Map of the Week: The Civic Crowd
April 25th, 2012 | Published in Google Maps
Map of the Week: The Civic Crowd
Why we like it: A unique way of using Google Maps to initiate positive community action, this map is a great way to discover, share, propose, and appreciate citizen powered change.
The Civic Crowd uses Google Maps to organize a wide range of civic projects and make them easy to discover or create. The special aspect of The Civic Crowd is that it gives the user a variety of ways to interact with projects of interests. Rather than just offering a binary exchange, finding or adding projects, there are five steps a user can take: 1. Share, 2. Discuss, 3. Offer, 4. Appreciate, 5. Propose, or 6. Volunteer. In essence, this is creates a social change marketplace that breaks down barriers to engagement.
By using a map to organize citizen action, The Civic Crowd helps people become more aware and connected to action needed in their communities. If you have an idea or a project that you would like to people to get involved with or simply would like start a discussion about, the submission flow is easy and well designed. After logging in, users just need to answer a few questions and geotag their idea.
While The Civic Crowd is mainly available in the U.K. at the moment, this site has the potential to be used globally.
Why we like it: A unique way of using Google Maps to initiate positive community action, this map is a great way to discover, share, propose, and appreciate citizen powered change.
The Civic Crowd uses Google Maps to organize a wide range of civic projects and make them easy to discover or create. The special aspect of The Civic Crowd is that it gives the user a variety of ways to interact with projects of interests. Rather than just offering a binary exchange, finding or adding projects, there are five steps a user can take: 1. Share, 2. Discuss, 3. Offer, 4. Appreciate, 5. Propose, or 6. Volunteer. In essence, this is creates a social change marketplace that breaks down barriers to engagement.
By using a map to organize citizen action, The Civic Crowd helps people become more aware and connected to action needed in their communities. If you have an idea or a project that you would like to people to get involved with or simply would like start a discussion about, the submission flow is easy and well designed. After logging in, users just need to answer a few questions and geotag their idea.
While The Civic Crowd is mainly available in the U.K. at the moment, this site has the potential to be used globally.