The Emergence of YouthMappers
More than 1 billion people in the world are missing from the maps that are foundational for basic needs and services and simply navigating our world. YouthMappers are university students who create and use open spatial data, mapping for authentic community development and humanitarian purposes, putting their own communities and nations on the map. This group of knowledgeable students have emerged to fuel a global movement to use digital technologies.
YouthMappers mapping campaigns have contributed to improving open geographic data, benefiting an estimated 67,832,885 people worldwide.
Where YouthMappers Connect to the SDGs
YouthMappers activities tend to relate very closely to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs are a comprehensive collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all, put in place by the United Nations General Assembly in 2015. It is both fitting and fortunate that the official launch of YouthMappers took place in November 2015, the same year it was established. Since its inception in 2015, YouthMappers has experienced steady growth as a movement dedicated to active mapping. Within the first 100 weeks, there were an astounding 100 chapters that had joined the network. As of April 2024, the YouthMappers network celebrated surpassing 400 chapters, now spanning over 80 countries worldwide.
We attribute the viral growth of the YouthMappers network in part to its flexible and inclusive design as a youth-led, faculty-mentored, university-based, student-centered, purpose-driven, and no-cost social chapter model. We also believe this growth stems significantly from YouthMappers tapping into, crystallizing, and catalyzing a new space that harnesses the energy and knowledge of young people dedicated to making a difference through geospatial technologies, addressing tangible local needs while contributing to broader global goals for sustainable development.
This is a purpose-driven, identity-based community.
Changesets Over Time
Examples from YouthMappers Chapters
Rwanda YouthMappers Chapter Experience
Rwanda is a small, landlocked territory in Central East Africa where informal settlements exist in physically congested spaces, and the quality of and access to information about them are usually limited. The long-term goal of Rwanda YouthMappers, the YouthMappers chapter at the University of Rwanda, is to put Rwanda on the map.
In collaboration with Kigali Geospatial Development and Research Hub (GeoDR), Rwanda YouthMappers conducted a study on the challenges associated with informal settlement upgrading in the Agatare area of Kigali city (Fig. 2.1). Open mapping was used in this project to support effective planning on behalf of the government, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector to address the problems of informal settlements in the country.
Discover more about the Rwanda Radiant Geospatial Training and Remote Sensing Workshop in our blog post here. Learn about the journey to make Rwanda YouthMappers more gender-inclusive in our blog post here.
Italian YouthMappers Chapter Experience
Italy, with an HDI of 0.88, above the threshold of very high human development, is among the top 30 countries in the 2020 ranking (UNDP). It has a very good availability of both authoritative and volunteer data and presents very limited cases of informal settlements. For this reason, PoliMappers, the first Italian YouthMappers chapter, has been very active in projects outside national borders since its foundation in 2016, supporting humanitarian activities in the Global South. Indeed, in past years, the group took an active part in a wide variety of campaigns located around the world and promoted by the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), Crowd2Map Tanzania, and others.
Explore how PoliMappers joined MapTime Milan in our blog post here. Discover how PoliMappers contributed to the Architecture for Smart City course in our blog post here. Read about the role of geospatial data in research and policy development and PoliMappers' experiences here.
Kenyan YouthMappers Chapter Experience
Partnership with Map Kibera Trust.
Kibera is the largest informal settlement in Africa. Situated in Nairobi, Kenya, Kibera is one of the most well-known, well-researched, and well-serviced informal settlements worldwide. Despite this focus, Kibera was literally a blank spot on the map: its patterns of traffic, scarce water resources, limited medical facilities, etc., remained invisible to the outside world and residents themselves. Without basic knowledge of Kibera's geography, it was impossible to have an informed discussion on how to improve the lives of its residents.
In November 2009, Map Kibera produced the first complete free and open map of Kibera, thanks to motivated local young people who learned how to create maps using OSM techniques. This included surveying with handheld GPS devices, digitizing satellite imagery, and using paper-based annotations with Walking Papers. Individuals from the blossoming Nairobi tech scene helped train and connect with the larger community, creating a sustainable group of map maintainers beyond the initial three-week effort. Data consumers were consulted for their needs to help guide feature types collected and immediately make use of the map data. Map Kibera has grown into a complete interactive community information project.
