500 Green Map Projects - a New Milestone!

Wendy at Green Map — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 12:49:32 -0500

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://GreenMap.org/greenhouse/en/node/5193

Announcing a New Milestone in Leadership Development!!

Along with our locally-led global network of Mapmakers, we are all pleased to celebrate new beginnings while we welcome new Green Map projects from all parts of the globe.

In October we reached the 500 project mark with the involvement of Grupo Aves del Perú. With their own Mapa Verde, they will focus attention on Cusco's struggling bird habitats! The commitment of partners like these underscores our ability to help support biodiversity as well as green innovation, culture and social justice efforts in communities worldwide.

To date in 2008, we have added 72 new Green Map projects, topping all previous year-end totals! October's new projects hail from near (NYU's Tourism program & Rochester NY) and far, including India (Gandhinagar), Romania (Bistrita & Livezile), Germany (Halle & Neustadt), Scotland (Dunipace Green), San Francisco and St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. Clearly, our efforts to provide support for these initiatives in the form of mapmaking resources, websites, workshop materials, youth modules and project publicity have worldwide impacts!

Announcing New Supporters

We hope you will join our newest supporters in assuring that each of these 502 projects has all the help they need to provide compelling Green Maps to help build sustainable communities. Special thanks to the socially responsible body care company Natura Cosmeticos for helping us invite all Spanish and Portuguese speakers, especially those in Latin America, to take part in exploring and contributing to the Open Green Map; the Herb Block Foundation for helping us increase general levels of citizen participation as part of their mission to secure democracy though involvement; the digital map company Tele Atlas (see below) and a long-time supporter for the third addition of the Composting Green Map of Manhattan.

Celebrate our 500 Project Milestone with a Contribution!

Click GreenMap.org/donate to send your support by credit card. We also welcome checks by mail (PO Box 249, NYC 10002), employer matching funds, transferred stock and volunteered support of all kinds. Email us at info [at] greenmap [dot] org for details or send your address to receive our year-end mailer. Visit our Green Map Store as holiday giving time comes – we have great new T-shirts and bags, printed on demand (more choice, no waste) as well as wonderful local Green Maps and books. Click GreenMap.org/store anytime!

Thank you! We stretch every bit of income to develop powerful, adaptable resources and versatile Green Maps that make a real difference to millions of people.

Learning from the Participatory Open Green Map

With much of our current work focused on this mapmaking and sharing platform (preview it today at OpenGreenMap.org), we are discovering more about its potential to support high-impact sustainability activities every day!

There are now more than 2,000 sites on OGM to explore, comment on and rate. 30 of the first 60 Open Green Maps are now available for public review. And, with its multilingual interface capability now activated, we're getting ready to involve even more people in its use. OGM was recently recognized by Tele Atlas' Maps in Apps Competition which was accompanied by a $10,000 cash prize and exposure to diverse mobile and wireless developers! Read some of the wonderful things the press is saying at OpenGreenMap.org/testimonials. More than 100 new articles are linked in our News section, too.

Updates and Events

Wondering what's new between newsletters? Now you can follow us on Twitter! Link to these one-line notices along with our other media and social networks at GreenMap.org/network!

This fall's travel highlights included being part of the Seoul Design Olympiad, the kick off event for Seoul as the 2010 World Design Capitol. As part of this event, two terrific Green Maps were created by university students to help promote inclusive exploration of local natural areas. Read about this project as well as the world's biggest recycled plastic installation on our Blog!

If you are into GIS and find yourself in New York on November 12th, come to our presentation at GISMO. And if you are an educator, check us out at the Cloud Institute for Sustainability Education workshops on November 19th (find an overview of our offerings at GreenMap.org/youth). Stay tuned for December events in our next newsletter.

We have much to be grateful for, including you for your continued interest in our collaborative work to make the world a better place for all. Our best wishes to you!

Back to School & Global News from Green Map!

Wendy at Green Map — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 16:56:37 -0400

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://GreenMap.org/greenhouse/en/node/4718

August-September Green Map Express

Here at Green Map System, we have had a very productive summer. With a fresh crop of innovation growing, we invite you to share in the harvest!

While school has been on break, we gathered up the responses from the educators and youth group leaders who tested our set of Energy and Environment Exploration Modules over the past year. We then refined and finalized these adaptable tools and the educator guide that goes with them for both in and out-of-school activities. Both New York City and Global editions are now available. We invite you to use them with middle and high school students in your community.

