Our Vision

The vision of the Community Mapping Collaboratory (CMC) is to facilitate student learning, locally-based and globally-relevant research, community engagement, and sustainable community development and planning through participatory campus-community mapping projects.

Our Mission

The CMC, a joint university-community mapping initiative, will be hosted on the University of Victoria campus and be a model for campus-community interaction.

The CMC is:

1. a wide, interdisciplinary collaboration of community and university expertise on community mapping;
2. a physical space - a mapping laboratory;
3. instructional support for credit and non-credit courses;
4. technical support for community, student and faculty research;
5. a liaison between faculty and students and community organizations to facilitate applied learning in the community;
6. a community of practice integrating scholarly and community knowledge;
7. a vital link in a dynamic regional and international community mapping network; 
8. an access point to physical and virtual  resources for  mapping projects.

The CMC will:

• host student and community interns;
• bring innovative, applicable, ideas from students and faculty to local and regional projects/agencies and from community into the university;
• develop open-source, transferable and scalable tools and methodologies for use in a wide range of settings; 
• build mapping skills and capacity on campus and in the community;
• create and facilitate a series of printed and virtual maps aimed at informing policy and building a healthy, sustainable community.  Some examples of the outputs include: a regional green map showing transportation alternatives, challenges and opportunities; neighbourhood maps for local planning; and historical maps showing traditional and historical uses by First Nations and settler populations.

Within five years, the CMC and Network will be celebrated internationally for its effective community-university partnerships, its productivity, its relevance to community and campus and its sustainability.

Related links:

• See About the CMC
• See our Development Committe, Advisory, and Staff
• Meet our Interns
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