INTERMEDIATE LANDSCAPE                   

Fall 2003                                Inventory and Communication:

11:550:331                                                         RUTGERS GREENMAP

“Maps are powerful tools, as they lead us to perceive places through the eyes of their Makers. In addition to being an inventory of today, you can invite your community to look at your Map as a visionary tool to plan for changes. It will clarify what is missing, what needs strengthening, where opportunities await, and how evenly your green resources are distributed. This process can used to help shape a better future for your city.”

“The Green Map System encourages local resident groups to debate the criteria for what is an ecologically sustainable site. The intention of the Green Map System is to raise user's awareness of the ways cities are addressing sustainability. A map is a direct and universally understood, resource-efficient tool, which could makes the city's ecological sites, human resources and activities more accessible. The Green Map System provides a unique tool to encourage public interest in the vast range of activities. The process of creating a local Green Map will automatically raise issues about what is environmentally beneficial or damaging. By enabling people to visualize what is going on in their area, Green Maps can act as a stimulant for action as well as being information and educational resources. Green Maps promote ecologically sound lifestyles.”

“It can then become an advocacy tool to encourage a democratic approach to urban planning, and lead your city to make policy changes toward sustainability. You'll be able to add a layer of potential changes over your Map electronically which can be used by different groups for visioning diverse scenarios. Or, after your Map is printed, it can be overlaid with a clear sheet that can be drawn upon. A visioning can be done with a large mixed community group, a class, planners, and so on, and, for example, you can discuss new bike lanes or pedestrian areas, encourage the creation of community gardens, etc. You'll be able to draw upon the resources embodied in other cities' Maps for inspiration, too. Listening to our neighbors' ideas of how the city could become a better place to thrive could lead to much of great benefit. Children have made wonderful observations through their Green Maps too.”

“Developing a Green Map builds many community leadership skills and strengthens the local network, plus you will have the adventure of creating a new, sustainable product. A Green Map is a resource-efficient way to create a powerful new ecological view of your city. With its fresh view of home, it's also an engaging envisioning tool for rethinking the present, and strengthening the base for a better future.“    (From the GreenMap System Guide)

Assignment:      1)   To conduct a thorough inventory of the environmental and cultural landscapes of Rutgers-New Brunswick/Piscataway.

2)     To analyze the information, identify important major themes and significant individual pieces of information.

3)     To produce a “publishable” map product that summarizes the information, effectively communicates a theme, serves as a detailed reference, and is an attractively designed composition.

Primary Goals         Development of Defensible Processes

                                    Information Analyses

                                    Community Education and Information Communication

                                    Information Collection

Data Collection

You have the advantage of starting with significant quantities of spatial data and you will likely get a little more from kind folks in the near future (the RUcampus folder is loaded with interesting data: some good, some fair).

Don’t trust data!  Examine it and test it.  You will find that the land use/cover data already has a few glaring errors (We’ll try to work around those).  As you get information and data from other sources, ask if things make sense and compare them with other comparable information.  Certainly look for updates and changes.

When you make data or collect information (spatial or not), keep a text file (or Word document) record of what it is and where you got it (Metadata).  Your metadata does NOT have to be FGDC compliant or ESRI friendly, but it has to be usable.  Tell us (and the world) who made it, how, and what it means.  You should do this for file folders, photos, and GIS data.

Analysis

Making a meaningful map isn’t just about drawing lines on the page.  It is about taking in all of the complex information and data about the place and finding emerging patterns and important ideas.  These patterns and ideas can really impact readers of the map in ways that a “datadump” does not.  

Each team will use all of the available inventory data and begin to study these data looking for larger patterns and emerging themes.  You should be prioritizing information creating a hierarchy that will help drive your map design.  Teams may also continue to collect new data or supplement existing data.  Some of this will occur simultaneously with the other activities.  Emphasis should be place on the ideas relating to your theme and should generally fulfill the spirit of the GreenMap program by embracing topics relating to sustainability, community, and stewardship (i.e. maps emphasizing theme parks, great shopping and dining are not part of what we have in mind).

A Word About Plagiarism and Citations

Most of the information that you collect and reuse in your project is not your own.  That is great.  But, the pictures you download from the web have to be credited and cannot be copywritten.  The paragraph of text you “borrow” has to be in quotes and the author has to be given full credit.  The statistics you use and the GIS data in your map need to be credited.  People with tiny text at the bottom of their poster explaining where their information came from are called “researchers”.  People without the text are call “plagiarists”.  This is really important!

Schedule:

Each of the next three Thursdays will include class-wide presentations.  By the time you present materials in class, you should already be moving past them.  You should also constantly be going back to clean up previous issues or re-research past items.

	Thursday Sept. 4 Project assigned Teams formed Themes assigned
Tuesday Sept 9 Desk Crits: Each team will describe the info/data they have found and the info/data they are looking for	Thursday Sept. 11 Each team will describe their “message” and how it is served by their information and the remaining data/info/skills they need
Tuesday Sept 16 Each team will present their base map and the basic elements they intend to include in their maps	Thursday Sept 18 Fall Field Trip
Tuesday Sept 23 Final critiques and comments	Thursday Sept 25 Turn in projects
Tuesday Sept 30 Green Map Jury

Readings:  Everyone should read the Phil Lewis excerpts showing his icon system.  These will be posted on the class bulletin board in the studio.  You can learn more about the program at:  http://www.greenmap.com/   

Additional information will be dropped in the class directory, CourseMaterials, as we proceed.

Grade breakdown:

We reserve the right to change these, but this shows you where the priorities on this project will lie.

Inventories (Did you use good information?  Did you get the right information?) 

                                                                                                                        40%

Analysis and Synthesis (Did you develop a meaningful message?  Did you assemble your information into something more than just a list of information?  Did you find and reveal interesting things about RU?)

                                                                                                                        30%

Map Design and Production (Is your map polished and professional?  Does the sheet layout effectively use the tools you had?  Do the layout decisions contribute to the successful communication of the message?)            25%

Overall participation                                                                                  5%