The concern about sustainability has risen interest in the academic community and society, when it comes to the practices aimed atimproving the quality of life for current generations and, primarily, for the Future ones. The city of Curitiba has a public policy that addresses issues related to sustainable development. Still, it is known that improvements are needed with regards to interventions (especially among students) to encourage the pursuit of sustainability.
The Curitiba Green Map workshops fall in this trajectory. It is organized through a partnership between UFPR and American NGO © Green Map, which aims to map the elements of urban ecology, related to good and bad practices of sustainability, given the slogan "Think Global, Map Local," adapted from recommendation of Agenda 21 (ECO92, 1992).read more »

Location: Jersey City NJ, USA
Date: Aug/Sept 2010
Background: Third in a series motivated by Fossil-fuel addiction and it’s affects on JC

I'm a bit of a sucker for old movies and have known for sometime that Midnight Cowboy (1969 – the only X-rated movie to receive a best-picture Oscar) has a fleeting scene in JC. However, in researching for JC GreenMap, Bill McKelvey of LHR confirmed that another classic, representing the other extreme of my taste, was also partially filmed in JC. That one was Funny Girl (1968 - Barbara Streisand, best-actress Oscar; what can I say?). This, you might imagine, intrigued me somewhat. How could these two celluloid-opposites cross-paths in JC, of all places?read more »

Association of Conscious Consumers has developed the first printed green map in Hungary, the green map of Lake Tisza and its surroundings. The map is published officially by the Municipality of Sarud and came out for the Lake Region Festival held in the village in 13-15 August.

The map has an ecotourism focus and covers 18 topics, including rural accomodations and horse riding possibilities. For this two, as not yet included in the global icon set, new icons were created.read more »

Where: Jersey City, NJ USA
Topic: Seeing forward by looking back

Once again I am in awe of my adopted home of 10 years. Little did I know that Jersey City was the light-at-the-end-of-the-tunnel for escaping slaves. It was their hope for freedom; their rendezvous with liberty. Jersey City, in Lady Liberty’s backyard, was the last “station” on the “Underground Railroad” that ran up through the eastern seaboard states of the USA. Their new life, like for many of us, began here. read more »

“Ethics” is a good example of a term people use all the time without knowing the word’s origins. Of course, not everyone needs to be an expert etymologist, but sometimes it is interesting—if not, revealing—looking into such matters. “Ethics” comes from the Greek word ēthikos, which can convey a number of meanings familiar to us: morals, customs, principles, etc. But most of these words in modern times have taken a somewhat inappropriate connotation. Nowadays, these words have come to signify all the stern sets of duties one must adhere to, sometimes in the face of competing, though often completely natural, inclinations. Ethics force us to think about and ultimately comply with what is truly the “right” way to live. read more »

Where: Jersey City, NJ USA
Topic: Proposed 30 inch, high-pressure Natural-Gas pipeline, suggested routing through center of JC, supplying NYC
Parties: FERC (Federal Energy Regulatory Commission); Spectra Energy (TX USA)
Map (to right): JC Green-map with proposed pipeline route in black. Note route through residential sections of JC with enormous number of Green-Assets and Icons in close proximity.

Another record breaking hot summer (is there a trend?) and ~300 residents assembled last night in an auditorium (Ferris High School) with a broken AC for over 4 hours. Why? To voice opinions about a proposed 30 in natural gas pipeline, to run through the heart of JC, for the benefit of NYC, and presumably Spectra’s bottom-line. Sitting in that high-school auditorium, not 30 feet from the proposed pipeline route (with a supposed blast-zone of 600 feet), I sat back and studied the accidentally-released helium-balloons still hugging the ceiling from the graduation celebration where presumably upwards of 1000 pupils and their families must have recently congregated. Helium, Natural Gas, a lack of AC - there was a lot of hot air.read more »

How do you go about finding a printer who can fold maps? Any suggestions in metro Detroit are appreciated.

Today GreenMap.org enters the twentieth-first century just a little bit late. The new drop down menus will increase the ease of use as well as help to streamline the design of the website.

Now, every page on Green Map is accessible no matter where you are. Say you are in the press section but would like to jump to a submenu in the About section to find out more about the Green Map Icons. What used to take you up to 6 or even 7 clicks is now just one.

It may be a change in the way you navigate GreenMap.org but your experience will be far more convenient, less frustrating, and maybe even a little prettier.read more »

Following the Green Map of the Annecy area (Rhône-Alpes, France), a 10 schools and youth groups have developed local, educational Green Maps. The projects were lead by the FRAPNA Haute-Savoie, with support of the City Council of Annecy and Ekoacteurs (GRAINE). The project involved training the teachers and group leaders, then spending time working with the groups of children and classes to select areas to map, identify, adapt and apply the Green Map icons and themes. Each Green Map fits in with an ecocitizenship project developed by the school. Several of the schools have decided to continue the project into the next year. The environmental observations made in the field will be passed on to the City Council. The Green Maps produced were presented during Sustainable Development Week events I April 2010 (see photos in the PDF file). For further information: www.frapna.orgread more »

Here in our Green Map System office in East Village, New York, we have been receiving visitors along with their newly made Green Maps. In less than two weeks, we have had Green Mapmakers from Cape Town, Colchester and Baltimore. From the oldest recorded town in Britain to the host city of the 2010 World Cup, they have all raised awareness on sustainable living and resources through their Green Maps.

Colchester, UK

Rowena Macaulay founded Walk Colchester in April 2010. Her fledging group is a community Green Mapping initiative that aims to record and protect the paths, parks, woodlands and open spaces as well as the cultural heritage of this remarkable place by promoting enjoyable, accessible, informed pedestrianism for walkers of all ages and abilities. read more »