The Spanish Ministry of Transports, Mobility and the Urban Agenda, through the National Geographic Institute of Spain and the Spanish Centre for Geographic Information, has published the book “The World drawn by children. Barbara Petchenik International Competitions 2017 & 2019 / El mundo dibujado por los niños. Concursos Internacionales Barbara Petchenik 2017 y 2019”. It has been released on the occasion of the International Day of Women and Girls in Science on the 11th of February 2021 and aiming to pay tribute to all women and girls dedicated to or interested in Geography and Cartography.
Furthermore, the organiser of these competitions, the International Cartographic Association (ICA), wished to dedicate this publication to the National Geographic Institute of Spain as a tribute to the 150th anniversary of its foundation back in 1870. Its bilingual (English/Spanish) digital version is available from today in the publication section of the Institute’s website. The printed version will be released soon.
The book has been produced by the National Geographic Institute of Spain and it has been published by the Spanish Centre for Geographic Information. It has been created thanks to the valuable contribution of the ICA Commission on Cartography & Children and the remarkable cooperation of the Spanish Society for Cartography, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, which represents Spain at the ICA. However, above all, it could only come into fruition thanks to the wonderful drawings made by children competing in the 2017 and 2019 editions. It also features the pictures regards Barbara Petchenik’s biography accomplished by illustrator Santiago N. Fernández, on loan from the National Geographic Institute of Argentina.
Barbara Petchenik (1939-1992), American cartographer, is an extraordinary example in the task of bringing together science and values, i.e. she was the first woman to serve as Vice-President of the ICA, she was involved in several projects with an exceptional scientific output in the field of cartography, and she worked hard to make maps, her great passion, part of regular education from childhood.
Illustrated details about the life of Barbara Petchenik
There could be no better occasion than today, the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, to present the values that guide the international competition that is embodied in this book, in which the main characters are both the World drawn by children and the love for maps.
The Archive for the Barbara Petchenik Children Map Competitions is kept at Carleton University Library (Canada), and can be viewed at https://childrensmaps.library.carleton.ca/. The aims of this international competition are to promote creative representation of the world as seen by schoolchildren, to strengthen geographic and cartographic knowledge and to make participants aware of the world in which they live, favouring understanding and preservation.
The publication of the book also aims to promote the 2021 edition of this international competition, whose theme this time is “A map of my future world”. All Spanish children will be able to participate in this new competition. The Spanish Society for Cartography, Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, ICA’s representative in Spain, will receive the drawings and will select the six best national works, which will represent Spain in the international edition. The final decision will take place from 14 to 18 December 2021 in Florence (Italy), simultaneously with the celebration of the 30th International Cartography Conference.
