Making a Green Map

All Green Maps are made locally by the people who live in the community. Each project is independently directed, funded and evaluated. Projects receive help from the Green Map network, Regional Hubs and GMS's New York City office in getting started, sharing ideas and resources, promotion and advice. Registered Mapmakers receive a kit of Green Maps, a resource disk (with Icon font) and more. We invite people of all ages and backgrounds to join us by creating a unique Green Map of their home.

Each local group registers their project, then spends many weeks or months researching their town's eco-cultural resources. They then design and publish their own regionally-flavored Green Map. It's not an easy process, but along the way the local eco-network grows stronger and more connected. Even the smallest green site becomes important when it is literally put "on the map". Projects around the world--from neighborhoods and small towns to big cities--find that each effort is elevated by being part of the global network. Truly, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!

Some Green Maps-in-progress are published online at websites run by the local project, as seen in the Maps section at GreenMap.org. Some are interactive and show layers of information with the help of GIS software; others are digital versions of a print map. Green Maps printed on paper are often accompanied by narrative text and images that rounds out the picture. In some places, a single, large-scale Green Map is created and displayed in a central location--a technique often used by young Mapmakers charting their neighborhoods. There are many ways to share your community's environmental story!

An easy way to compare approaches and outcomes, including Green Maps, methods, motivations and impacts, is to explore the processes described in the Green Map Atlas. The Green Map Atlas, Volume One was published in 2004, and includes the first 10 stories from Asia and North America. Download a free copy or help support GMS by purchasing an Atlas book or CD-Rom from the GMS Store today!

Together, our maps show a groundswell of progress toward sustainability, and a great deal of love is invested in each one. Every published Green Map is used by thousands, who discover a new way of seeing the interconnected nature of their home environment, culture and shared future.