FOSS4G + State of the Map Belgium

in het Nederlands - en français

The OSGEO community (the people behind tools like QGIS and much more) have been organizing a conference for their users and developers since 2015. In 2019 we did an OSM track during the conference. Then covid happened, but now we’re back with a fully shared conference. There’s two equal tracks. The FOSS4G track focuses on the use and development of open source geo software. Meanwhile, the State of the Map track focuses on OSM in Belgium. Expect talks on the challenges of working with OpenStreetMap data and about projects to improve the map.

Info and registration at https://foss4g.be/
The call for maps is still open!

Mapping surface for Grote Routepaden vzw
in het Nederlands - en français

Grote Routepaden VZW maintains 24 long-distance hiking trails in Flanders. They are always trying to improve the trails. That’s why Grote Routepaden is now looking at path surface. Unpaved paths are simply more fun to walk on.

Their analysis relies on OSM data and Overpass queries. However, it quickly became clear that too few roads have a surface tag. At the moment, about 50% to 70% of a GR trail has a surface tag. To improve this, Grote Routepaden is going to add OSM data via a MapComplete theme. User s8evq has made a theme that easily adds the surface tag to roads along a GR. This tool will be distributed to GR’s 250 volunteers in the coming weeks. They often have enough terrain knowledge to add the data, or will go on site to add data.

You can contribute as well, using the MapComplete themes at: https://hgcvm.github.io/mcsurfacegr/html/overview.html

Promo material + Trefdag Digitaal Vlaanderen
in het Nederlands - en français

In September 2022 our Corporate Member Anyways.eu invited us to share their booth at the Trefdag Digitaal Vlaanderen (NL). We had a blast! All day long, people from the geo world, from the private sector and the government came by to ask questions, thank us for our work or simply chat with the people behind the map.

For the occasion, we finally made some promo material. Inspired by a French project, we made “business cards” that you can use when you explain OSM to a place you just put on the map. We also created a leaflet explaining our most important projects.

If you want to have a few copies of both document, let us know. If you have ideas for better designs - we can use all the help we can get! Thanks to our Corporate Membership program, we can make more promo material.

Mapper of the Month

Every month, a new interview with an interesting mapper is added to the osm.be website.

The most recent mappers of the month are:

• Jonathan Czalaj, who is mapping in the wider Mons region (EN, FR, NL)
• Domenico Calvagna, an Italian mapper, most active in Sicilia (EN, FR, NL)

Want more?