Microgrants/Microgrants 2020/Proposal/A Free Video Tutorial for Beginners about Mapping Pacific Islands using OSM and QGIS
This is for making and sharing an educational resource for teaching OSM and QGIS in a Pacific context.
facebook.com/mapmakerdavid
instagram.com/mapmakerdavid
About your Mapping Community
I volunteer for and support multiple open mapping communities that has something to do with OpenStreetMap: OSM Philippines, HOT, and OSGeo Oceania. Over the years, I've split my volunteering time between connecting mappers, giving advice, doing edits, supporting humanitarian mapping, organising events, and promoting anything OSM and QGIS. The mapping communities I belong to love giving opportunities for young mappers to participate; and be empowered and recognised.
What do you need the grant money for?
I need the grant money for developing and popularising a high-quality and solid set of video (possibly YouTube) series and accompanying materials (wikis) for educating young and new mapmakers in the Pacific about doing cartography in the region using OpenStreetMap and QGIS. The content will be customised for a Pacific context and delivered by me, a person born and raised in the Pacific. I will finish the project within 3 months and share regular updates through social media.
Budget breakdown
I plan to put one hundred twenty (120) hours in total to develop this course. I will split the work time roughly between the stages of research, writing, recording, dissemination, and conversations with participants. I ask the OSMF to fund half of it (60 hours) for 30 EUR an hour. Total amount I'm asking for is 1,800 EUR. I will look for other sources to fund the rest. The video series will still proceed even if I don't receive funding from OSMF and others. And any partial grant from OSMF would really help.
If you receive a grant, what do you aim to achieve?
This could be useful for teaching OSM and QGIS in universities, especially public ones, from the Philippines to Aotearoa (New Zealand). The Pacific is vast, and there are thousands of students who could benefit from this. They could be future members of OSMF and its related organisations. Also, the educational resource may also help to increase the diversity of the membership. The learners could also use the same materials to teach in their local communities.
I aim to have at least 100 subscribers to the course, with whom I will have conversations with during the lessons. I can accomplish that by inviting people from my online social networks: ~20,000 followers on my personal Facebook page; ~10,000 on Twitter; and ~3,500 on Instagram. Also, I belong to a Philippine GIScience group I co-founded in 2017. We now have ~1700 members in that group. In the process of networking and influencing, I would like to promote OSM for a lay audience and would like to see young mapmakers get excited to contribute.
More importantly, the learners of the video course could use the maps they create to improve their local social, cultural, economic, environmental, and political conditions in the long run. While the video series may result in more recognition for my personal cartographic work, the social outcomes of having a public educational resource outweighs that. Furthermore, it would be very beneficial if the new Pacific mapmaker (target audience) receives instruction from someone (me) who knows and descends from the ocean, its islands, history, and realities. Also, the educational video series will be particularly useful for mapmakers from marginalised backgrounds, who might not be able to afford a formal education in cartography and geospatial technologies. I think of it as a long-term investment in the next generation of mapmakers in the region, which comprises one of the largest regions in the planet. This mini project is part of my long-term journey of establishing an open geospatial lab and network in the Pacific that is led by locals.
Do you receive funding from any other sources at the moment?
For this particular project, no. On the other hand, I worked so hard from 2014 to 2018 to eventually secure a PhD scholarship in my current university, which pays the bare minimum for my living expenses now here in Aotearoa (New Zealand). That stipend is why I could confidently say that I will make the video series even if I don't get the grant from OSMF or others. This is a passion project that I would really like to do soon. Also, even though I am based in Aotearoa (New Zealand), I do not enjoy and have the same privileges and wealth that the citizens and residents of this country do. Please consider that I had to work in disasters and war zones back home in the Philippines and go through incredible hardship just to be where I'm at now. I've stuck with OSM and QGIS through thick and thin, and I would love other young Pacific mapmakers positively transform their lives and communities through open mapping.
Is there anything you would like OSMF to support you with?
I would like to receive help in some of the technical specifics for advanced mappers, such as special issues in JOSM, as they arise.
Declaration
David Garcia (mapmakerdavid)
Endorsements
Community members are encouraged to endorse your project request here!
Would love to learn additional mapping related skills using OSM and QGIS that may be used on essential activities on businesses, health, and humanitarian activities. - @Reintasico
I think this course would be brilliant. A lot to learn from mapmakerdavid! -HeikkiVesanto
David's passion is contagious, this will be a great resource! - John Bryant
David has long supported the Pacific Community and these resources will further assist in building capacity in the region - Greg Lauer
This will be very helpful specially to students and other people interested to use OSM and GIS. - MapBeks
More mappers from the Pacific! - arnalielsewhere