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Mapping For Climate-Ready Cities

Climate crises are inherently geographic. Yet many of the places where people are most vulnerable to climate change lack representation on maps, meaning communities and decision-makers do not have reliable data to address the converging crises they face.

10M

People to be Mappedⓘ Expected outcome of an area home to 10 million people mapped using HOT Tasking Manager

1,000

local mappers to be trainedⓘ With a focus on participatory mapping

20

Local Orgs to engageⓘ Connecting local organizations with local stakeholders and governments

25K

Datasets to be Downloadedⓘ A goal per year that will allow to determine the interest on the data produced.

Related Projects

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

2024 - 2025 Cycle

Coverage

Bangladesh Nepal Ethiopia Nigeria Ivory Coast Kenya Democratic Republic of the Congo Sierra Leone Liberia Brazil Mexico Chile Ecuador

Impact Areas

Sustainable Cities & Communities

Partners

UN-Habitat Start Network Save the Children UK Open Government Partnership (OGP)

At Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT), we are addressing climate data gaps by working with local communities and partners to take anticipatory action. We ensure their realities are represented on the map and that communities are involved in climate-related decisions that will affect them.

Through our Mapping for Climate-Ready Cities program, we are mapping cities in four priority regions of the world and developing a thriving ecosystem to create, interpret, and use maps to respond to and reduce climate risks in densely populated urban areas.

Map Data for Anticipatory Action


Anticipatory action serves as a crucial link between long-term disaster risk reduction and immediate humanitarian response, particularly amidst the compounded threats of climate change and disasters. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every dollar invested in anticipatory action could give families seven dollars in benefits and avoid losses. However, anticipatory action efforts in vulnerable areas are hindered by a lack of data.


HOT’s Mapping for Climate-Ready Cities program will make open map data available in high-risk cities before a disaster strikes so that it can be used to plan for and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather and climate events. The proactive approach of this program will enable enhanced coordination and community involvement, facilitating early determination of response strategies and providers with ample time for training and capacity building. By leveraging map data to take preemptive measures, this program will mitigate potential crises, thereby saving resources and time and averting displacement, disease, and livelihood losses.

Crowdsourcing Non-Camp Refugee Services Data - March 2018

This Program provides open map data in high-risk areas before disaster strikes to bolster preparedness and mitigation efforts against extreme weather and climate events.

Objectives

Map

Map 8-10 major cities

across 4 regions by 2025 with a focus on the most vulnerable populations in those locations.

DATA USE

Increase analytical capacity of stakeholders

to collect, analyze & use map data to advocate for climate-resilient policy and planning decisions.

INTEGRATION

Collaborate with local representatives

to embed open climate data into existing workflows to create data-informed policies & climate-action plans.

HiGHLIGHTED Projects

Other Projects in This Program

Mapping for Climate Ready Cities - East and Southern Africa

Kenya , Ethiopia , Democratic Republic of the Congo

HOT's Approach


For 13 years, HOT has worked in collaboration with local communities to put the places they live on the world map. Our global community of 600K+ volunteers map buildings, roads, and key infrastructure on OpenStreetMap (OSM), a free open source map of the world. Our four Regional Hubs work in 94 countries, connecting with local organizations, government agencies, international networks, and others to ground truth map data and get locally created maps into the hands of decision-makers. Community knowledge, needs, and solutions are at the center, with HOT facilitating the end-to-end process of identifying missing data, mapping, analyzing data, and using that data effectively.

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Our Impact

HOT's work is global in scale and contributes to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Our Monitoring and Evaluation framework is constantly evolving to ensure tangible and measurable impact. Check out our core impact areas and learn more about where we're making a difference.