Free Resources for Educators!

Thanks to our supporters who believe in the importance of mobilizing the next generation as much as we do, you can use these modules to map street trees and green space, get around car-free, find waste reduction sites and save energy at school. Download the Global version of these modules at GreenMap.org/youth. Find these and two additional modules designed specifically for charting NYC's environment at GreenAppleMap.org/page/modules. Your teens will get a taste of Green Mapmaking and discover great ways to get involved in local greening efforts.

Open Green Map in Phase 2, Open to the Green Map Network

Although we are not announcing the official public launch date quite yet, we have made great strides in the development of the Open Green Map, our interactive mapmaking platform. As Phase 1 was completed on July 31, we invited our global network of Green Mapmakers to start making their own interactive maps. Already 39 diverse maps have been started, from Charleston U.S. to Swansea Wales and Yogyakarta Indonesia - ten countries are represented to date. As we continue to add capacity for the public to post green sites to Open Green Map's World View map and otherwise prepare for the public launch, you can preview the action at OpenGreenMap.org.

Recognition keeps flowing in for the Open Green Map, including our selection for a special award about which we can't go public just yet. What we can say is that this honor will bring our team out to the Bay Area for a week beginning September 9. If you would like to meet us there for a demonstration of this work in progress or to find out more on how you can support our continuing effort, please send email us at info [at] greenmap [dot] org.

Seeking Interns, Volunteers, Supporters (and of course, Mapmakers)!

We always appreciate the fresh energy of interns in our global office! Now, we would like to hear from New York metro area university students in design, computer technology, marketing, business and environmental studies. Please email your resume to info [at] greenmap [dot] org. Potential volunteers are welcome to get in touch with us, too!

This summer, interns joined the Open Green Map tech development team from Finland - Miikka Lammela and Austria - Gottfried Haider (who came to us via CDS International with thanks to Turku University of the Applied Sciences and the Pall Mall Foundation), New York designers Andrew Sass (SVA) and Yoko Ishibashi (Parsons), and on our outreach team, Madeleine Goldfarb (Muhlenberg) and Kathryn Podobinski (Northwestern). Our thanks to each of these wonderful individuals for their many contributions to Green Map's local and global development.

Hearing from our supporters, both new and existing is wonderful, too! Click to donate online or mail a tax-deductible contribution to Green Map System, POB 249, NYC USA 10002. Prospective mapmakers, we invite you to put your community on the Green Map!

We welcome your suggestions and insights, anytime. Your involvement and support means so much to us!

Our best wishes to all for a great green month ahead.

June-July News: Open Green Map is Featured

Wendy at Green Map — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 12:35:04 -0400

Open Green Map on a Roll!

The enthusiasm is building as the Open Green Map project goes into full-scale production. Already a finalist in the NetSquared Challenge and presented at Beyond Broadcasting and Where 2.0 conferences, this inclusive, participatory social mapping website will put thousands of hopeful green sites from around the world on the map! Open Green Map will also share the public's insights, images and impacts about each of these significant places.

Mixing social networking, familiar Google Map technology and Green Map’s award-winning iconography, Open Green Map will create a common platform for Green Mapmakers, Green Map users, and a global public that is becoming more and more adept at living green. Users of OGM will be able to select the themes they are most interested in, and explore the world from a fresh vantage point. They will also have quick access to the unique 'traditional' Green Maps published locally in each city, town or region.

We believe that every community has resources to help individuals build healthier, greener communities together. But up until now, too many people lack the awareness and access they need to find and connect with those resources. Open Green Map will energize the booming green innovation, ‘go local’, regeneration and ecotourism movements with social networking and interactive mapping, empowering widespread participation in critical local environment, climate and equity issues worldwide.

This season, a dozen dedicated staff members and interns in our New York office, alongside Green Map partners around the world, are hard at work (preview at OpenGreenMap.org). In July, we'll open the site to our network of locally led Green Map projects. We're targeting September for our public launch – you will be among the first to know the exact date!

Today is a great day to support Green Map!

Without your help, we can't do this work – developing this great new tool and continuously support new Green Mapmakers with our community participation and mapmaking resources! Contributions can be made online or by mail. We are also able to receive tax-deductible donations in the form of transferred stock or by bank wire. Does your company match your charitable contributions? Do you have unique sponsorship or other funding ideas for us? We'd love to hear from you!

