May 13, 2008
Mapping an Alternate Future - Using Social Media to Implement Article 30 of the CRPD
Toronto constitutional lawyer David Lepofsky is all fired up and he is making some changes that mean accessibility for us all.
The article "Improving accessibility is taking too long: critic" recounts one of the action suggestions he made at the recent Intermunicipal Accessibility Symposium:
To continue the fight for accessibility, Lepofsky encouraged all participants at Saturday’s symposium to take action by hosting events such as a barrier-buster scavenger hunt, where people could look and start to identify barriers. He also suggested community forums to get more people educated and aware.
Let me suggest a tool for multiplying the impact of such a Barrier-Buster Scavenger Hunt that will make the results instantly available to the entire world. Create a Green Map documenting results that in itself becomes a community forum available 24/7/365 or, as they say, "Think Global, Map Local!":
Green Map ® System promotes inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world, using mapmaking as our medium.GMS supports local Green Mapmakers as they create perspective-changing community ‘portraits’ which act as comprehensive inventories for decision-making and as practical guides for residents and tourists.Mapmaking teams pair our adaptable tools and universal iconography with local knowledge and leadership to chart green living, ecological, social and cultural resources.
This approach is the application of social media to the implementation of Article 30 of the UN Convention on the Rights of persons with Disabilities (CRPD).
More on Green Maps:
http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/participate
You are invited to Green Map’s Top Ten Party on May 21!
Join us at our global office, 220A East 4th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday, May 21 from 5 to 8 pm. We’re celebrating the generosity of our supporters who responded to America's Giving Challenge and made our non-profit a Top Ten winner!
At the party, our OpenGreenMap interactive mapmaking website will be previewed. We'd love to hear what you think about this inclusive new global project-in-progress that was seeded by hundreds of small Giving Challenge donations. We'll also be introducing the updated Green Map iconography and showing some of the newest resources we offer for youth and citywide Green Map projects, locally and globally.
Come and enjoy refreshments provided by Angelica Kitchen, Brooklyn Brewery, the Sixth Street Community Center and others. Bring friends and network with our staff, board and supporters. 220A East 4th Street is between Avenues A & B in the East Village. The closest subway is the F or V at 2nd Ave or the 6 train at Astor Place. There is no need to RSVP, but if you have questions, email apple [at] greenmap [dot] org or call 212 674 1631. Thanks again to all who put Green Map in the Top Ten - we look forward to seeing you on May 21st!
Another Local Event, the Green Apple Cycling Tour
On Saturday, May 17, see places you never knew about and find great ways to get involved in everyday green living in New York. Join us during Bike Month for free community sustainability tour covering East Village, Lower East Side, riverside and greenway sites beginning at 11 AM at the Temperance Monument near 9th & Avenue A in Tompkins Square Park. This easy ride concludes nearby 2 hours later. All cyclists are welcome. Those 14 and under need helmets. Ride cosponsored by Time’s Up! and rain cancels. Click GreenAppleMap.org/page/events for details!
A Decade of Green Growth
Ten years ago, our director met Maeve Lydon of Victoria BC’s Common Grounds/LifeCycles project and Beth Ferguson, then a Hampshire College student, in Havana at a conference on the ethics and culture of sustainable development. It was there, too, that the seeds of Green Mapmaking were planted in Cuba, soon to be cultivated by Liana Bidart Cisneros and a network of biologists and educators at Centro Felix Varela.
This May, a reunion took place at the Community University Expo hosted by the University of Victoria, Canada. A host of remarkable Green Map outcomes were presented, including 113 diverse Mapa Verde Cuba projects; a dozen Green Maps published in the Victoria region along with a new project base within UVic’s Office of Community Based Research; and Beth’s ongoing youth resources development with Green Map System and her creative lino-cut Austin Texas neighborhood map. Our thanks to everyone at UVic, as well as the Canadian, Swedish and Latin American Mapmakers who took part in a half-dozen Green Map presentations and helped our Americas network development planning move forward!
Our Wonderful Interns!
We very much appreciate the work of spring interns Dru Hara, Akiko Rokube and Ana Isabel Lagos. Yelena Zolotorevskaya will be with us all summer, joined by Yoko Ishibashi and Andrew Sass, along with trainees Miikka Lammela and Gottfried Haider, whose presence was made possible by CDS International and the Pall Mall Foundation. These talented interns are joining the OpenGreenMap development team of Wendy Brawer (director), Thomas Turnbull (lead technology developer), Carlos Martinez (project assistant), Lee Frankel-Goldwater (technology develoment assistant) and Bob Zuber (outreach specialist). Watch for more news as our inclusive, interactive project heats up with the season!
See you at our party, tour and other events (including the NetSquared Challenge and Beyond Broadcasting conferences) in the coming weeks!
Posted by rollingrains at May 13, 2008 11:01 PM