YouthMappers

YouthMappers is an international student network that mobilizes university chapters to create and improve geographic data for disaster response, development, and research. The initiative connects students with practitioners in humanitarian organizations, academic institutions, and technology companies to produce and apply crowdsourced mapping data during crises and for long-term planning. Its activities bridge academic programs at institutions such as Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, Stanford University, and University of Oxford with operational partners like United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, Red Cross, and World Bank.

History

The network emerged from collaborations among scholars and practitioners at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, George Washington University, and University of California, Davis following major mapping mobilizations for the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, and persistent crises such as the Syria civil war. Early pilots drew on volunteer efforts coordinated through Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, OpenStreetMap Foundation, and the Missing Maps project launched by Médecins Sans Frontières, American Red Cross, and British Red Cross. Expansion accelerated as chapters formed at institutions like University of Cambridge, University of Toronto, National University of Singapore, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, and University of Cape Town, aligning with initiatives from USAID, European Commission, and United Nations Development Programme.

Mission and Activities

The stated mission centers on training students to produce high-quality geospatial data for use by responders such as Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, and Oxfam. Activities include classroom modules developed with partners like Esri, Mapbox, and Google Crisis Response, practical mapping events modeled on mapathons run by HOTOSM and academic curricula at schools including University of California, Berkeley, Pennsylvania State University, and London School of Economics. Chapters undertake remote mapping, field validation, and data analysis supporting agencies such as World Health Organization, Food and Agriculture Organization, and UNICEF. Training often references standards from OpenStreetMap, the Open Geospatial Consortium, and datasets from NASA, US Geological Survey, and European Space Agency.

Organizational Structure and Partnerships

Governance relies on a central coordinating secretariat that liaises with academic advisors at universities like Duke University and Johns Hopkins University and with technical partners including HOTOSM, MapGive, and Carto. Chapters operate in universities such as Columbia University, University of Michigan, Yale University, University of Sydney, McGill University, and University of Nairobi. Strategic partnerships have been forged with multilateral agencies like United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction, Asian Development Bank, and African Union as well as non-profits including Planet Labs, Humanitarian Data Exchange, and ReliefWeb. Funding and programmatic coordination have involved donors such as Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Wellcome Trust, and bilateral agencies including Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office and Global Affairs Canada.

Projects and Impact

Chapters contributed to mapping projects during events such as the 2014 Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the 2015 Nepal earthquake, the 2017 Hurricane Maria, and ongoing crises including the Yemen conflict and South Sudan conflict. Outputs include improved road and building footprints used by UNICEF and WHO for vaccination campaigns, flood risk mapping for World Bank resilience projects, and urban resilience analyses informing municipal plans in cities like Lima, Dhaka, Nairobi, Kigali, and Kampala. Academic collaborations produced peer-reviewed work with researchers from Princeton University, University of California, Santa Barbara, Brown University, and Arizona State University. The network’s data has underpinned open datasets referenced by platforms such as Humanitarian Data Exchange and tools from QGIS, ArcGIS, and GeoNode.

Funding and Resources

Support streams combine grants, in-kind contributions, and institutional support. Major grants have come from foundations like Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation as well as government programs administered by USAID and the European Commission Horizon research initiatives. Corporate partners such as Esri, Google, Mapbox, and Planet Labs provide software licenses, imagery, and technical assistance; academic institutions supply faculty time and credit-bearing courses at schools including Rutgers University, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, University of Washington, and Texas A&M University. Volunteer coordinators coordinate with humanitarian clusters like CLIMATE-HUB and data services such as ReliefWeb to align mapping priorities with operational needs.

Category:Humanitarian mapping organizations