Cartography for the Young

Cartography for the young

The last ICA column in this magazine discussed the exhibitions associated with each International Cartographic Conference (ICC), including the ICC 2013 to be held in Dresden this August. Among the exhibitions are entries for the biennial ‘Childrens Map’ contest, organised by the ICA Commission on Cartography and Children, and named the ‘Barbara Petchenik Competition’ after the late ICA vice-president and eminent American cartographer.

This year, ICA celebrates the 20^th anniversary of the first Barbara Petchenik Competition which was organised in Cologne, Germany, to coincide with the ICC 1993. The decades since then have revealed an extraordinary depth of artistic talent, scientific awareness and geographical knowledge in young people from all over the world who have contributed their maps of our planet to the competition. Two book volumes of Children Map the World have been published by ESRI Press (one in 2005 and the second in 2009), reproducing the highlights and award winners from the past 20 years. Although the entries are expected to be maps of the whole world, the theme varies from one competition to the next: recently, children have interpreted ‘Many Nations-One World’ and ‘Living in a Globalized World’, while this year’s theme is ‘My Place in Today’s World’. Entries have already been received from countries around the globe which organise national contests themselves before sending representative samples to the international coordinators, Peter van der Krogt and Ferjan Ormeling (The Netherlands).

There are specific rules for the competition and, under the direction of Commission chair Jesus Reyes (Budapest, Hungary), continuity and rigour in the difficult administration and judging of the prestigious awards has been maintained. Professor Reyes, assisted by vice-chair Diah Kresnawati (Indonesia), also maintains the high profile of the Commission in other areas. Outreach to other international organisations has been notable in recent months, with participation in the European Association of Geographers (EUROGEO) 2012 Symposium in Dublin, Ireland, and interaction with IGU Commission on Geographical Education, at the symposium held in Freiburg last August just before IGU’s 32nd congress.

The Commission is active in promoting its other work, with its dedicated website containing useful materials for the Childrens Map competition, including advice on running national competitions, a parental permission form for entrants, resource material written by Henry Castner (USA) and a collection of 32 different blank graticules that can be used by teachers and children for map drawing. Outreach using social media is also a characteristic of the group, with a Facebook profile [1] established in 2012, facilitating contact between members and engaging with a wider spectrum of people. Its success is underlined by the detailed statistical analysis which Facebook site owners can access: for example, the most ‘likes’ come from Hungary and Brazil, but in 3rd and 4th places are Tunisia and Egypt, two countries that are not yet national members of ICA.

The Commission is leading the organisation of ‘Sharing Knowledge’, a joint ICA Symposium to be held at Dresden University of Technology on 23 August 2013, prior to the main ICC 2013. Details are available at [2]. 

[1] www.facebook.com/icaccc

[2] http://lazarus.elte.hu/jointsymposium2013