A lot of the work we’ve done this year has involved making maps. Maps are great ways to visualise data. Taking data locked up in spreadsheets and placing it on an interactive map gives it a whole new perspective.
A number of community groups have started to approach us asking for help with creating maps of the local area. We’re always pleased to help as supporting local people in publishing and sharing information about the area is why we exist as a group.
So, looking ahead to 2017, we want to turn this into a formal offer: let us help you map your data and share it with the local community.
This year we’ve created a lot of different maps. We’ve helped Perry Harris map his cartoons, shown how cyclists move around the city, created a dashboard to map environmental protection requests and visualised the grant funding supporting great projects around the area.
You can see more of these maps in our Data Advent Calendar 2016. We’re showcasing a new map every day.
We’ve also released a comprehensive set of geographical data which is helping us build up interesting views of the local area. To allow the community to start creating their own maps using this data we’ve also run a number of free training courses. So far we’ve trained 15 people on QGIS and 30 people in using Carto.
We’ve begun working with several local groups to help them create new maps of the area. For example we’re:
- working with Age UK Bath to map services across the area
- talking to the local independent business community about creating a map of stores
- exploring ideas for mapping accessible locations and routes around the city, using tools like Wheelmap to allow the community to collect its own data
So we want to make clear our offer to other local groups, organisations and projects. We have technical expertise that could be useful to you. We can help you by:
- Providing advice and support around how to collect or publish your data, for use by others
- Creating interactive maps that will showcase your work, services or other activities
- Publish and share those maps and the data used to make them with the wider community
If you’d like some support then please get in touch. We’re a volunteer-led project working for the community and our goal is to support you as best we can.
If you’re a local developer and want to help with any of our projects, then please get involved. If you’re a local firm and want to support the work that we do with the community, then we always need sponsors to help cover our costs. Regardless of what help and support you can offer, we’d love to hear from you!
Let’s create some new, interesting and fun perspectives on our city and district in 2017.