Joint Initiatives Between Map Kibera and YouthMappers.
In 2016, Map Kibera helped launch the first YouthMappers chapter in Kenya at the University of Nairobi by providing capacity-building training to new chapter members. This led to a series of joint initiatives, including:
The mapping of water and sanitation facilities in Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, to support the initiatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) in that area.
Hosting a joint mapathon with the Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) during the 2017 high-level meeting for data and development in Africa (ODW 2017).
Launching a program to provide YouthMappers members with internship opportunities to gain hands-on experience in mapping informal settlements and the methodologies used in the projects.
Learn about security mapping in Kibera and its impact in our blog post here.
Where Is the Closest Health Clinic?
YouthMappers Map Their Communities Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.
YouthMappers chapters are both locally and globally situated, fostering a confluence of community input and creativity that drives progress toward the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Examining Hudson Valley Mappers' community mapping projects in parallel offers rich insights on open mapping for SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being) and highlights the value of SDG 4 (Quality Education). Both YouthMappers chapters collaborated with local partners to map health facilities and other community resources; the resulting maps and data filled critical information gaps during the COVID-19 pandemic. The project outcomes underscore the unique niche that the YouthMappers network occupies in the open mapping world.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, access to reliable healthcare location data is more vital than ever. Both prior to and during the pandemic, YouthMappers chapters around the world strengthened their communities by providing residents and local stakeholders with accurate and up-to-date information on healthcare facilities and other resources. They designed these mapping projects with community input and in collaboration with local and international partner organizations. In doing so, YouthMappers chapters contributed to the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG): Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. This chapter demonstrates how open mapping efforts can "strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks" (SDG Target 3.d).
Explore GIS responses to COVID-19 and the mapping of community resources in Dutchess County, New York, in our blog post here. Learn how YouthMappers supported COVID-19 relief efforts through the HOT Rapid Response Microgrant here. Read about the inspiring work of youth in rapid response against COVID-19 in our blog post here.
Understanding YouthMappers' Contributions to Building Resilient Communities in Asia
This chapter considers the contributions of YouthMappers chapters in Asia. In addition to a regional overview, we highlight actions of students in Bangladesh and the Philippines to fill critical data gaps that support community access to information during emergencies, natural disasters, and pandemics. Lack of data leads to poor decision-making at any time, but in the context of shocks and hazards, it can have an especially profound impact on local communities. By creating open geospatial data and advancing the geospatial capacity of university students and local community members, local governing bodies will be able to plan for the well-being of their constituents, and community members will have access to the information necessary to keep their families safe. This contributes to better health and well-being (SDG 3) and a more resilient society in the face of climate change impacts (SDG 13).
Mapping Access to Electricity in Urban and Rural Nigeria
YouthMappers use OpenStreetMap and IoT tools to help map where rural communities have good, poor, or no access to electricity throughout Nigeria, contributing to efforts to bring stable power across West Africa. An ongoing energy crisis is hampering other efforts to create sustainable cities and communities, so assessing and locating the reality of power access is critical not only to address SDGs related to affordable and clean energy but also as a fundamental element that serves as an engine for sustainable development. Through these efforts, we students have built our technology capacity and community networks while also advancing practices about how to build inclusive, sustainable cities and communities in both urban and rural areas where we live and study.
As of 2020, only 45% of Nigeria's population is actively connected to the Nigerian energy grid. Epileptic power supply is experienced 85% of the time, with some regions having no supply of electricity for years. The power supply situation in Nigeria is so poor that several communities, even though connected to the grid, have no power supply for days, running into months and years. Coupled with flawed legislation and practices, unplanned and unscheduled power cuts are experienced regularly. This reflects the unpredictable nature of the power supply in the country as a whole.
YouthMappers at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) aimed to increase the data about access to electricity in the country and embarked on several mapathons. One of those programs is the Nigeria Sustainable Energy 4 All (SEA4ALL) program.
