[OSGeo-Boston] "Civic Maps" event thurs, 10/20, 5 pm at MIT media lab

Lisa Sweeney lsweeney at MIT.EDU
Wed Oct 19 16:57:04 EDT 2011


This group is doing very interesting work. If you haven't seen them talk before and have time tomorrow to attend the session I'd suggest going.
-Lisa

http://civic.mit.edu/event/civic-media-session-civic-maps

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Maps, Geographic Information Systems, and spatial analysis are powerful tools that 
recently have become increasingly accessible to non-specialists. Dynamic maps with 
user created content are becoming part of daily life in the 1/3 world (developed 
countries and elites in the global South).

There is a long history of maps as tools for civic engagement, with public 
participatory GIS and community engaged mapping playing key roles in 
(for example) indigenous land rights struggles, mapping health disparities, and 
the environmental justice movement's demonstration of the unequal spatial 
distribution of pollution. Most recently, new tools and platforms like Open 
Street Maps and Grassroots Mapping are democratizing maps even further.

What challenges still constrain the effective creation and use of Civic Maps? What 
tools and platforms are most promising? What steps can developers, practitioners, 
and researchers take to help build the field of civic mapping?
==============================================

Hope to see you tomorrow at 5 PM, here at the MIT Media Lab:
Building E14, Room 633
http://whereis.mit.edu/?mapterms=E14.

Andrew Whitacre
Communications Manager
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
(617) 324-0490
awhit at mit.edu | http://civic.mit.edu


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