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*Message sent from a system outside of UConn.* As part of a broader personal mission to raise awareness in myself and others around the topics of racism, privilege, bias, and ethics, I am offering this post, in what may become a series of geography related posts. On GIS Day 2020, I'm choosing to push into my fear of how this will be received. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, please share it with me. As Geographers and map makers from various backgrounds, on different journeys, and with a wide range of experiences, I hope we can all think a moment about geography and cartography ethics and the intended and unintended impacts of our maps. URISA has a great Code of Ethics<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.urisa.org%2Fabout-us%2Fgis-code-of-ethics&data=04%7C01%7CNEARC-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7C4cd1fd7e95c64f3595d708d88c03c4b5%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637413295105686736%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=z7EMFEL90eHuGcbIoSeqfZKD3t4enedihMdLuxySDG8%3D&reserved=0> page, which urges us to "make appropriate and ethical choices". Maps are powerful. Maps are tools for sharing, influencing, defining, categorizing, quantifying, and so much more. Maps influence policy, voice, affiliation, identity, value, funding, and maybe most importantly, maps influence humans and human thought. Please take a moment to reflect on this and the possible impact of your work on others. In this offering, I challenge you to set aside 20 minutes in your day, today or another day to read and reflect on this post. Despite feeling too busy, I know you can do this, for yourself, but also for those who may be impacted by your decisions and your maps. I'd like to raise awareness for anyone who may be faced with a challenging mapping request. One that may seem just and sanctioned, but also in some way may feel odd. If it feels odd, then it may be. In this instance check the URISA ethics, your own personal ethics, or those of a trusted person in this field. You can make a difference in ensuring that your maps remain ethical to all. We, this group of map makers, must be aware of historic mapping decisions, in order to understand how our decisions and maps may impact the world. Join me in exploring, just one event in the history of mapping, that changed the face of American cities and deeply impacted its people. This event is often referred to as, "redlining." However, it is much deeper than that. As much as redlining resulted in oppression, disadvantage, and lack of opportunity, "green and blue lining" as resulted in privilege, advantage, and opportunities at wealth creation. I'll allow you to make your own judgement about the ethics of this mapping effort. Being honest, I only learned about redlining earlier this year, so if you are hearing about it for the first time, you are not alone and please share your new knowledge with others. I ask you to consider taking steps to integrate and share these maps and/or data with your audience. I will be collaborating with our Race, Equity, and Leadership working group to discuss the impacts of integrating these map layers into our municipal GIS viewer. Thank you to the University of Richmond for providing the platform and the heart space to realize the importance of expertly sharing these materials. Awareness Topic 1: "Redlining" About the 1930's mapping effort by the Home Owners' Loan Corporation: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdsl.richmond.edu%2Fpanorama%2Fredlining%2F%23loc%3D5%2F39.1%2F-94.58%26text%3Dabout&data=04%7C01%7CNEARC-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7C4cd1fd7e95c64f3595d708d88c03c4b5%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637413295105696729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=fUHLu8w4Td7nS%2FBxmjlyigNrVXd9TSNFZkzM%2FLyuvgE%3D&reserved=0 Explore the maps: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdsl.richmond.edu%2Fpanorama%2Fredlining&data=04%7C01%7CNEARC-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7C4cd1fd7e95c64f3595d708d88c03c4b5%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637413295105696729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=2dTaItGN69UHHmijtRwDG066J0TLZigaXcpy8%2FHdrWo%3D&reserved=0 My LinkedIn Post on this topic: https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fposts%2Fadamkurowski_mapping-inequality-activity-6734853829382213632-JBUP&data=04%7C01%7CNEARC-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7C4cd1fd7e95c64f3595d708d88c03c4b5%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637413295105696729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=%2BQtWMq1anusfBvpYnCpAB2ay1qnzEU%2FW9w%2BQDi%2FaRqc%3D&reserved=0 Sincerely, Adam Kurowski ------------------- Adam Kurowski, Director of GIS / Systems Analyst Town of Arlington phone: 781-316-3385 email: [log in to unmask] arlingtonma.gov/maps<https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Farlingtonma.gov%2Fmaps&data=04%7C01%7CNEARC-L%40LISTSERV.UCONN.EDU%7C4cd1fd7e95c64f3595d708d88c03c4b5%7C17f1a87e2a254eaab9df9d439034b080%7C0%7C0%7C637413295105696729%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C1000&sdata=wENPq9O9qgIKqknAMk%2BpYAe6keatrjlM8AwSBl%2BwUh8%3D&reserved=0> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This list (NEARC-L) is an unmoderated discussion list for all NEARC Users. 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