Power Grid Mapping in West Africa
YouthMappers help map fundamental features of rural communities across the countryside of Sierra Leone as an innovative model for bringing power to villages across West Africa. Charting the location of buildings, tracing streets, and pinpointing where utility poles dot the landscape inform efforts to design and install mini-grids in places without power or with insufficient service. By understanding settlement patterns, road connectivity, and the layout of current low-voltage distribution networks, the team speeds up and scales up designs for rural electrification, contributing directly to SDG 7 to bring affordable and clean energy to communities and to SDG 9 to build resilient infrastructure in ways that foster innovation for mapping and beyond.
Learn more in the YouthMappers documentary here.
Visualizing YouthMappers' Contributions to Environmental Resilience in Latin America
Generation of Open Spatial Data for Resilience
The activities of YouthMappers in Latin America have made important contributions to the open spatial data community itself, including OSM, and to the global network of YouthMappers. While YouthMappers have been especially active in Africa and Asia, the participation of students across many South American, Central American, and Caribbean nations (LAC) has been impressive given our relative size. While the world populations of Asia (4.6 billion) and Africa (1.3 billion) far surpass that of the Latin American region (527 million, 7% of the world's population), the level of participation in YouthMappers from the LAC region surpasses average expectations. Of the nearly 300 chapters globally, there are 30 chapters (or 10%) in countries of the LAC region. Of the 64 countries where YouthMappers chapters have been established as of the end of 2021, 12 are in the LAC region (19%). Certainly, the small size of our population does not deter us, as youth from the region, from joining and contributing to the global network.
Discover ongoing YouthMappers community projects in LATAM in our blog post here.
Student, Alumni, and Staff Perspectives
Many YouthMappers students describe being a part of the network as having friends in 67+ countries (and growing) around the world.
"I have seen that when you are connected to YouthMappers, you have the world in your hands. Living in foreign countries is not easy; most of the time, you feel lonely as it takes time to become familiar with the new conditions.
Since I joined YouthMappers, I got the opportunity to be connected to many people from different countries. Nothing is better than having a network of people with whom you share the same feelings and commitments. Currently, I have friends in more than 20 countries all over the world. This is a privilege that I couldn't have had if I had never joined YouthMappers."
YouthMappers Leadership Fellowship Program
The YouthMappers Leadership Fellowship has consistently attracted talented individuals from around the world. In 2024, the program selected 27 students from a global pool of applicants, following a record-breaking cohort of 52 fellows in 2023. Since its inception, the fellowship has demonstrated steady growth, with 22 students selected in 2019 and 20 in 2017. In addition to the fellowship program, YouthMappers has established a network of 23 regional ambassadors, appointed in 2022, who play a crucial role in leading and supporting the community. This diverse and vibrant community of young leaders is driving the mission of YouthMappers forward, making a meaningful impact in their communities and beyond.
Read about the journey from YouthMappers to the Mandela Washington Fellowship in our blog post here. Learn about the transformative experience at the 2024 YouthMappers Leadership Fellowship in our blog post here.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the YouthMappers program has made significant strides in empowering young people to contribute to sustainable development through mapping and community engagement. With its growing network of chapters and regional ambassadors, YouthMappers is poised to continue making a meaningful impact in communities around the world. As we look to the future, it is clear that the program's commitment to the SDGs and its focus on community development will remain at the forefront of its mission. We are excited to see the continued growth and success of YouthMappers and its contributions to creating a more sustainable and equitable world for all.
References
Open Mapping towards Sustainable Development Goals: Voices of YouthMappers on Community Engaged Scholarship, Solís & Zeballos (Eds)., 2023, Springer Nature, pp. 382, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-05182-1.
Download an OPEN ACCESS copy of the book here.
About the Author
Adamu Muhammad Adamu is the President of YouthMappers at Gombe State University, Gombe, Nigeria. Currently, he is a 3rd-year student in the Geography Department, Faculty of Science. Adamu is also the Vice President of the National Association of Geography Students (NAGS). Notably, he was selected as a 2024 YouthMappers Leadership Fellow, which took him to Bangkok, Thailand, for a remarkable leadership experience. Adamu is passionate about leveraging geospatial technologies to drive sustainable development, with a particular focus on addressing climate change (SDG 13) and promoting community engagement. He is dedicated to making a positive impact in his community and beyond.
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