The award was presented at the UCL Bloomsbury Theatre at a major ceremony on May 14th alongside other awards to entrepreneurs and a celebration of enterprise activities at UCL. This is the third year in which UCL recognises social enterprises as part of its annual awards ceremony.

Co-founder and Director, Louise Francis, said “It is a great honour for Mapping for Change to have received this award and to be recognised for the work that we’ve undertaken over the last few years. One of the most exciting challenges comes from the communities that we work with who continue to push us to find novel ways in which we can support them to address a variety of social and environmental issues through the application of mapping“.

Over the last two years, Mapping for Change (MfC) has worked with a diverse range of communities in the UK, Poland, Italy and Finland covering issues ranging from air pollution through dog fouling and noise to the integration of migrants into the local community. The work on air pollution involved MfC training local people in how to set up air pollution monitoring equipment so that they can gather their own data. Communities have used the local maps produced to negotiate action in pollution with local councils.

Professor Malcolm Grant, UCL President and Provost added: “Innovation and entrepreneurship are integral to our university. Since UCL’s inception it has been unafraid to foster new, and sometimes radical, ideas. It is this spirit that has led to many achievements of our academics, students and alumni over the years.”

For the last two years we have been working on a ‘citizen science’ programme with communities across London, supporting them to measure and map air pollution on their streets.

The conference will look firstly at the need and background for this work, with updates from leading academics, policy makers and other experts. It will then focus on what local action has achieved and look from there at what more can be done locally, and at how local action needs to link to work on regional and national policy to give us the clean and safe communities that we need. The conference will hear from three local communities in London and also from activists who have been working for many years in Sheffield.

Click here to find out more and to register your attendance

First was the concept of open space for all citizens to promote integration, versus non-public spaces and territorially defined neighbourhoods that raised issues of alienation, and therefore the need for social workers’ intervention. This included a presentation on researching learning processes in public spaces. Partners from Udine University were interested in the applicability, across various local contexts, of developing a framework for researching public places as learning environments for citizenships. The suggested framework looked at the multiplicity of processes that occur in such spaces, the practices and the power relationships, and thus offers the possibility to compare across different localities. One caveat, however, is that participation and ‘active citizenship’ are often framed in such a manner, that other forms of creative approaches are discounted or undervalued.

Further discussions looked at the variety of methodologies used by partners to obtain comparative data, particularly in relation to youth and migrants’ experiences and the problem of fragmentation within communities, and the capacity of social workers to resolve this. One point made was the potential value of moving from the idea of citizens as “inhabitants” & social workers as “professionals” to one where we look at those who have a joint active involvement in decision making processes.

Public spaces in Aurora District

Part of our stay included a visit to the Aurora District, where 90% of the population are in social housing and there is very little mobility among residents and particularly young people. There is a poor perception towards local residents amongst others from Udine. The Mayor of the district provided a detailed background of the development of the area and highlighted some of the present social issues. Interestingly, he alluded to many of the problems having arisen with the wave of incoming migrants but associated problems with ‘buildings’ rather than as social problems, which he believes have been influenced by policy.

Home food

Community mapping has already been used and evaluated by our Italian partners and we hope that it can be applied to help citizens engage in mapping their experiences and perceptions of day to day life, as well as highlighting issues needing to be addressed.

The Founder of Vicini di Casa spoke about a social engineering project that has been initiated in an innovative approach to tackling the shortage of affordable housing in Friuli. The project is being run by an Italian consortium, including our partners at Vicini di Casa, in which they will refurbish currently unused buildings and abandoned spaces. Partially, the innovation comes from bringing together community workers and NGOs to sit around a table with regional and local political bodies,banks, and the construction industry in which they are given an equal voice. Traditionally, the involvement of social workers in housing comes after the houses are built and the residents have moved in! The idea of dealing with economic sustainability and profitable ways of working is also something new for social workers to engage with in Italy. Funding for the project comes from both local and regional banks and political bodies, and will help provide accessible public services, designed alongside community workers.