Please contact Wendy Brawer, Founding Director, by phone: 212 674 1631 or by email: web [at] greenmap [dot] org. Click GreenMap.org/donate to donate online or mail to us at 220A East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009. Click here for more details, including our supporters to date.

Upcoming Events

On June 28-29, Green Map's global headquarters will be the venue for NYC's first Open Street Map party. OpenStreetMap.org is a kind of wikipedia for maps - a free editable map of the world to which anyone can add roads, bike paths and other geographic data. Around the world, parties are being held to spur data collection. The New York City party will be based at Green Map System, 220A East 4th Street (between Aves A & B in Manhattan's East Village) on Saturday June 28, 10am-4pm, and Sunday June 29, 11am-2pm. Find details at wiki.openstreetmap.org/index.php/New_York_City

On June 29, we'll be giving a 3 pm workshop about our expanded youth resources and planning for the NYC pilot Green Schools Green Map at CitySol, Solar One's annual arts and culture spectacular, held along the East River at 23rd Street from June 26-29. For more information, see CitySol.org.

A special thank you and congratulations to Santiago's Living City and Natura for publishing the boxed set of Green Maps and book as Version Zero of their Mapa Verde, as described in this blogpost

Get outdoors this summer and help our city become greener! Best wishes from everyone at GreenMap.org!

Green Map’s May News & Party!

Wendy at Green Map — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:46:43 -0400

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/node/4162

You are invited to Green Map’s Top Ten Party on May 21!

Join us at our global office, 220A East 4th Street in Manhattan on Wednesday, May 21 from 5 to 8 pm. We’re celebrating the generosity of our supporters who responded to America's Giving Challenge and made our non-profit a Top Ten winner!

At the party, our OpenGreenMap interactive mapmaking website will be previewed. We'd love to hear what you think about this inclusive new global project-in-progress that was seeded by hundreds of small Giving Challenge donations. We'll also be introducing the updated Green Map iconography and showing some of the newest resources we offer for youth and citywide Green Map projects, locally and globally.

Come and enjoy refreshments provided by Angelica Kitchen, Brooklyn Brewery, the Sixth Street Community Center and others. Bring friends and network with our staff, board and supporters. 220A East 4th Street is between Avenues A & B in the East Village. The closest subway is the F or V at 2nd Ave or the 6 train at Astor Place. There is no need to RSVP, but if you have questions, email apple [at] greenmap [dot] org or call 212 674 1631. Thanks again to all who put Green Map in the Top Ten - we look forward to seeing you on May 21st!

Another Local Event, the Green Apple Cycling Tour

On Saturday, May 17, see places you never knew about and find great ways to get involved in everyday green living in New York. Join us during Bike Month for free community sustainability tour covering East Village, Lower East Side, riverside and greenway sites beginning at 11 AM at the Temperance Monument near 9th & Avenue A in Tompkins Square Park. This easy ride concludes nearby 2 hours later. All cyclists are welcome. Those 14 and under need helmets. Ride cosponsored by Time’s Up! and rain cancels. Click GreenAppleMap.org/page/events for details!

A Decade of Green Growth

Ten years ago, our director met Maeve Lydon of Victoria BC’s Common Grounds/LifeCycles project and Beth Ferguson, then a Hampshire College student, in Havana at a conference on the ethics and culture of sustainable development. It was there, too, that the seeds of Green Mapmaking were planted in Cuba, soon to be cultivated by Liana Bidart Cisneros and a network of biologists and educators at Centro Felix Varela.

This May, a reunion took place at the Community University Expo hosted by the University of Victoria, Canada. A host of remarkable Green Map outcomes were presented, including 113 diverse Mapa Verde Cuba projects; a dozen Green Maps published in the Victoria region along with a new project base within UVic’s Office of Community Based Research; and Beth’s ongoing youth resources development with Green Map System and her creative lino-cut Austin Texas neighborhood map. Our thanks to everyone at UVic, as well as the Canadian, Swedish and Latin American Mapmakers who took part in a half-dozen Green Map presentations and helped our Americas network development planning move forward!

Our Wonderful Interns!

We very much appreciate the work of spring interns Dru Hara, Akiko Rokube and Ana Isabel Lagos. Yelena Zolotorevskaya will be with us all summer, joined by Yoko Ishibashi and Andrew Sass, along with trainees Miikka Lammela and Gottfried Haider, whose presence was made possible by CDS International and the Pall Mall Foundation. These talented interns are joining the OpenGreenMap development team of Wendy Brawer (director), Thomas Turnbull (lead technology developer), Carlos Martinez (project assistant), Lee Frankel-Goldwater (technology develoment assistant) and Bob Zuber (outreach specialist). Watch for more news as our inclusive, interactive project heats up with the season!

