Support humanitarian organizations by extending geographic data

Why should I participate?

To perform and achieve humanitarian disaster aid, develop solutions for local development challenges and improve basic livelihoods and environmental protection all over the globe, non-government organisation, communities and other institutions rely often on geographic data. These informations are often generated by coordinated mapping projects, managed by NGOs such as CartONG and utilize the OpenStreetMap project as map data provider.

The contributors of OpenStreetMap seek to create a free editable map of the world. Just like the great example Wikipedia, everyone can freely participate in the process of collecting geopraphical data and integrate them into the maps. Many known companies use these informations, such as Geocaching, Craigslist or Outdooractive.

To organize the contributors, who extend and improve preexisting material on OpenStreetMap, there exists for example the The Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team, which connects various organizations and volunteers to improve map data. Visit the Disaster Mapping Project site for an overview.

How can I participate?

1. First, if not already happened, create an account on openstreetmap.org. Don't forget to choose a good password and verify your email address.  You will then be guided through a short introduction and useful tutorial, which should not be skipped. If you wish, you can check your profile and settings page to verify everything is alright.
2. Optionally, you can now navigate to your living location and see, if some information about your environment are missing or wrong. Since you are new in this, limit the number of your changes and if in doubt, visit the appropriate Wiki Page - it might be worth it!
3. Now you can navigate to the task managing portal. Login and use your OpenStreetMap account for authentication. Go to the contribute page by clicking on "Start mapping" and select in the left column for the mapping difficulty "Beginner". You will be presented by a list of projects, in which you can participate. The first project should be a good choice.
4. When a project is choosed, read the instructions on the left side. On the right side a enhanced map can be found, which gives an overview about the region which has to be edited. If you made yourself familiar with the task, click the map tab and then start mapping, either by selecting manually a region or by random selection, followed by a click on "Start editor".
5. The mapping itself should be straight forward, depending on your specific task and the given task instructions. Try to be as precise as possible and if you have questions, you can ask them in the text field on the task page.
6. After mapping, write a short comment if desired and close the task accordingly. You can also split the task or stop mapping, so that others can continue your work.

That's it! Have fun!