- The exact command, menu path or tool name is shown as it appears in the software, with useful keyboard shortcuts alongside it and alternative locations explained for other versions.
- Numbered on-screen steps and callouts point at the real controls being used; no menu, tool or command is invented.
- Until an authentic recording exists the lesson reads: “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”
- All data on screen is synthetic, publicly licensed or Ideeplan-owned, and is labelled as demonstration data.
- Narration states that methods are jurisdiction-neutral and that local laws, policies and standards must be confirmed.
- Captions and a transcript are produced before the recording can move to professional review.
- No client name, confidential file or private project information appears on screen at any point.
Lesson 2 · Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.
Putting criteria on a common scale
Learning objective
Normalisation choices and how they change the answer.
Narration focus
Linear, threshold and categorical normalisation.
Screen action
Weighted suitability surface with a documented model.
Required software
QGIS, Spreadsheet software
Example data
Synthetic demonstration data prepared by Ideeplan Consult for this module.
Expected learner output
Normalise every criterion layer.
Suggested length
About 10 minutes (planning estimate)
Captions and transcript
Required before professional review
Narration
Professional narration — not yet produced
Demonstration sequence
1. 1.Linear, threshold and categorical normalisation.
2. 2.Handling directionality: more is not always better.
3. 3.Documenting the transformation for each criterion.
Quality review checklist
- Technical content (map, drawing, model or document) fills the majority of the frame and stays legible at 720p.
- Presenter picture-in-picture, if used, stays at roughly 8–10% of the frame, never covers legends, dimensions, labels or annotations, and is hidden on mobile widths and dense technical screens.
- Software shown is limited to QGIS, Spreadsheet software, with no suggestion of provider endorsement.
- Capture is a genuine screen recording from the real application — no mockup, simulated interface, AI-generated screen or unverified screenshot.
- The exact software name, version and, where relevant, operating system are read from the recorded session and stated on screen.
- Menus, panels, toolbars, layer controls and the command line or log are visible and legible; the view zooms in wherever text, settings or coordinates would be hard to read.
- The full application interface is shown at the beginning; menus, tools and panels stay visible throughout and the interface context is never cropped away, with zoom retaining enough context to identify the application and tool.
- Real cursor movement with visible highlighting or click indicators is captured; the selected tool, its effect, complete dialogs and the resulting output are all shown.
- The exact command, menu path or tool name is shown as it appears in the software, with useful keyboard shortcuts alongside it and alternative locations explained for other versions.
- Numbered on-screen steps and callouts point at the real controls being used; no menu, tool or command is invented.
- Until an authentic recording exists the lesson reads: “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”
- All data on screen is synthetic, publicly licensed or Ideeplan-owned, and is labelled as demonstration data.
- Narration states that methods are jurisdiction-neutral and that local laws, policies and standards must be confirmed.
- Captions and a transcript are produced before the recording can move to professional review.
- No client name, confidential file or private project information appears on screen at any point.
Lesson 3 · Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.
Weighting and weighted overlay in QGIS
Learning objective
Turning professional judgement into declared numbers.
Narration focus
Weighting approaches and how to record who set the weights and why.
Screen action
Weighted suitability surface with a documented model.
Required software
QGIS, Spreadsheet software
Example data
Synthetic demonstration data prepared by Ideeplan Consult for this module.
Expected learner output
Classified suitability map.
Suggested length
About 12 minutes (planning estimate)
Captions and transcript
Required before professional review
Narration
Professional narration — not yet produced
Demonstration sequence
1. 1.Weighting approaches and how to record who set the weights and why.
2. 2.Weighted overlay processing and reproducibility.
3. 3.Producing a classified suitability surface.
Quality review checklist
- Technical content (map, drawing, model or document) fills the majority of the frame and stays legible at 720p.
- Presenter picture-in-picture, if used, stays at roughly 8–10% of the frame, never covers legends, dimensions, labels or annotations, and is hidden on mobile widths and dense technical screens.
- Software shown is limited to QGIS, Spreadsheet software, with no suggestion of provider endorsement.
- Capture is a genuine screen recording from the real application — no mockup, simulated interface, AI-generated screen or unverified screenshot.
- The exact software name, version and, where relevant, operating system are read from the recorded session and stated on screen.
- Menus, panels, toolbars, layer controls and the command line or log are visible and legible; the view zooms in wherever text, settings or coordinates would be hard to read.
- The full application interface is shown at the beginning; menus, tools and panels stay visible throughout and the interface context is never cropped away, with zoom retaining enough context to identify the application and tool.
- Real cursor movement with visible highlighting or click indicators is captured; the selected tool, its effect, complete dialogs and the resulting output are all shown.
- The exact command, menu path or tool name is shown as it appears in the software, with useful keyboard shortcuts alongside it and alternative locations explained for other versions.
- Numbered on-screen steps and callouts point at the real controls being used; no menu, tool or command is invented.
- Until an authentic recording exists the lesson reads: “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”
- All data on screen is synthetic, publicly licensed or Ideeplan-owned, and is labelled as demonstration data.
- Narration states that methods are jurisdiction-neutral and that local laws, policies and standards must be confirmed.
- Captions and a transcript are produced before the recording can move to professional review.
- No client name, confidential file or private project information appears on screen at any point.
Lesson 4 · Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.
Testing the model
Learning objective
Alternative weight sets and what stays true across all of them.
Narration focus
Building two or three plausible alternative weight sets.
Screen action
Sensitivity comparison plus spatial-analysis report.
Required software
QGIS, Spreadsheet software
Example data
Synthetic demonstration data prepared by Ideeplan Consult for this module.
Expected learner output
Produce the sensitivity comparison and write the findings.
Suggested length
About 8 minutes (planning estimate)
Captions and transcript
Required before professional review
Narration
Professional narration — not yet produced
Demonstration sequence
1. 1.Building two or three plausible alternative weight sets.
2. 2.Identifying areas that rank highly under every scenario.
3. 3.Reporting the robust result rather than the single run.
Quality review checklist
- Technical content (map, drawing, model or document) fills the majority of the frame and stays legible at 720p.
- Presenter picture-in-picture, if used, stays at roughly 8–10% of the frame, never covers legends, dimensions, labels or annotations, and is hidden on mobile widths and dense technical screens.
- Software shown is limited to QGIS, Spreadsheet software, with no suggestion of provider endorsement.
- Capture is a genuine screen recording from the real application — no mockup, simulated interface, AI-generated screen or unverified screenshot.
- The exact software name, version and, where relevant, operating system are read from the recorded session and stated on screen.
- Menus, panels, toolbars, layer controls and the command line or log are visible and legible; the view zooms in wherever text, settings or coordinates would be hard to read.
- The full application interface is shown at the beginning; menus, tools and panels stay visible throughout and the interface context is never cropped away, with zoom retaining enough context to identify the application and tool.
- Real cursor movement with visible highlighting or click indicators is captured; the selected tool, its effect, complete dialogs and the resulting output are all shown.
- The exact command, menu path or tool name is shown as it appears in the software, with useful keyboard shortcuts alongside it and alternative locations explained for other versions.
- Numbered on-screen steps and callouts point at the real controls being used; no menu, tool or command is invented.
- Until an authentic recording exists the lesson reads: “Video lesson: Not recorded — authentic professional recording required.”
- All data on screen is synthetic, publicly licensed or Ideeplan-owned, and is labelled as demonstration data.
- Narration states that methods are jurisdiction-neutral and that local laws, policies and standards must be confirmed.
- Captions and a transcript are produced before the recording can move to professional review.
- No client name, confidential file or private project information appears on screen at any point.