One of the outcomes from ACts will be an online publication with the practices shared, guidelines and suggestion for community workers to use these practices in the context of social housing environments.

One of the principle objectives our Grundtvig partnership is to share methodologies used by partner organisations and institutions to access their applicability and transferability in other local European contexts.

The aim of the two-day session was to:

•  gain an insight into mapping processes from a theoretical point of view
•  have an overview of mapping methodology based on case study presentations
•  test some mapping tools and methods applied to an area in the city of Udine

The area around Udine railway station was chosen to explore during the seminar mainly because it forms the area of focus for the Grundtvig Project and is also where Vicini di Casa has a booth that provides information on housing and immigration to migrants in the region.

The context of exploring and mapping the area related to two main issues:

•   exploring meaningful places in the area in relation to different groups and different space uses
•   exploring feelings and perceptions in relation to spaces and activities.

Participants developed maps based on their practical field work and discussed some of the difficulties encountered. For example, it was clear that a couple of hours were not sufficient to carry out participatory mapping activities with the passing pedestrians, particularly when many people were not up for stopping to chat!   Also, carrying out mapping activities in a park to explore the use of space by different individuals requires the park to be open…

View Borgo stazione in a larger map; created by one of the group’s during the practical exercise

Other limitations included the difficulties in unravelling a deeper understanding of local perceptions during such brief interactions and peoples’ map reading abilities, or lack of. These are common factors encountered when using methods such as transects or rapid appraisals. This is why a range of methods need to be applied depending on the general aims and specific objectives for carrying out mapping activities, and more importantly the local context. Having said that, all participants acknowledged strengths in utilising participatory mapping and identified a number of opportunities in which it could be used within their particular fields.

This time, thanks to the Thamesmere Leisure Centre, which provided us with a space that afternoon and big thanks to Ms Averil Lekau, a Thamesmead resident who took us on a tour around some remarkable places, our day was very productive. Have a look to some of our pictures below.

We visited some of the housing developments, passed by the Southmere lake, crossed the Green Chain Walk up to Lesnes Abbey. Finally, we went to the Leisure Centre, where we carried out another mapping session.

Mapping session

Maran Way

The Green Chain Walk

Thamesmead Housing

The Link

Lesley Abbey Ruins

ACtS looks to explore the use of participatory mapping, visual anthropology and identity building, and informal education in facilitating participation, active citizenship and intercultural dialogue with communities at risk of segregation in social housing environments. Each partner specialises in the use of different methods and hopes to learn and draw on the expertise of the consortium.

Eastway terrace

On the first day participants were given a brief history of social housing in the UK, by Femi Adekunle. He discussed the growth in the buy-to-let sector and  the ‘institutionalisation of scarcity’  within housing in Britain. Yeukai Taruvinga  shared with partners some of the programs and services provided by Praxis, a charity that supports refugees, migrants and undocumented refugees. Just some examples of the great work undertaken by the organisation include Brighter Futures. The network gives young asylum seekers and refugees a voice and strives to influence policy.  Rayne Fellowships for Refugees offers funding for ‘Big Ideas‘ that will change lives or transform communities. Averil Lekau, a Thamesmead resident of 32 years, discussed what she had learned from other local residents who have engaged in participatory activities run by Mapping for Change. ” It was a great way to get people talking and I was able to identify the spaces people most enjoyed and valued; areas people are concerned about on issues such as safety and litter. I halve already addressed some of these with our Councillor who is going to walk around with me to identify some of locations mapped.”

Partners at UCL

In the afternoon partners were taken on a tour of Hackney Wick and got see two quite different sides to developments in the area. As ’newcomers’, we were keen to ask our partners to carry out some perception mapping during their walk-about. Their initial observations included the stark contrast between the “older poorly maintained houses compared with the new developments and Olympic Park.” Another perception highlighted was the “lack of spaces for social interaction” within central Hackney Wick. In a later session comparisons were made between the visitors’ and local residents’ views, which were captured back in 2008, via their community map. Armed with this local information prior to their visit, would the partners have had a different perception of the community and its inhabitants?