See you at our party, tour and other events (including the NetSquared Challenge and Beyond Broadcasting conferences) in the coming weeks!

Green Map's April Express!

Wendy at Green Map — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:39:36 -0400

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/node/4036

Building a New & Inclusive Green Mapmaking Website

This season, Green Map System is focused on the creation of the OpenGreenMap. Moving from the concept stage to designing a robust and fun-to-use interactive mapmaking tool has our team jumping. You jumped too – your votes helped this become a Featured Project in the NetSquared Mashup Challenge! As we move toward the mid-2008 public launch, this 'remixing the web for social change' conference will bring our project together with 20 others for well-timed development support.

OpenGreenMap is the finalized name for this project. Designed to involve a great diversity of people in bringing sustainable living to light, the website is already being tested and integrated with other online resources including GreenMap.org. Our upcoming presentations (listed below) will preview it, including our May 21st Top Ten Party - thanks again to our America's Giving Challenge donors who seeded this project! Find out more and discuss this social media project in progress at OpenGreenMap.org.

Green Map Board of Directors News

Our projects, large and small, often take a giant leap forward once our Board gets involved. These wonderful, talented individuals have devoted many hours towards our nonprofit organization's effectiveness. A special thank you to outgoing member DK Holland (of DK Holland LLC – affiliations for identity purposes only) who skillfully guided our 2006-07 branding and outreach campaign! She was replaced as Vice President by Sara S. Tucker (Dia Art Foundation), who has served on the Board since inception and contributed to Green Map's development since 1995. Welcome to our newest member, Andrew Van Der Laan (Random House), joining Joshua Arnow (WorldLink Foundation), President Carter Craft (Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance), Treasurer Alice Hartley (Cook+Fox) and Secretary Wendy E. Brawer (Green Map System). Each deserves a big bouquet of spring blossoms for their dedicated years of service to the Green Map movement!

Local Impacts – Global Connections

Charting the impacts of our work in 20 diverse vignettes, our latest collaboratively-authored book was released by Aichi Japan's Green Mapmaker, Keiko Nakagawa this week! Watch for news on the English edition later in the year.

Newly selected as the pilot project for UNEP's Green Passport project, the Parati Green Map project has sustainable tourism as its goal. Led by Dr. Claudia Green, students of tourism management at NYC's Pace University have been working with this Brazilian community for three years. We are looking forward to seeing how this model impacts tourism worldwide!

In December 2006, Green Map System began distributing our local Compost Green Map of Manhattan, together with our project partner, Lower East Side Ecology Center. LESEC also collects compostable food scraps from customers at the Union Square Greenmarket. Already, Saturday collection has increased over 300%, according to director Christine Datz-Romero, and doubled at their other collection site. We're so pleased to see this most efficient and regenerative form of recycling grow that we're starting to plan our 3rd printing of this popular little map/composting poster. Download it or pick one up in Union Square.

Events & Launches

Yesterday, the Baltimore Maryland Green Map went live. It's the first to utilize Green Map Icons Version 3! More April launches: Houston Texas, Waterford Ireland and Santiago Chile, where the latest in Ciudad Viva's terrific series of Green Maps will debut.

Early May's Community University Expo is based at Canada's verdant University of Victoria – it's also the centerpoint of a vibrant regional Green Map project led by Maeve Lydon and Ken Josephson, who have organized a great gathering of Green Mapmakers from Latin American and Pacific Northwest communities.

Our Director, Wendy Brawer will be taking part in the launch of the first printed map to use V3 Icons, the Bucharest Green Map with Mapmaker Ciprian Samoila in Romania, then joining Susanna Iraci, Milan Italy's Mapmaker to present during the city's famous Salone design fair at the 20th anniversary of the O2 Global Network. Both Wendy and Toyko Mapmaker Masahiro Horiuchi will present at the EcoCity World Summit in San Francisco. Catch Jakarta Mapmaker Marco Kusumawijaya at FarmLab in Los Angeles on May 2, too!

