Open Green Map is taking shape, as described in our June-July Newsletter - click here to read it (you can join the mailing list on our homepage).

Our Open Green Map team includes a great mix of developers, designers, outreach and education specialists, including (from left to right in the picture:) Miikka Lammela, Andrew Sass, Carlos Martinez, Thomas Turnbull, Gottfried Haider, Anna Krusic, Wendy Brawer, (not shown here:) Bob Zuber, Yoko Ishibashi, Yelena Zolotorevskaya, Lee Frankel-Goldwater, Maddy Goldfarb and Kathryn Podobinski.

Note that Anna is actually the Rockland New York Green Mapmaker. She is an Advisor to the Open Green Map and one of the first to create maps at OpenGreenMap.org. We so appreciate her, Janet Felsten of Baltimore, Max Goldstein of Stockholm, Cip Samoila of Romania and Hannah Clinch of Glasgow for their input to date. We also appreciate your contributions, as described below.

What is Open Green Map?

Merging open source and Google Map technologies, our award-winning iconography and local knowledge, Open Green Map will:

Highlight, describe and link thousands of places worldwide that are making progress toward sustainability from a green living, natural, cultural and social perspective.

Create a platform to communicate about diverse, hopeful or challenging sites, so that everyone can discuss, rate, update, illustrate and share the impacts each site has had on individual and community green choices.

Provide ways to share the Open Green Map in other websites though widgets, be used on mobile phones, and other data sharing platforms, etc.

Provide online resources for local map team development and communications.

Invite massive participation, and grow Open Green Map’s potential to help thousands of communities, individuals and decision-makers act for the common good.

Currently we are readying the Open Green Map for its debut to current Green Mapmakers in July 2008. We are tentatively planning the public debut in September.

How can you help?

Today, making a donation to Green Map System is a great way to support this effort! 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!

We'd love your involvement in adding to the Open Green Map, too, a bit later this year! Watch for updates here or in our preview site OpenGreenMap.org!