Cal Poly Hosting Mapping Conference Through Aug. 3

August 1, 2017

Contact: AnnMarie Cornejo 
805-756-2427; ancornej@calpoly.edu 

An international panel of renowned scholars on participatory mapping is gathered at Cal Poly through Aug. 3 for a three-day colloquium featuring topics such as land and marine planning and management, urban and regional planning, rural development, indigenous rights, social justice and participatory governance. 

Participatory mapping is a group-based technique used by researchers and cartographers to involve local participants in decisions such as development and allocation of natural resources. 

“This is a field that is only going to grow in importance,” said Greg Brown, head of Cal Poly’s Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Department and organizer of the event. “There is a global desire for people to want to be involved in the decisions that affect their lives.” 

Key speakers include Piotr Jankowski, a professor from San Diego State University and leader in participatory mapping; Marketta Kyttä, associate professor of land use planning and urban studies at Aalto University in Finland; and Gregor MacLennan, program director at Digital Democracy in Oakland, Calif.

 Academics, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, students, and information technology professionals are encouraged to attend. For more information and a full schedule of speakers, visit www.landscapemap2.org/ppgis2017. Plenary speaker presentations will broadcast live at https://calpoly.zoom.us/j/3557307601. 

About Cal Poly’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences  
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked, comprehensive polytechnic university. The university’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences is comprised of expert faculty members who take pride in their ability to transform academically motivated students into innovative professionals, ready to solve the complex challenges associated with feeding the world in sustainable ways. Students have access to state-of-the-art laboratories, including ranch land, orchards, vineyards and forests, all of which provide the basis for Cal Poly’s Learn by Doing methodology. It is the fifth-largest college of agriculture in the country, with 4,000 undergraduate students.  

# # #