How a Global Army of Volunteers is Mapping the World's Most Vulnerable Places
When commercial maps fall short, hundreds of thousands of digital volunteers trace satellite imagery to guide first responders and build climate resilience.
Humanitarian Responders 40%Local Community Mappers 35%Geospatial Researchers 25%
- Humanitarian Responders
- Prioritize rapid, open access to geographic data to coordinate emergency aid and navigate disaster zones.
- Local Community Mappers
- Focus on data sovereignty, using mapping tools to build local climate resilience and empower residents.
- Geospatial Researchers
- Analyze the long-term sustainability of the map, advocating for data equity and the reduction of Global North biases.
What's not represented
- · Commercial mapping providers
- · Local government surveying agencies
Why this matters
Accurate geographic data is the invisible backbone of disaster response. By crowdsourcing maps of the world's most vulnerable regions, this open-source movement ensures that aid workers can locate and rescue populations that commercial maps have entirely overlooked.
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