Green Maps

Group working draft . . . in-process

Notice concerning this working draft and invitation to participate:
 This do-it-yourself kit is to be developed here in stages. In its final version it will provide a "planning kit" of the sort that we intend to bring on line for a number of the kinds of projects and activities that an individual citizen or local group can do to participate in ECFD 2001. What you see here thus far represents our quick first stab at the dossier which we hope to complete and improve in the coming weeks with the help of our Green Maps colleagues and others who have developed such maps and are kindly willing to share with us the lessons of their experience.
  • "Green Maps"?
  • Origins
  • Participating in the Green Map System
  • Leading by Example
  • And here is where you come in

    • If people aren't going to drive in your city, how will they get to whre they want to go? With a locally published Green Map in hand, a whole range of healthier options becomes available to people of all backgrounds and needs. Green Maps can cover just a small neighborhood or a whole bioregion, comprehensively or with a few themes. They can be made by young people as well as adults. And they can get underway in your city in concert with Earth Car Free Day 2001.

    The Green Maps project for ECFD 2001 is being kindly led by Wendy Brawer, whoh makes the good point that rather than a "kit" per se, the Green Maps offer a "framework to encouage local creativity and voice". So let's see how that might work here.

    "Green Maps"?

    A Green Map is an adaptable framework for charting the interconnections between nature and culture in urban places. Each Green Map is created locally and all utilize our globally designed Icons to identify, promote and link their community's green sites, including sustainable economic developments, wild areas, renewable resources, transportation options, historical and cultural sites, pollution sources and more. Putting the information-web to work in support of the web of life, the Green Map website connects to each of 130 citywide and youth Green Map projects in 35 countries to date, and offers guidance via collaborative mapmaking tools.

    The globally designed set of Green Map Icons include 16 symbols for mobility, including carfree zone, best walks, bike site, boat launch, ferry, trolley, alternative fuel/vehicle site, park & charge facility and many more. Other Icons are 10 categories including renewable resources, green economic development, information, culture & design, infrastructure and toxic hot spots, and of course, diverse symbols for natural resources. (Download here the poster of the whole set in German, French, Spanish or English.)

    Origins

    Initiated in New York City in 1992 with production of the first Green Apple Map, the global-local Green Map System was founded in 1995, as part of a commitment to develop a network and to designing and sharing the tools to create compelling images of urban sustainability worldwide. Today, over 130 Green Map projects are underway in cities from Singapore and Copenhagen to Mexico City and Toronto, on six continents. 53 cities have already completed their own comprehensive or youth-authored Green Maps, using globally-designed Green Map Icons to identify, promote and link their town's eco and cultural resources. Each Green Map encourages discovery and personal involvement, more sustainable daily living, networking and the transfer of successful greening initiatives by both residents and visitors.

    Whether online or on paper, every Green Map project is described on (www.greenmap.org), the primary vehicle for interactive communication with city-wide Green Map project leaders, young mapmakers in school and community groups, and the interested public everywhere. Green Map System has become widely known through awards (including the 1999 US National Sustainability Award in New Communications Tools and EXPO 2000 Project Around the World), press coverage, exhibits and presentations by Mapmakers worldwide.

    Participating in the Green Map System

    The Green Map System (GMS) is a collaborative environmental social project -- it is direct, democratic communication, dependent on local knowledge, action and responsibility. Mapmaking teams are led by individuals who have the commitment, skills, networking abilities, spirit and creativity it takes to initiate and complete this challenging project. You are invited to volunteer to become organizer/leader of your community's Green Map team, and make a major contribution to your home's long-term sustainability.

    For more on this introduction, we invite you now to turn directly to

    Further Background & Help
    (And don't forget if you need help with a language you do not master, you can make good use of the Translate button on the top bar.)

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    Leading by Example

    Section to follow:
    It is here where you will in time hopefully find the "project summaries" that we are inviting local teams around the world to submit in order to share their experience with other groups, projects and places. One advantage that such sharing can have for them is that they can thereby have the benefit of having external expert comments and suggestions on their plans. This is intended to show the power of open planning in the age of the Information Society.
    • Case A: (Link to summary here.)
    • Case A: (Link to summary here.)
    • Case C: (Link ...)
    • etc.

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    And here is where you come in

    This is where you come in... the one-click link you can use to share your ideas and tips about people and places with whom we should be in touch to make a success out of ECFD 2001. Better yet, why not click here to reply to the EarthCarFreeDay mailbox so that your information and comments will get to the others immediately, and perhaps stimulate them in turn.

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