March 25th is a great time for us to reflect on the many things we have accomplished together as Green Mapmakers, for our communities and our planet. We all share our perceptions of what is happening right now and help everyone get involved in shaping a more hopeful and greener future for all.

Special thanks to all our supporters and the hundreds of people who make Green Map a vital resource for vibrant communities!

Over the last few months, Green Map System has been taking part in competitions that address non-profit needs in a new way. They have incorporated social networking so that every participant has the chance to benefit, even if they don't win the top prize. Here's what I like about it:

Unlike a regular grant proposal, our proposals are not expressed privately to a foundation. Plans are shared openly, so the potential to reach new supporters and participants is greater.

In many cases, people can comment on your entry and help to improve it! Try it out - you can comment on our Ashoka Changemakers Geotourism Challenge entry until 16 April. Your comments will help the judges choose our project as a finalist. read more »

Green Map System has promoted inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world since 1995, using mapmaking as our medium. Over 450 locally-led map projects in 50 countries have successfully published 335 Green Maps, used by millions to connect with green living, nature, social and cultural resources near home and while traveling. While all use Green Map Icons to highlight both positive and challenging sites, each powerful guide is unique.

Now, we're taking our inclusiveness mission the next step by developing an open interactive Green Mapmaking tool that will help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online. Merging local knowledge and our freshly updated iconography with a Google Map, the resulting interactive Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008. With open commentary, green ratings, multimedia elements, 'impacts index', mobile access, onsite markers and more, everyone will be able to get involved. read more »

We're very pleased to post the first chart of the freshly updated Green Map Icons! It's been a wonderful process, thanks to all involved, especially our great designer Risa Ishikawa and the many Green Mapmakers around the world who took part.

Green Mapmakers will soon be able to download the font to use locally to make vibrant new editions that carry forward the ideals behind this living lexicon - and share new perceptions of the community's progress toward sustainability with the world.

We'll be adding more about the people, supporters, tools, and some specific outcomes of this update soon. Now please download PDF and enjoy Green Map Icons, Version 3!read more »

When we started the process of updating our award-winning Icons, we had no idea it would take 5 years! However, with inclusive participation of Green Mapmakers as a chief concern, we developed several different ways everyone could contribute to this important update, online and in person. And, with our understanding of sustainability in the community sense so well-developed since 1999 (when Version 2 of the Green Map Icons was released), we had to take it step by step, and carefully consider many new aspects of charting green living, nature, social and culture in locales around the world.

We are very pleased with the outcomes, which we can present to you very soon on this website. Today, we'll release the new genre and category names, to give you a hint of how the overall set has been improved. read more »

Special Challenge in January 2008!

Thanks!! We are happy you helped us! Official outcomes to come!

We are in the Top 10 in an exciting online giving competition where winning is based on number of unique $10 gifts donated though our special page at America's Giving Challenge in January!

Each donation must come from a different person and a different credit card to count! We can win one of eight $50,000 prizes or one hundred $1,000 prizes, and in any case, all donations of $10 (or of any amount) are ours to keep.read more »

Dear Friends,

At Green Map System, we nourish an engaging new form of community media that provides a critically important antidote to the images of human and environmental tragedy that so often fill the media today. Our contribution takes the form of engaging Green Maps that connect everyone with local green living options, nature, social and cultural resources – everything from sustainable energy and mobility options to healthy habitats and restored watersheds to green school environments that transform students’ lives. We offer potent images of people working together for ecological health, climate care, social justice and security across many nations and cultures.read more »

At the San Francisco Green Festival, the second edition of our co-created community mapping book, Mapping our Common Ground, was celebrated at a book signing! Pictured here is the designer, Ken Josephson, speaking with Alisa Gravitz, Executive Director of Coop America and Green Festival co-sponsor.

We're so pleased this new edition is in full color! You can order a copy through our Store or through the Common Ground Community Mapping Project in Canada by clicking here.read more »

In November, the process of updating the Icons went into finalization mode. Designer Risa Ishikawa continued development from Japan, and I went to San Francisco, where Ken Josephson and Maeve Lydon of Victoria and I worked in the shadow of the Golden Gate Bridge! We're now in the 'home stretch' and will soon post a review set for Mapmakers to talk about locally over the holiday break this month. Many thanks, once again to all who contributed to this process!

On Saturday, Nov 3, a tour of mapped sites took place in Lower Manhattan to celebrate the second edition of the small but popular Compost Green Map of Manhattan, co-created by Green Map System and Lower East Side Ecology Center. Though the day was cold and blustery, the small group of cyclists learned about many ways to compost, indoors and out. All agree it's the most energy efficient and sensible kind of recycling, and that it's growing more common in NYC each day. Thanks again to Master Composter Ellen Belcher and Fort Greene Brooklyn composting advocate, Roy Arrezzo, and to Time's Up! for co-sponsoring the ride with the mapmakers, Christine Datz-Romero of Lower East Side Ecology Center and Green Map System. read more »