In This Issue
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Mary A O'Brien ● Why Science?
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Stefani Allegretti ● Nature Body Connect
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Wendy Brawer ● Green Map System
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Lorna Stevens and Joanne Easton ● Common Dilemmas
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Josefa Vaughan ● ArtSeed
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Erica Cirino ● How Collage Made My Life Whole
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Susan Leibovitz Steinman ● Artists At Work
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Betsy Damon ● What Can We Do Now?
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Susan Leibovitz Steinman ● BRAVO! Member News
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Amy Lipton ● JACKIE BROOKER: Why Matter Matters?
Green Map
INTRODUCTION
Founder of the Green Map System, Wendy Brawer is living proof that one person has the power to create positive change. In 2009 Utne Reader selected her as one of “50 Visionaries Changing the World.”
Following text is from Utne Reader, November-December 2009:
Since the first known maps were carved into stone some 40,000 years ago, they’ve been used for everything from colonial plunder to family camping. In the early 1990s, designer and Green Map founder Wendy Brawer turned the process of mapmaking into a tool for environmental and community activists.
It was a simple formula: She gathered a group of engaged citizens and volunteer cartographers, and then began gathering information about a community’s sustainability, including compost drop sites, green space, and community gardens. The first Green Map, published in 1992, charted New York City and is still in print. Since then Brawer’s formula has been adopted by squatters in Argentina, students in Cuba, survivors of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and the indigenous peoples of British Columbia.
The Open Green Map project, designed as an electronic community platform and launched this year, removed the burden of recruiting cartographers and paying printers, and instead relies on users to do the plotting. Amateur mapmakers were quick to adopt the technology, and there are already more than a hundred Open Green Maps created for cities from Baltimore to Copenhagen. “I made our common future my client and went from there,” Brawer quips.
Green Map has grown significantly since 2009, and today, there are more than 950 projects in 65 countries. In 2017, we are developing new open policies and a stories-based website to share more about the maps and spinoff projects developed locally to guide the way toward regenerative, resilient communities. An example below using our energy-themed mapping and a decade of creative visualizations and experiences that make climate change apparent and actionable. We’ve also added projects around the community where Wendy has applied the capacities, networks and knowledge developed through mapmaking. Contact us anytime with questions, and watch for the new GreenMap.org later in the year!
THE GREEN MAP
PDF of Green Map available here
