Using mapping tools for a positive impact in the world including; Seascapes, PlusCodes, Reforestation, Migrant Settlements, and Map Lessons.
Google’s Geo for Good Summit is an annual conference intended for nonprofits, scientists and other change-makers who want to leverage technology and use mapping tools for a positive impact in the world.
2020 was the 9th summit, and like the OSM US Connect 2020 Conference, was held virtually.
You can view all of the videos from the Geo for Good Summit on the Google Earth YouTube channel here.
Here are my personal favourites from the lightning talks.
Seascape mapping in the cloud (WWF)
Aurelie Shapiro talks about WWF’s (Germany) projects to map mangroves, corals and sea-grasses. This work is vitally important as these areas prevent coastal erosion and improve climate resilience.
PlusCodes - helping to provide better identities by providing postal addresses to underserved communities (Addressing the Unaddressed)
Alex Pigot from Addressing the Unaddressed walks through how the organisation developed an addressing system using PlusCode’s at a rate of 20,000 houses a month in India.
Plus Codes as Addresses on the Navajo Nation (Rural Utah Project)
Drew Cooper talks about a similar project to Addressing the Unaddressed, this time for the 5000 Navajo homes which, before this project, had no physical address.
Central Appalachian Mine Reforestation Assessment (SkyTruth)
Christian Thomas from SkyTruth discusses the issue of mining in the Appalachia region and whether old mines recover once companies stop digging.
Detecting new informal settlements using AI, satellite images, and mobile maps (Thinking Machines)
Isabelle Tingzon talks about the migration crisis in Venezuela and the settlements that arise on migrant routes as. She talks about how Thinking Machines is using lower-quality satellite images (due to cost) with the help of artificial intelligence and photos taken on the ground using mobile phones to detect settlements so the aid organisations like USAID can plan effective responses.
Increasing Classroom Engagement (India Literacy Project)
Pramod Sridharamurthy introduces some of the problems with pre-University education and how the team at the India Literacy Project are using Google Earth to create interactive lessons to address some of these issues.
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