Dutch contribution to the International Map Year event
ISBN 978-85-88783-11-9
Authors
1Heere, E.
1UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCE Email: elger.heere@hu.nl
Abstract
Also in The Netherlands there are several plans for activities concerning the International Map Year. In this paper the agenda for the Map Year in The Netherlands will be presented. The Map Year has started with a special issue of the Geo-Info, the Dutch journal on geo-information, geodesy and cartography. In this journal some of the activities are announced and there is a question to the geo-information community to participate. Education will be an important issue in the Map Year. In The Netherlands there are two universities of applied sciences which have a curriculum in cartography and geo-visualisation, the Utrecht University of Applied Sciences and the HAS in ‘s Hertogenbosch. These institutes play a major role in cartographic education in The Netherlands. They will present themselves in Geo-Info and a special Cartographic Education Day is on the role. To get more children interested in cartography and mapmaking, an attempt will be made to let the TV program Het Klokhuis make an episode on cartography. Het Klokhuis is a Dutch children’s program which combines information on a broad scale of subjects with entertainment, with small sketches by famous Dutch actors. Another initiative to get children more interested in cartography is the GeoFort. This is a theme park on geo-information in a 19th century fortress. Children will playfully get involved with geo-information and cartography. A combination of art and cartography is made by cartographer and painter Jan Schilder. He made an impressive panorama of the IJsselfront Kampen. The city of Kampen is situated at the River IJssel and has a protected city view. Not only will the focus on the Map Year be on a wide audience, there will also be attention to professionals like town planners, environmentalists, architects, etc. Professionals, of which we think, that they don’t fully use the power and potential of maps at this moment. Geodesign is considered as a key concept in combining the disciplines mentioned above with cartography. At last, the rich history of Dutch cartography will not be forgotten in the Map Year. Several university libraries and other institutes on cultural heritage will be asked to contribute with map exhibitions on specific topics, for example the Dutch mapping of Asia.