The City of Chattanooga is collaborating with the Interdisciplinary Geospatial Technology Lab at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and Open Chattanooga to build better maps for outdoor recreation. To help connect people to the outdoors in Chattanooga, Outdoor Chattanooga and the Office of Performance Management and Open Data are calling for coders and outdoor enthusiasts alike to join the project.
The group is hosting an Outdoor Recreation Mapping and Apping Party at Outdoor Chattanooga in Coolidge Park at 5:30 p.m.
on Thursday. Participants will have a hand in creating a free, open and beautifully designed interactive outdoor recreation map for the Chattanooga region.
“You should be able to go to just one resource to find the right outdoor activity for your needs,” said Tim Moreland, director of the Office of Performance Management and Open Data. “This end product will be a community-supported, detailed map of all the area's outdoor recreation facilities on an open platform that anyone can access.”
While the organizers are in need of coders, attendees don’t have to be skilled in programming to participate. Outdoor enthusiasts, mappers and designers, and just interested citizens are all encouraged to attend. Depending on interest level, here is what the organizers suggest bringing to the event:
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Outdoor Enthusiast - local knowledge, gps tracks, and love for the outdoors
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Mappers & Designers - laptops, GIS data, favorite design tools, and examples of favorite outdoor maps
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Interested Citizen - an open mind and a willingness to jump right in and help out
For more info on Thursday’s event, visit http://opencha.com/openoutdoor or contact the organizers at brigade@openchattanooga.com.