Interactive Mapmaking
Maps offer new ways of seeing and experiencing the world. By showing the connections and relationships between things, they allow for a greater understanding of complex issues. Google Earth and Google Maps have increasingly become powerful tools used by social activists to create change.
Google Earth Outreach
Watch: Trading Bows and Arrows for Laptops (Short Version)
Download Google Earth: For More Info Click Here
Get A Grant For Google Earth Pro: For More Info Click Here
Watch A Google Earth Movie: Neighbors Against Irresponsible Logging (NAIL)
See Google Earth Embedded Online: Appalachian Mountaintop Removal
Learn How To Create Your Own Map
Full Tutorial Page: Creating Personalized Google Maps
Short Tutorial (Video Only): Creating Personalized Google Maps
Relevant Articles
"Eyes in the Sky and on Your Desktop" (2007)
With Google Earth, satellite images become an activist's ally.
Maps are nothing new, yet new things are happening to them - both in the traditional flat paper based format and of course also in the context of social media and web 2.0.
Check Out What Others Have Done
Google Earth Outreach - Case Studies
Lots of non-profits are using Google Earth to tell their stories. You can read here about some specific groups' goals, challenges and best practices, and the overall impact of visualizing their work in Google Earth.
California's Top Polluting Facilities
Recent media investigations (CBS 5 2008) and environmental reports (Still Toxic After All These Years 2007) in California, as well as scientific studies in the broader US, show growing levels of pollution released into the air and water - in particular potential carcinogenic substances (sulphur dioxide, hydrocarbons, and oxides of nitrogen) - affecting mostly the health of low income minorities. The evidence so far links cancer incidence (in particular breast cancer) with residential exposure to air and water emissions from petroleum and chemical plants. This prompted Right To Know to look more closely at the exact locations of these major polluting facilities and the surrounding communities they affect.
Klamath River Clean-Up (In Progress)
This map shows what American Indian youth in Northern California are doing today to save the Klamath River. Students at the Klamath River Early College of the Redwoods (KRECR), on the Yurok Indian Reservation, have joined community efforts to bring salmon back to the people.
