A Timeline: Promoting an Open Green Map

with Social-Networking Tools

• Featuring the Northeast Permaculture andEco/Urban Agriculture Experimentation Network– An Open-Source, Skill-Sharing and Social-Networking Platform that

Connects Permaculturists, Ecological Farmers and Urban Farmers inthe Northeast US.

– Goal: share information about Permaculture projects, experiments inUrban Farming, Ecological Farming, Mushroom Cultivation, etc.

– Created by Andrew Fenster while interning at Green Map System in Summer 2009

Permaculture Logo

Week 1 (6/22-6/28): Creating the Map andGetting Started

• 1. Created a new Open Green Map atOpenGreenMap.org/northeast-permaculture

• 2. Uploaded 10 sites in my home area - Hudson River Valley.

• 3. Made posts on a few Permaculture and Urban Agriculture Facebookgroups describing inviting people to upload their Permaculture andEco/Urban Ag Projects.

– “I made sure to say it was a new map and gave my contact info forfurther questions…”

Week 1: Listserv Promotion!• I e-mailed the NE Perma. and NYC Urban Ag. Listservs to invite people

to share their Permaculture and Eco/Urban Ag sites and to explore what’snearby in their communities.

• I received some messages from interested people from FB and Listservswith info for me to upload. A few people suggested sites directly on theOpen Green Map, using its suggest-a-site tab.

• A few people replied that they were having technical difficulties- “make sure to make it clear how to upload sites!”

An Urban Farm…

Week 2 (6/29-7/5): Promoting In-person!

• 1. Made a flier teaching people describing the purpose of the map. It explainedwhat details to collect and how to upload sites on the map. OGM’s Share &Promot page has a model (along with other public engagement tools).

• 2. Handed out 25 fliers at the NE Perma. Convergence and received feedbackto make the map more like an “unofficial science research journal”

• 3. After the Convergence, people added 6 sites to the map. I uploaded 10 moreafter getting some site suggestions from people at the Convergence.- “be open to suggestions from your intended audience”

2009 Permaculture Convergence Gooseberries Shiitake Mushroom Cultivation on Logs

Week 3 (7/6-7/13): Encouragingparticipation by sharing progress

• 1. I re-emailed the NE Perma. Listserv describing the updated mapidea (based on convergence feedback) and listed the current number ofsites - 32.

• 2. Subsequently, 10 sites were uploaded in a single day, and I receivedmore site suggestions.

An Urban Farm….

Week 3 Summary:What worked the best?

• Now, the map has 46 sites and counting…..

• Listservs and FB groups work well because they directly reach peoplewho are interested in your map theme.

• In person promotion at conferences and workshops also works well andallows people to give you feedback in person.

– “Use a mixture of all 3 and experiment with other networking tools!”

Future Plans…

• I hope that the map will serveas a vehicle for sharing NEPerma. and Eco/Urban AgProjects so that people can learnfrom each other and skill-share.

• I plan to continue to emaillistservs every month with anupdate on the number of sitesand to invite people to continueto upload more projects.

Explore at:• http://OpenGreenMap.org/northeast-permaculture

• Enhance this map with your viewpoint and sites you workwith.

• Find out more about registering to create a Green Map athttp://GreenMap.org/join

• Contact us at info@greenmap.org