A Hackathon brings people together and asks them to help solve somebody else’s problem.

This Mapathon asks people to define their own preferred futures, and think about how to get there.

Mapathon 21 asks you to think about big questions about possible futures. It lasts 3 days, in order to give you enough time to really think about what you want from the future, and what you are willing to give.

You can work on this for part of the three days, or all three days, or longer. It depends on how important the questions are to you.

Small groups work together, use pictures  to show what their desired futures look like. Together the group discovers what is common to everyone’s story. 

The story may be about the health of society, of your city, your country. It may reference the way we practice our profession, or learn things at school, or do things online. It may be about climate, or energy, or how people relate to each other, or how government relates to people.

Then they think about how to get there. They check their thinking with what science has to say, and get advice from experts online.

The groups draws a map to visualize the story, and uploads it here.

We will weave your maps of the world together, with the other groups in Mapathon 21.

Participation can take many forms.

People can work face-to-face or online.

Groups can decide to work for several hours on one of the days.

Or work for two or more hours on two days, or even on all three days.

In practice, 3-4 hours is probably the minimum investment. 

Groups can choose the form that works best for them.

If the question is important to them, they can continue to work together after the Mapathon, and upload new stories and ideas.

A map can take many forms: 

• a drawing-board (with pictures and words) on an online application (e.g. MIRO), or made with an online mapping-program. 
• a set of handmade drawings, or a landscape drawn together on a large sheet of paper. 
• a 6-slide presentation, with voiceover.
• a 2-minute video.

There are many ways to tell a story about your preferred future, and how you think we can get there. 

Positive Cartography is about visual thinking, storytelling, consulting science, and making maps. 

It is a way to help communities envision desired futures, and create stories and maps that describe them.

Then consult with science, to keep the stories possible.

Plus one additional ingredient – the commitment mapmakers make to think about actions they can take to make their futures happen.

In this way, we take hopeful steps towards the futures we want for society.

International groups are encouraged to work in English.

Groups in one country can work in their own language.

And send us a summary of their story in English.