Mapping
Before embarking on a project to strengthen your local economy, understand the landscape of people and organizations already contributing to localization in your region, and the skills and passions that your community has to offer. As Donnie Maclurcan of the Post Growth Institute explains, “Harnessed fully, there are more talents and resources within any small group of passionate citizens than are actually needed to manifest deep social change. It is just a matter of how willing we are to step back and see things through a lens of strengths and possibilities, and how creatively we can bring our multitude of capabilities to light.”
Asset maps document and make visible the organizations, initiatives, and individuals with resources relevant to local community projects in various fields. This can uncover potential opportunities, gaps in resources, and collaborations with existing programs.
Take action
- In the article How to Map Assets & Expose Real Wealth for Shared Futures, Donnie Maclurcan at the Post Growth Institute offers a straightforward process for a group to uncover its members' strengths and find potential nodes of collaboration.
- Learn more about asset mapping with this guide from UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (US) that is applicable to a broad range of sectors and geographic areas.
Get inspired
- Donnie goes into greater detail on the philosophy and past experience in The Power of Asset-Based Approaches, also published by the Post Growth Institute.
It can feel daunting to embark on localizing if you feel isolated, or starting from scratch. The truth is, there is usually already a lot going on to create the new economy, but it may not yet be visible or connected. Mapping out existing initiatives is a great way get a sense for the amazing richness of localization work going on, getting involved in it, and seeing what gaps remain to be filled.
Take action
- Create a local sustainability map for your community with these tools from Green Map.
- Make the case for community-led economic relocalization by mapping existing local economy actors and opportunities with the guide How to Do a Local Economic Blueprint from the Transition Network's REconomy Project.
- Organize a #MapJam in your community with this guide from Shareable, to "bring people together to map grassroots sharing projects, cooperatives, the commons, and other community resources."
Get inspired
- SEE-Change Canberra (Australia) has created the Canberra Sustainability Map, a visual directory of hundreds of projects and organizations working in housing, energy, waste management, resources for indigenous communities, conservation, food, the climate crisis, transportation, the economy, and community-building.
- Green Map NYC (US) hosts numerous maps on everything from composting, sharing and waste reduction, bicycling, and more.
- Smarta Kartan is a digital map of sharing economy initiatives in Gothenburg (Sweden) such as free bike repair centers, makerspaces, solidarity fridges, public fruit trees, and clothing exchanges.
- Biodiverseni is a beautiful printed map of biodiversity and cultural assets in Pejeng, Bali (Indonesia), helping local leaders, residents and visitors join together to preserve Pejeng’s culture.
- Hundreds of mappers in over 80 cities around the world participated in Shareable's #MapJam community mapping initiative to identify and make public grassroots sharing projects, cooperatives, community resources, and the commons. Find links to many of these maps at Shareable.
Mapping out small farms, stores, and food access can help members of your community connect with local food suppliers. It can also reveal gaps in local food availability that might represent meaningful projects for community groups, or new business opportunities for farmers and food entrepreneurs.
Take action
- Visualize how to shift food purchases locally with Campaign to Protect Rural England's Mapping Local Food Webs Toolkit.
- Involve younger community members with Countryside Classroom's activities on Mapping local food for kids, available in English and Welsh.
- Publish a list or map in your local newspaper, in flyers around town, or in local websites.
- Use the Economics of Local Food Systems: A Toolkit to Guide Community Discussions, Assessments and Choices, by Local Food Economics, "to make more deliberate and credible measurements" of local food systems in your region.
Get inspired
- The community coalition Food in Neighborhoods in Kentucky, US, created the LouFoodGuide, a spreadsheet of local farms and food pantries that others can use as a template.
- Local Food Connect in Melbourne, Australia offers an impressive online directory of local farmers, as well as food swaps, community gardens, and food justice initiatives.
School and university campuses have a huge impact on the environment, on their surrounding communities, and on shaping the values and interests of students. As such, making them more sustainable can be a powerful source of positive change. Creating a campus sustainability map will show what is already being done, but more importantly, gaps to be filled through student activism.
Take action
- Using these models from Cornell University, the University of Washington, the University of Colorado and the University of Madison-Wisconsin, create a sustainability map for your school, college or university campus to help direct people to – or inspire them to start – local food outlets, composting sites, student gardens, open and natural spaces, energy alternatives, and more.
In his talk Localisation Initiatives — An Overview from Australia at Local Futures’ 2013 Economics of Happiness Conference in Byron Bay (Australia), Donnie Maclurcan distills four lessons from his experience in community organizing, including the value of asset-based mapping.