In New York City: Find our updated iconography at the Eyebeam Art and Technology Center (540 W 21), honored and exhibited through April 19. At the Baum Forum (April 11-12) and the Science Council of NYC educator conference (April 12), we'll be presenting our exploration modules and previewing the Green Schools Green Map! Save the date: Saturday, May 17 for our Green Apple Downtown Cycling Tour (11am, Tompkins Square Park), and Wednesday May 21, for our Top Ten Party (5-8pm, 220A East 4th St.) – all are welcome to our Manhattan events.

Green Maps help you make everyday Earth Day. The official date - April 22 - is a great time to get your green on!

Green Map System's March Express News

Wendy at Green Map — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 11:58:00 -0400

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://GreenMap.org/greenhouse/en/node/3819

Announcing Green Map Icons, Version 3

March arrives amidst great activity at Green Map System. First, a truly global collaboration has been achieved! Version 3 of the Green Map Icons has been completed and released to all of our locally-led projects. Our gratitude to all who took part in our Open Icon Studio, and our thanks to all the experienced Green Mapmakers representing teams in 50 countries who advised and inspired us throughout the multi-year process.

Today, at GreenMap.org/icons, the first of the updated iconography's public resources are available, including charts you can print, a poster and slideshow to view onscreen, even a banner you can add to your website or blog. Over the coming months, innovative and translated icon resources created around the world will be added. And, the first Green Maps utilizing this updated iconography will debut in April! Special thanks to all our Icon Update supporters including Fosters Group Community Grants and the Foundation for Sustainability & Innovation. Kudos to our designer, Risa Ishikawa and project manager Carlos Martinez. More core contributors are credited online.

Icons Honored by the Eco-Vis Challenge!

Along with other honorees, this fresh iconography is included in Eyebeam Art & Technology Center's Feedback exhibit! It opens Thursday March 13, 6-8pm at 540 W. 21 Street in New York, with a closing reception on April 19 at 3pm. Come and pick up a printed copy of our new Icon Poster there. Watch a copy by mail? Let us know.

Green Map System's Superlative Award in America's Giving Challenge!

As described in our most recent newsletters, this competition was based on the number of $10 donations made online during January. We raised $7890 in direct support and received $1500 in prize money from Global Giving, Parade Magazine and Case Foundation. Thanks again for all you do to help Green Map flourish!

With these seed funds, development has begun on an innovative open interactive Green Mapmaking website that will help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online. Merging local knowledge, Google Map technology and our award-winning icons, the resulting Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008! Featuring open commentary, green ratings, an 'impacts index' and a variety of multimedia elements, everyone will be able to get involved.

Find out more at GreenMap.org/ggm. If you like what you see, please add your comment now, then vote for our entry in the Netsquared Mashup Challenge starting March 17. You can help us win important technical and financial support for this exciting endeavor!

You'll soon notice our websites running faster thanks to a recent upgrade contributed by pair Networks, our internet provider, which has donated services to Green Map System for several years. We so appreciate their great service, and now, it's carbon neutral! Read more about the greening of pair Networks here!

And in closing - we're seeing signs of spring, so Earth Day is around the corner. If you are looking for ways to involve young people in your community, check out our Energy and Environment Exploration Modules. With support from New York City Environmental Fund, these modules have already been shared with dozens of local teachers and environmental educators and have attracted interest far beyond New York City.

Have a good green month – best wishes to all from Green Map System!

Put Green on the Map of America’s Giving Challenge!

Wendy at Green Map — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 10:39:24 -0500

Win-Win-Win with Green Map!

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/node/3109

Our monthly newsletter is arriving a couple days early to give you great news – we’re now in the Top 10 to win BIG! With your help today, we can move up to the #4 spot, win $50,000 and great national press!

It’s easy to help us all win-win-win!
Donate $10 today. Each $10 must be ‘unique’, given by a different person & credit card at this specific webpage by noon on January 31:

http://tinyurl.com/2j9eym

Get your family, friends and co-workers to donate, too, because the four charities with the most $10 donations win $50,000 in America’s Giving Challenge! Your donation is even tax-deductible. And, all donors will receive an invitation to the great party we’re planning in Spring! Our Blog page has a widget, images and You Tube video to forward, too.

As you know, Green Map System inclusively engages a participatory movement in 50 countries and 37 US states that charts green living resources and guides everyone to a sustainable future. This $50,000 will go towards creation of our open interactive Global Green Map (debuting mid-year, with your help!) and to help support our regional hubs, especially in developing countries. Contribute and help the whole Green Map network and all communities going green.

