Room: Talks IV/Workshops II/BoF III - Amphi Picard or Navier (Carnot)
Saturday, 17:55
Duration: 20 minutes (plus Q&A)
Language: en
Technical training cannot build a sustainable local chapter; one must change the culture of their community. This is why, as President of YouthMappers OAU chapter, I prioritised shifting our chapter culture from Learn > Implement, to Learn-and-Implement. During my time in YouthMappers, I found that chapters need one thing to stick: PURPOSE. Members need to feel like they’re helping solve problems in their local communities.
Our purpose came in the form of an accessibility project. Members leveraged mapathon data to quantify access to public buildings within Ife Central.
To me, PURPOSEFUL Mapping is the future of successful West African chapters. PURPOSEFUL Mapping puts geospatial work at the centre of students’ minds rather than on the sidelines. When students know they will be building maps for projects that matter to them, they’ll be eager to learn! They won’t see your chapter as another club where you participate once a semester to compete for prizes. Instead, your chapter will become the students’ centre of professional development. And with KoboCollect, Mapillary, and JOSM, our technical stack, your chapter will be sustainable.