Abstract
Abstract. IMY was a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world. Supported by the United Nations, IMY provides opportunities to demonstrate, follow, and get involved in the art, science, and technology of making and using maps and geographic information. International Map Year (IMY) started in Paris 2011 when the General Assembly of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) asked the ICA Executive Committee (EC) to follow up on the proposal given in a motion from the Swedish Cartographic Society. An IMY Working Group (WG) was constituted – it defined the IMY goals and the activities required to reach them, and it proposed a suitable time period for the IMY to the ICA EC. IMY commenced in August 2015 and ended in December 2016. The success of IMY was dependent on all member nations of the ICA participating in an effort to broaden the knowledge of cartography and geographic information in society in general, especially among citizens and school children. Member nations of the ICA were responsible for organizing IMY activities, such as a national Map Day, through national IMY committees tasked to engage national organizations and spearheading collaboration. The IMY WG set up an IMY web site with general information on IMY, guidelines for how to organize Map Days, suggestions relating to activities aimed at general map awareness, and more. The web site also provides access to the electronic book The World of Maps, which has been translated from English into five other languages.
Highlights
International Map Year (IMY) 2015-2016 was a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world
During a telephone conference between representatives of the United Nations (UN) Cartographic Section and the International Cartographic Association (ICA) in February 2012, it was decided that the ICA should propose that IMY be included in the work of the UN Committee of Experts on Global Geospatial Information Management (UN-GGIM), which is the UN body charged with making maps and geospatial information available in UN-related activities around the world
At the 2015 International Cartographic Conference (ICC), all conference participants received a t-shirt with the IMY logo, which was designed by the ICA webmaster, Manuela Schmidt
Summary
International Map Year (IMY) 2015-2016 was a worldwide celebration of maps and their unique role in our world. Initiated by the International Cartographic Association (ICA) and supported by the United Nations (UN), IMY provided opportunities to demonstrate, follow, and get involved in the art, science, and technology of making and using maps and geographic information. The public was offered a variety of free resources downloadable from the IMY web site (http://mapyear.org/) to help it celebrate the event and organize related activities. These resources included a blog to share news about happenings around the world, suggestions for how to host a variety of maprelated events, guidelines for how to organize a national Map Day, logos for t-shirts and buttons, and a variety of other promotional materials. The Executive Committee (EC) of the International Cartographic Association (ICA) decided to continue the effort to promote cartography and geographic information by co-ordinating an annual international Map Day in the future
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