Led by the Kenyan and Nigerian partners on IDEAMAPS Data Ecosystem, the engagement and learning work streams planned and developed participatory action research activities to gather data on community assets in Lagos, Kano, and Nairobi. The goal of these activities is to put a positive perspective on the map of the communities and their assets by updating OpenStreetMap to make it more reflective of major landmarks and resources as defined by the communities themselves.

This data collection effort was a result of our learnings during the Stakeholder Workshops held earlier this year, which you can read about here. We learned that some community members found existing OpenStreetMap markers were not reflective enough of the essential resources and major facilities they use on a daily basis, resulting in a difficult experience when trying to recognise characteristics of their communities on a map.

Throughout the month of June, the partners in Lagos, Kano, and Nairobi worked diligently to deliver these data collection and asset identification activities. As we now work to evaluate the results and curate the data, please stay tuned for more updates about what we achieved.

Thank you to all of the participants in these activities who have generously contributed their time, knowledge, and energy to improving base maps to reflect community assets.