About the event
Himalayan University Consortium(HUC) fellows will be showcasing their mountain-focused work at the Open Geospatial Conference and State of the Map Asia 2023, in Bangkok. The theme for this year’s conference is urban resilience. The meeting will also gather HUC-supported mappers, researchers, and practitioners in the fields of open geospatial and community-led mapping from Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) countries.
Objectives
- Showcase mountain-focused, HKH-specific work of HUC-supported mappers as part of the HOTOSM community
- Discuss the possibility of establishing a cross-cutting workgroup on open geospatial technologies and community-led mapping for sustainable and resilient Hindu Kush Himalaya
- The expected outcome is a concrete action plan for the cross-cutting workgroup for the year 2024.
Background
Open geospatial tools and technologies are free and accessible to the public. Community-led mapping is a method of participatory approach that engages stakeholders in generating geospatial data based on their needs for socio-economic development and resilience building in the face of climate change and other uncertainties. The use of open geospatial tools and technologies through community-led participatory mapping approach is highly effective for first response and relief operation in extremely challenging circumstances of disruptions in critical infrastructure during cascading and compound disasters. They are also an effective communication tool in resilience and community building, especially for mapping tangible and intangible heritage that matters to local communities.
Members and partners of HUC have been active in promoting the development, application, and refinement of open geospatial tools and technologies for research and practice in the HKH. Since 2021, HUC has collaborated closely with the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Asia Pacific (HOTOSM) to train young female community members in Bangladesh, Bhutan, and northeast India as part of She Leads and She Inspires programme. In March 2023, HUC collaborated with the University of Innsbruck and University of Bremen in hosting a Training on Glacier Modelling: Practical applications with the Open Global Glacier Model (OGGM). These capacity-building activities generated a cohort of young professionals, many of them women, making use of open geospatial tools in their local context and addressing local concerns.
Agenda
Wednesday, 15 November
| Time | Programme |
|---|---|
| 17:00 | Arrival |
| 17:30 – 18:30 | Introduction |
| 18:30 – 20:00 | Working dinner
|
Thursday, 16 November
| Time (NPT) | Programme |
|---|---|
| 8:00 onwards | Full day engagement at the Open Geospatial Conference and State of the Map Asia 2023 |
| 18:00 – 20:00 | Reception dinner |
Friday, 17 November
| Time (NPT) | Programme |
|---|---|
| 8:00 onwards | Open talks: Engaging the Open GeoCommunity and civic partners in Asia HUC presenters will make three collective lightning talks during this session
|
| 17:00 onwards | Gala dinner |