Bonus: Among the Challenge’s Top Ten, Green Map System is the only one focused on global sustainability and local leadership. Since Parade Magazine (Challenge co-sponsors with Case Foundation, Global Giving and Network for Good) and other national newspapers and magazines will feature the winning organizations, your $10 will help us reach a broad, mainstream readership, introducing many more people to the thrill of turning a town into a vibrant community by mapping its healthy, green options. Your $10 is a great investment in a greener future for all, so please donate $10 today & spread the word!

A New View of Green Map

Ever wonder what Green Mapmakers look like in action? Check out our fun and informative video channel at YouTube.com/greenmapsystem. Be one of the first to join our Facebook Group (login to join), too. We are just starting to use social networking sites like Wiser Earth, MySpace, Guidestar, and we look forward to meeting you there!

Our own GreenMap.org keeps growing, too! We have already added 6 new projects in 2008, including Westlake Ohio, Milan Italy, Utrecht The Netherlands, Chutung Taiwan, Uji Japan, and Sao Paulo Brazil. Now, virtually all past Green Map projects are represented in our new website’s Maps section, thanks to our interns Reina Mito, Victoria Omoiemenkhere Obetoh, Courtney Wolf and Yelena Zolotorevskaya. We are adding more capability to preserve the wonderful new content being added daily by Green Mapmakers worldwide.

See us in person at:

Focus the Nation – Jan 31 panels at Fordham University, The Bronx NYC

Innovation Turns the Ordinary into Life Changing Opportunity – Feb 5 with The Tech Awards, Washington DC

Environmental Educators Advisory Council’s Quarterly Meeting - Feb 20 at Green Map’s Office, East Village

And, with your help, in the Winners Circle at America’s Giving Challenge, and at our party to celebrate this Spring!

Green Map’s Challenge! Join January’s Great Opportunity

Wendy at Green Map — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 12:49:54 -0500

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://GreenMap.org/greenhouse/en/node/3263

Help Us Get 2008 Off to a Great Start!

The new year has already brought an exciting opportunity to Green Map System and you can help us win big! If we collect the most $10 donations from the most people in January, we’ll be among the eight $50,000 prize winners in "America’s Giving Challenge", helping our movement and communities worldwide enormously.

Here’s how America’s Giving Challenge works: the 8 nonprofits that receive the greatest number of unique $10 online donations by January 31 through a special web page set up by their "Champion" will win $50,000. Our founder, Wendy Brawer, has signed on as the Champ for Green Map System and there are two easy ways that people worldwide can help us win:

1. Contribute $10 Donate $10 or more using this link to Wendy’s special Challenge fundraising webpage:

http://givingchallenge.globalgiving.com/dy/registry/ag.html?regid=899&cmd=prevfund

Important: To count, each donation must be made by a unique giver, so please don’t use the same credit card for more than one person’s gift. $10 is the Challenge’s minimum, and Green Map System will benefit from every tax-deductible dollar you donate online!

2. Increase the Number of Contributors by Spreading this Message!

Forward this link ( http://givingchallenge.globalgiving.com/dy/registry/ag.html?regid=899&cmd=prevfund ) along to your friends, family and social networks (ask them to forward it to their networks as well)! There’s an optional sample message at the end of this newsletter.

If you have a website, blog or social network site, please post the Link and encourage people to donate directly on our fundraising webpage.

The more unique donations, the better our chances of winning one of the eight $50,000 prizes! Additionally, 100 nonprofits will win $1,000 prizes for the most money raised in January from America’s Giving Challenge, which is sponsored by Parade Magazine, The Case Foundation, Network for Good and GlobalGiving. We are already a part of GlobalGiving’s 400-project network, so with your help, we have an especially good chance of winning. This is a unique and practical opportunity to support and thank our diverse, dedicated, largely volunteer Green Mapmakers for their promotion of local green living resources all over the world! Please click and add your $10 today!

2008 is an important year for the Green Map movement

Indeed, on the very first day, a fresh new Green Map was published by Mapmakers at Green Camel Bell in western China, charting the Yellow River of Lanzhou! We’re still calculating the total number of Green Maps that were printed or published online in 2007, but are happy to report that a record-breaking 67 brand-new Green Map projects were registered! All 441 projects around the world can be found at GreenMap.org.

Very soon, the latest version of the Green Map iconography will be making its debut. We expect to see these new icons appear first in locally published Green Maps of Bucharest and Baltimore, with hundreds more to follow!

