From Map to Mission: Build an Interactive GIS Experience in 90 Minutes
From Map to Mission: Build an Interactive GIS Experience in 90 Minutes
Abstract
You have the ingredients; now let’s cook up an engaging, place-based experience! Using maps, layers, local knowledge, community assets, spatial stories and platforms with gamification, this hands-on workshop will show you how to turn those resources into interactive experiences that encourage people to explore, learn and engage. Working in small groups, attendees will move from map to mission by identifying a target audience, choosing a community goal, selecting geographic assets, and transforming those assets into a short, location-based experience. Participants will explore how parks, trails, historic sites, public art, businesses, infrastructure, and everyday streetscapes can become stops in a scavenger hunt, educational trail, community challenge, tourism experience, or public-engagement activity. The workshop will introduce practical gamification techniques, including missions, clues, photo challenges, observation prompts, trivia, rewards, and progress-based activities. Attendees will also consider how GIS data can support experiences designed to increase downtown visitation, encourage trail use, teach local history, support environmental education, engage residents in planning, or create memorable GIS Day activities.See how location-based activities can encourage spatial thinking and help participants ask deeper questions about the places around them. Examples will include adventures created by notable geographer and educator Joseph Kerski. By the end of the session, each team will create and share an outline and framework they can adapt for their own community, agency, organization, classroom, or project. Participants will also have the option to receive complimentary access to eATLAS to build and test their prototype and/or future adventures.