MDG mapping project

Pilot in SF, Atlanta

Followed by national rollout

with E4GR.org as key partner

The problem:

• The MDG’s and the problems they focus on seem too big and too far away

• The solution: show that people and churches you know are working effectively to impact the MDG’s

It’s not too far away

• People you know are doing it

It’s not too big

• People you know are making a difference

How to do it:

• Create maps that link local Episcopal churches with the international places where they are having an impact.

Goal:

• To support understanding and collaboration between people, congregations and dioceses, with identification of MDG opportunities and success stories

The result

• People see that people and churches they know, in their own diocese, are making an impact in ways that make sense, in ways they can get involved in

• The problems of the world become problems local people are making a dent in. Hope arises, resources follow

How to do it

• Create a platform that local laypeople can use to easily and simply put in their stories, create their maps, and that their international partners can use to tell their stories as well

What we hope people will do

• Map yourself

• Map your church

• Talk about your ministry

• Map places you’ve visited

• Map pictures of your mission trip

Hoped for result:

• The MDG’s and the problems of global poverty no longer seem impossibly big and too distant to get involved with

• Instead, people, working through trusted networks, tell their stories and get more people involved, create their own maps and stories, etc.

Status

• Pilot funding approved by the Diocese of California, a technology team and a core team of volunteers engaged

• Initial project identified• A technology roadmap established• Beta site up• http://mdg.episcopalbayarea.org/

mdg_mapping/

Next steps

• Take existing diocese of Atlanta international project inventory and input it into site

• Learn, iterate

• With volunteers, do interviews, etc. in bay area

• Work with E4gr.org to replicate model