oceanmapper
Mapping all sorts of things hidden from view below the surface of the sea
An endless ocean and distant horizon holds a magnitude of breathing space. It invites discovery too.
Sustainable development goals
“This Agenda is a program of action for people, planet and prosperity.“
The opening sentence of the Resolution through which the Global Goals for Sustainable Development were established, indicates the strategy through which it is intended to re-establish a healthy balance of different elements: human society, environmental resources and economic growth.
Having lived in South Africa for most of my life, I sense that achieving these goals will be as balancing those three elements along the sharpest, Tamahagane edge. Yet I’m also optimistic – we have tools and gadgets that can help. Very large and expensive Earth Observing gadgets that are achieving remarkably good pictures of our planet.
I’m an old cartographer – substituting old for experienced when suits, and there has hardly been a more interesting and exciting time to be working in Earth and Climate sciences. Will geographical tools and data be fundamental in supporting these SDGs? Absolutely. I have no doubt, because mapping observed time-series data provides a view, broad enough (and with relevant detail) to see multiple phenomena and relationships. We’re also using AI to sift through petabytes of data, revealing trends that analysts and cartographers can present to the strategists planning the remedial work and the mitigations.
And lastly, I invite you to listen to Rose Goslinga’s TED talk in the section below. What Rose shares is insightful – credit for crop insurance. This is insurance that works for the farmers, that works in Africa. “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu.“
In the introduction to the book “Mapping for a Sustainable World”, it was asserted that well-designed maps and diagrams can assist governments and people to better understand the Sustainable Development Goals and monitor progress towards alleviating them. Maps make visible social, economic, and environmental processes, revealing spatial patterns that might otherwise go unnoticed. In this way, maps scale up the capacity of the human mind to the complexity of our world, even if imperfectly so.
In today’s context, maps no longer are static windows into the world. Maps can be interactive or animated and delivered online or through mobile devices. Maps are dynamic and collaborative interfaces that support decision-making by local and national authorities as well as promote public awareness of global issues to encourage these authorities to act.
Maps can reach more diverse audiences than ever, customizing their displays to improve accessibility, promote cross-cultural sensitivity, and empower marginalized voices. Maps and cartographers must be part of the solution for addressing the SDGs and achieving a sustainable world.
However, maps both historically and currently are part of the problem, contributing to the global inequities the SDGs seek to dissolve and thus reinforcing dominant power structures. Questions on who can make and access maps, as well as the knowledge to make and access these maps, persist.
[Kraak MJ, RE Roth, B Ricker, A Kagawa, and G Le Sourd. 2020. Mapping for a Sustainable World. United Nations: New York, NY (USA)].
