Keys to unleash mapping's good magic

This article provides a step-by-step guide to mapping as a political tool, allowing local people's participation in arenas dominated by the maps of governments and corporations. It stresses the need to turn authority and decision-making over to the community so that they can direct the map-making process and the map's use. The eight steps identified are initiation and strategic planning, data needs identification and choice of technologies, training, data collection, data review, final data compilation, map production and map use.