The new icons will also be featured in the Global Green Map! This interactive open map will be online by mid-2008, inviting both the public and the network of Green Mapmakers to contribute green sites, pathways and resources worldwide, enhanced with open commentary, green ratings, and on-the-move formats for always-available access.

While the Global Green Map will merge our collective knowledge about the places and projects making progress toward sustainability worldwide, we will continue to empower and promote the local Green Map projects at the same time, helping to highlight the full range of resources, individuals and organizations leading way to more sustainable communities.

The prospect of adding $50,000 to our modest budget is so important as we start this new year, helping to sustain our diverse activities as we continue to grow our network of Mapmakers and expand our accessibility and global impact. Today, please pitch in and help Green Map System take the next steps towards a more sustainable future for everyone!

Donate & Forward Now!
America's Giving Challenge runs until 3:00PM EST on January 31, 2008. Please donate now to make sure your contribution really counts, and use the links and code below to alert your family, friends and colleagues.

Many thanks in advance for your help! Together, we can make 2008 a great year for greener communities worldwide!

Sample email message:

SUBJECT: Help support a great cause in America's Giving Challenge!

Please join me in supporting public participation in sustainable communities around the world by donating $10 to Green Map System as part of Parade Magazine’s “America’s Giving Challenge.”

Each donation of $10 or more will go directly towards supporting Green Map’s work engaging communities - locally and globally - to chart a sustainable future, and will help them win a $50,000 prize for collecting the greatest number of unique online donations through their Challenge fundraising site.

To donate and help Green Map win big, click on the following URL:

http://givingchallenge.globalgiving.com/dy/registry/ag.html?regid=899&cmd=prevfund

Think Global, Map Local - Let’s do our part to connect communities and environments everywhere!

Thank you, and please forward this message!

A Great Year for the Green Map Movement!

Wendy at Green Map — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 17:14:28 -0500

2007 Wrap Up!

If you cannot read this or see links below, please click: http://www.greenmap.org/greenhouse/en/node/3109

What a year!! We’ve accomplished many of our dreams and plans, from the re-launched GreenMap.org and the complete updating of our mapmaking resources to our new look and outreach package to exciting new mapmaking partners worldwide. 2007 was the year our movement spread to its 50th country, impacting over 435 diverse communities throughout the world. Now, there are over 330 published Green Maps – each is an action-generating process, a guide and inventory, an authentic expression of community character, a record of change and a perception-changing landscape of hope.

Green Map System has received wonderful accolades, including this recent email:

“Those maps are absolutely incredible! It's truly inspiring to me that a firm of your size can positively impact hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people. My hope is that Green Map's influence will continue to grow and that even more local communities will benefit from what you do.” David D, NYC, 12/6/07

Thank you, David, we could not do it without the contributions of people like you, donated through our website or by making purchases in our Store or directly supporting the wishlist of a local Green Map project. Contact us with your comments and ideas, as well as questions about tax-deductible donations and sponsorships or mail them to Green Map System, PO Box 249, NYC 10002. Our year-end letter explains more about the ways Green Mapmaking impacts ecological health, climate care, social justice and security across many nations, motivating more people to act for the common good.

However, at the same time, we’re seeing that far too many people and communities have yet to connect, so we’re doing even more to ensure that hopeful sustainability-related activities and models are shared with the broadest possible audience. Therefore, development has begun on the Global Green Map, an interactive open multilingual world map that will connect people of all backgrounds with local sites, routes and resources for sustainable living.

Scheduled to go live in mid-2008, this Google Map-based compendium will display the full range of green living, nature, social and cultural sites already appearing on hundreds of published Green Maps alongside those contributed by our global content partners and the public. Using open source tools and Green Map System’s award-winning iconography, the Global Green Map’s sites, green ratings and discussions, images and translations will be configured for multiple websites, mobile phones, on-site markers and other formats. It will encourage diverse participation that counters climate change, supports vibrant biodiversity and addresses local social and cultural challenges. Every usage will help guide the community’s newcomers to more sustainable everyday choices, encourage longtime residents to get involved with their communities in new ways, provide visitors with best practice models to bring home, and motivate decision-makers to act for the common good.

Help us develop, build and popularize the Global Green Map. Click to preview a short video or slideshow. We foresee an astonishing opportunity to support the emerging green business and localization boom with the Global Green Map – with your involvement as a content partner or sponsor, we can make a world of difference! Contact us anytime at info@greenmap.org or +1 212 674 1631, or through our donation page.

