The team developing the Open Green Map interactive mapmaking and social networking site has been very busy. Happily, we succeeded in opening this exciting new tool to our network of Green Mapmakers in July!

While the public debut is not scheduled until Fall (date TBA), Phase 1 is complete! Mapmakers are starting to create their own Open Green Maps. You click OpenGreenMap.org and choose from the list on the right to start exploring!

This website's public use and site submission features are being created now. If you would like more information, check the FAQ or click Contact and send us a message. We'd love to hear from people who want to participate and/or support this monumental undertaking!read more »

Carlos Martinez, Green Map System's Latin American Liaison and Office Manager, became a US citizen today!

This Colombian-born environmental administrator was also in today's New York Times, thanks to his healthy green habit of bicycling to work, then bringing his bike inside to store safely at the office.

As reported by Colin Moynihan:

" When Carlos Martinez bicycles to work in Manhattan from his home in Jackson Heights, Queens, he must ride along Northern Boulevard, a broad and busy thoroughfare, before crossing the Queensboro Bridge and heading south on Second Avenue toward the East Village.read more »

Open Green Map is taking shape, as described in our June-July Newsletter - click here to read it (you can join the mailing list on our homepage).

Our Open Green Map team includes a great mix of developers, designers, outreach and education specialists, including (from left to right in the picture:) Miikka Lammela, Andrew Sass, Carlos Martinez, Thomas Turnbull, Gottfried Haider, Anna Krusic, Wendy Brawer, (not shown here:) Bob Zuber, Yoko Ishibashi, Yelena Zolotorevskaya, Lee Frankel-Goldwater, Maddy Goldfarb and Kathryn Podobinski. read more »

As we are developing our social mapping website for sustainable communities, the Open Green Map, we are meeting more developers of open technologies.

OpenStreetMap.org is an exciting example of a free geographic resource. It's a kind of wikipedia for maps - a free editable map of the world, and anyone can add roads, bike paths and other geographic data to it. Around the world, many are contributing to it. In some places, mapping parties are being held to spur the collection of data.

Green Map System is pleased to provide the venue for NYC's first open mapping party, hosted by OpenStreetMap's initiator, Steve Coast, at our global office. Steve says: read more »

I recently took my first trip to South America to celebrate the launch of the Santiago Green Map and it was full of happy surprises. The first came as I entered the freshly renovated historic building that houses Ciudad Viva (the Living City). Bright blue, it harmonizes with the colorful streetscape of the Bellavista neighborhood that was saved from freeway construction by Ciudad Viva’s director, Lake Sagaris and many of core members and board.

Right away, the staff gathered to present me with the first copy of the map! I was surprised by the scale of this map, which is actually a boxed set with 5 two-sided folded maps and a book about their four key topics of green living, active transport, heritage and civil society. Beautifully designed, these maps chart the city at large scale and invite the public to add more sites by calling the project Version Zero! read more »

As Green Map’s Director, I am occasionally invited to project launches and opportunities to present Green Map to different audiences. This spring, there have been many!

Starting in mid April, I traveled to Bucharest Romania, where Goodartofnoon Cultural Association’s dynamic young team published their first Green Map following a year of intensive development. With 100,000 copies and a great distribution plan (thousands will arrive with the national newspaper, which committed to a green column each week for a year; within the Romanian edition of National Geographic along with an 8-page article; and though the city-wide Museum Night), there’s much excitement about expansion and inclusion. I helped develop their schools Green Map project and the team’s outreach effort. read more »

March 25th is a great time for us to reflect on the many things we have accomplished together as Green Mapmakers, for our communities and our planet. We all share our perceptions of what is happening right now and help everyone get involved in shaping a more hopeful and greener future for all.

Special thanks to all our supporters and the hundreds of people who make Green Map a vital resource for vibrant communities!

Over the last few months, Green Map System has been taking part in competitions that address non-profit needs in a new way. They have incorporated social networking so that every participant has the chance to benefit, even if they don't win the top prize. Here's what I like about it:

Unlike a regular grant proposal, our proposals are not expressed privately to a foundation. Plans are shared openly, so the potential to reach new supporters and participants is greater.

In many cases, people can comment on your entry and help to improve it! Try it out - you can comment on our Ashoka Changemakers Geotourism Challenge entry until 16 April. Your comments will help the judges choose our project as a finalist. read more »

Green Map System has promoted inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world since 1995, using mapmaking as our medium. Over 450 locally-led map projects in 50 countries have successfully published 335 Green Maps, used by millions to connect with green living, nature, social and cultural resources near home and while traveling. While all use Green Map Icons to highlight both positive and challenging sites, each powerful guide is unique.

Now, we're taking our inclusiveness mission the next step by developing an open interactive Green Mapmaking tool that will help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online. Merging local knowledge and our freshly updated iconography with a Google Map, the resulting interactive Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008. With open commentary, green ratings, multimedia elements, 'impacts index', mobile access, onsite markers and more, everyone will be able to get involved. read more »

We're very pleased to post the first chart of the freshly updated Green Map Icons! It's been a wonderful process, thanks to all involved, especially our great designer Risa Ishikawa and the many Green Mapmakers around the world who took part.

Green Mapmakers will soon be able to download the font to use locally to make vibrant new editions that carry forward the ideals behind this living lexicon - and share new perceptions of the community's progress toward sustainability with the world.

We'll be adding more about the people, supporters, tools, and some specific outcomes of this update soon. Now please download PDF and enjoy Green Map Icons, Version 3!read more »