Course production standard

Recordings are screen-first: the planning drawing, GIS view, AutoCAD or Revit workspace stays the main subject of the frame.
Any presenter picture-in-picture normally occupies no more than about 8–10% of the frame and never covers maps, legends, drawings, dimensions or annotations.
On mobile and on dense technical screens the presenter window is reduced further or hidden entirely.
The Principal Consultant portrait is reserved for approved introductions, explanations and conclusions. It is not used as a generic thumbnail for every course.
Narration is planned for professional human delivery. No AI narration, AI presenter or recorded lesson exists today.

No lesson has been recorded. Every lesson media status is “Not recorded”.

Any example data used in teaching is synthetic, publicly licensed or owned by Ideeplan Consult, and is clearly labelled as demonstration data. No client file, confidential document or unauthorised project material is used.

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Registering interest is not an enrolment. It tells Ideeplan Consult which subjects to complete and record first, and lets us discuss bespoke delivery for a team, agency or institution.

Discuss a Project

Weighted Site Suitability Analysis

Written teaching content: available for review

Written course content

Course overview

Professional problem addressed

Real-world scenario

What participants will learn

Skills developed

Course outline

Designing the criteria set

From decision question to criteria

Normalisation, weighting and overlay

Putting criteria on a common scale

Weighting and weighted overlay in QGIS

Sensitivity and reporting

Testing the model

Practical project brief

Constraints

Required analysis

Required assumptions

Required outputs

Learner deliverable: Spatial-analysis report

What a satisfactory output contains

Quality-control checklist

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

Assessment and review

Reflection and improvement task

Expected professional outcome

Government and planning-authority relevance

Related pilot courses

Constraints and Opportunities Mapping

Structuring a Professional Planning Report

Enrolment is not currently available. This course is still undergoing content, media and professional review.

Outstanding before enrolment could open

Submission access is not currently available

Assessment formats planned for the Academy

Outstanding before completion or a certificate could exist

Resources for this course

Practical project brief

Client-style instruction and problem statement

Module 1 learner worksheet — Designing the criteria set

Module 2 learner worksheet — Normalisation, weighting and overlay

Module 3 learner worksheet — Sensitivity and reporting

Task checklist

Example data and drawing base

Analysis and calculation template

Final deliverable template

Quality-control checklist

Marking and review rubric

Correction-task sheet

Submission guidance

Data dictionary and data-sourcing note

Step-by-step working guide

Worked-example outline

Citation and attribution guide

Video lessons for this course

Authentic software screen capture only — non-negotiable standard

QGIS — what the recording must show

Real professional classroom experience — every lesson

Professional narration and screen-first production

From decision question to criteria

Putting criteria on a common scale

Weighting and weighted overlay in QGIS

Testing the model

Course production standard

Want this course finished first?