Everyone at Green Map System’s global office in New York – Wendy Brawer, Risa Ishikawa, Carlos Martinez, Reina Mito, Thomas Turnbull, Courtney Wolf, Yelena Zolotorevskaya, Bob Zuber and our Board of Directors wishes you the best for the solstice, season and year ahead.

Feel free to forward this newsletter. Get on the emailing list at GreenMap.org!

November 2007

Wendy at Green Map — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 16:26:50 -0400

(Click if you cannot read this)

As October winds down, we're doing more everyday to see that communities around the world have the connections, skills and resources needed to make healthier, greener choices everyday!

Update: Green Map Icon Update!

It’s been exciting to invite everyone to take part in the updating process for the Green Map Icons. Over 2,500 people came to the comment-collecting web page in October, and our ‘live’ event in New York drew members of local sustainability and mapping networks and participants from as far as Glasgow and Beijing, and even Baltimore! We highly value your many thoughtful comments and have extended GreenMap.org/icons through Monday November 5th. Add yours today!

Next, finalization of Version 3 of the Green Map Icons begins. Your support will help us deliver its many products - fonts, posters, educational resources - to communities worldwide in early 2008.

Think Local, Map Global!

Our next big global project is starting to take shape - and it’s our most inclusive undertaking to date. The Global Green Map will deliver thousands of green sites to your desktop, sharing great examples contributed by Green Mapmakers, content partners and the public from all corners of the earth on one flexible interactive online platform. Watch for details online and find out how you can get involved next month.

Global News

Director Masahiro Horiuchi and Green Mapmakers at Urban Ecology Tokyo won one of Japan’s most prestigious honors, the Good Design award in the communications category. The jurors pointed out how the “Tokyo Cycling Green Map is a design evolution that emerged from citizens, not from corporations.” They also recognized the importance of raising the quality of design in all social movements, so we’re pleased that a Green Map is now an official example of Good Design. Find out more in our Blog, and explore our Maps section for more great cycling-themed Green Maps.

There’s also a wonderful new San Francisco & Northern California Green Map, published this week by David Kupfer, just in time for the SF Green Festival. Our Director, Wendy Brawer, will be on a panel about ‘localization’ on Friday afternoon, November 9.

Transylvania - just in time for Halloween! has one of the newest Green Map projects under way (in Cluj Napoca Romania)! In October, we also welcomed new Green Map projects in Yosemite National Park & Mariposa California, Belfast N. Ireland Kobe and Shimata, Hikari Japan and throughout the University of Puerto Rico Campuses. Watch for the most recently published editions around the world in GreenMap.org’s Maps section.

November 3 Event in NYC

Come this Saturday to celebrate the launch of the second edition of the Compost Green Map of Manhattan. Our 2 hour bicycle tour of mapped sites, indoors and out, starts at 3pm at the Lower East Side Ecology Center’s stand in the Union Square Greenmarket. Rain cancels. Bring a lock (and a helmet if you are 14 or under). This free Green Apple Compost Map Cycling Tour is co-sponsored by map partners Green Map System and Lower East Side Ecology Center plus Times Up!

Want a copy of this free map? Download or pick one up at the Greenmarket, or contact us about getting a quantity. For 1-2, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to Compost Green Map, PO Box 249, NYC 10002.

Update: Last month, we noted that our new Energy & Environment Exploration education modules can now be downloaded. Already, educators and other interested folks in 2 countries, 5 of the US states and 3 of NYC’s boroughs have put them to use!

Giving Season is almost upon us!

Hot off the presses, "Mapping our Common Ground", our co-created community mapping book (2nd edition) is now in full color! Green Maps and our other media projects in our Store make wonderful gifts.

Your support can help energize positive change in hundreds of communities at once. If you would like to receive our special 2007 Green Map booklet by mail, please send us your address. Note that for the next 60 days, Americans over 70 ½ years of age can donate IRA savings to Green Map System tax-free. Federal legislation enabling you make charitable distributions of up to $100,000 from your traditional or Roth IRA expires on 12/31/07. For more information on this and other giving opportunities that support our mission, please check online or contact our Director, Wendy Brawer at web@greenmap.org.

Feel free to forward this newsletter. Get on the emailing list at GreenMap.org! Contact us anytime at info@greenmap.org or +1 212 674 1631.

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