Do you want to know more about this project? Find out more at our Project’s page

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]]> http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/participatory-mapping-a-tool-for-informal-learning/feed/ 0 http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/thamesmead-international-womens-day-event/ http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/thamesmead-international-womens-day-event/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 16:33:53 +0000 adminnew http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/?p=2157 Thanks to Trust Thamesmead and to the Business Academy Bexley, Mapping for Change had the chance to do a mapping session at the Thamesmead International Women’s Day event last Wednesday (25th April).

Groundwork mapping Thamesmead

Girls mapping Thamesmead

Besides the fact that it was a very wet day, the event was great and had a quite good turn out. Woman from different ages and backgrounds came along and added their perceptions about Thamesmead on the map. It was nice opportunity to met some very interesting people from the community and organisations operating in Thamesmead; Birchmere Park community garden/Groundwork and Hailey Training, among others.

Bexley Women's Aid

We were also invited to do some mapping at the Tavy Bridge Regeneration Resident’s Action Group (TBRRAG)’s Community Day meeting, which will happen on Saturday, 12th May at the One Stop Shop.

Our next Mapping Thamesmead for Change session will happen on this Friday, 04th May at the Thamesmead Leisure Centre. Have a look at the flyer.

Find out more about Mapping Thamesmead for Change by visiting our Projects page

]]> http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/thamesmead-international-womens-day-event/feed/ 0 http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/mapping-for-change-will-be-at-the-thamesmead-international-womens-day/ http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/mapping-for-change-will-be-at-the-thamesmead-international-womens-day/#comments Wed, 18 Apr 2012 15:02:17 +0000 adminnew http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/wordpress/?p=2031

Find out more about Mapping Thamesmead for Change visiting our Project’s page

]]> http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/mapping-for-change-will-be-at-the-thamesmead-international-womens-day/feed/ 0 http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/mapping4change-at-lccs2/ http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/mapping4change-at-lccs2/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2012 17:23:32 +0000 adminnew http://www.mappingforchange.org.uk/wordpress/?p=1091 Mapping4Change @ #LCCS2

2nd London Citizen Cyberscience Summit

Mapping for Change, took part in the 2^nd Citizen Cyberscience Summit held at the Royal Geographic Society and University College London last week on 16^th, 17^th and 18^th February.

In a Summit that gathered leading specialists of citizen science, the Chief Executive of Mapping for Change, Louise Francis, gave a talk about Community air pollution monitoring in London. She explained how this research project, carried out at University College London (UCL) and part of EVERYAWARE, has involved citizen scientists across London in monitoring nitrogen dioxide levels to assess local air quality. Local residents were responsible for gathering the information whilst Mapping for Change and UCL were responsible for the analysis that was finally compiled into several maps. These have now been incorporated into the Air Quality Community Map, to enable other communities to collect and visualise their data.

During the event, Mapping for Change also engaged with participants to download the newly launched Widenoise phone app, and were asked to take noise readings throughout of the three days summit. Widenoise forms one of the sensors being developed that will enable communities to collect and visualise a range of environmental data.

Mapping for Change is also a collaborator of UCL’s newly launched interdisciplinary Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) research group, whose aim is to develop ‘extreme’ citizen science tools and methodologies to be used by any community, regardless of their scientific knowledge or level of literacy. The idea is that the tools that will be used to collect and understand data can be shared using Mapping for Change expertise and platforms. The result is expected to help local communities by empowering local groups and support actions connected to environmental change or any other issues that those communities might be facing.

Several science related magazines and journals covered the event and mentioned Mapping for Change. Among them, the International weekly journal of science, Nature and the China Dialogue.

Did you miss the Summit? Find out more about some of the talks here.

There are also summaries at:  gridtalk; Storify; Cybersciencesummit

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