Maps tell the story of modern risk mitigation
The Florida Division of Emergency Management incorporated interactive maps and decision support tools to its hazard mitigation plan.
Mapping the Nation
Creating the World We Want to See
Discover inspiring stories of professionals using GIS to make the world better.
Get a digital copy of Mapping the Nation
Explore stories from the latest volume of Mapping the Nation, published by Esri Press, that illustrate how a geographic approach guides important decisions around the globe. Discover why our future depends on more coordinated and concentrated action to create a world that is healthy, prosperous, equitable, peaceful, secure, and in balance with nature. These stories, originally from Esri Blog, explain how GIS provides a means to examine and explore the dimensions of every challenge, prioritizing actions based on evidence and analysis.
Climate Action
GIS tracks the impacts of climate change and provides solutions to combat it to better protect our communities and our planet.
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Mapping LA's flood risk reveals hidden risks
By combining hazard maps with census data, researchers found that disadvantaged communities bear a disproportionate burden of flood hazards. -
Nonprofit protects trees by mapping benefits
Trees Atlanta engaged local urban communities in the planting and conservation of tree species to promote increased green space and tree canopy. -
NYC maps and responds to rising waters
Modern geospatial analysis will soon give homeowners and communities far better insight into stormwater risk in New York City. -
Volunteers build a new pollution map
Building the country's most robust pollution map required an innovative partnership, new methods, and decades of GIS experience.
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Equity and Social Justice
GIS provides insight into patterns of inequality and can provide common understanding across communities to effect positive change.
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Maps fuel funding for equitable traffic safety
Maps and GIS analysis helped transportation planners and engineers in Louisville prioritize roadway safety improvement projects. -
How unjust is your environment?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Environmental Justice Index (EJI) ranks communities across the US. -
The NAACP uses maps for modern civil rights work
Using digital maps and data science can show how living conditions and access to opportunity differ along racial and geographic lines. -
LA County Addresses Racial Disparities
Data science carried out with GIS technology deepens understanding of racial disparities in Los Angeles County. -
Educators create maps to foster unity
Local educators, leaders, and activists share stories with students about histories often left out of school textbooks.
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Environment
Using GIS, professionals enhance environmental health and eliminate harmful contaminants to help communities maintain balance between humans and nature.
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The Economic Value of Parks: NYC
A team of economists, GIS specialists, and researchers examined recreational, environmental, and public health data through a geographic lens. -
LA County maps equitable access to nature
The department of parks and recreation assesses equity and prioritizes parks and recreational amenities where the most vulnerable people live. -
Saving Canada's peatlands to stabilize the climate
As threats to peatlands ramp up in Canada, conservationists work with Indigenous groups for the preservation of this carbon-absorbing ecosystem. -
Wisconsin uses maps to tackle "forever chemicals"
Wisconsin DNR created a tool to capture levels of dangerous chemicals in the water and guide remediation efforts. -
Monitoring algae threat to Lake Tahoe
The Tahoe Environmental Research Center uses GIS and drones to monitor the environmental health and water quality at the famously clear lake.
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Conservation
Conservationists use GIS to gain insights into complex environmental challenges to better understand the interdependencies of native species and human activity and mitigate threats from climate change.
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Indigenous knowledge protects the Congo Basin
The community-led conservation work taking place in the Congo Basin has taken on added dimensions, due to the Baka people's uncommon awareness of -
Mapping the wondrous routes of bird migration
The National Audubon Society's Bird Migration Explorer helps people visualize the journeys made by over 450 bird species. -
Nature-based solutions to human-elephant conflict
Researchers in Africa use geospatial technology to collect and explore elephant tracking data and help rural farmers protect their land. -
Manage rhino conservation with data collection app
A graduate student created a black rhino monitoring and data collection system to engage the expertise of rangers. -
Maps guide ecosystem revitalization in Argentina
Rewilding Argentina's jaguar reintroduction program uses GIS to restore the population to preextinction levels not seen in more than 70 years.
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Humanitarian assistance
Humanitarian organizations around the world apply GIS to analyze and plan missions, mobilize field teams quickly, and monitor and evaluate their effectiveness and sustainability, and they do it in real time.
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The Thai cave rescue shows collaborative action
The film Thirteen Lives by Ron Howard spotlights an important truth: by working together, we can overcome complex challenges in our world. -
Assessing the needs of the food-insecure countries
Analysts use GIS, remote sensing, and survey data to evaluate food security and agricultural production. -
The HALO Trust maps land mines and explosives
Mappers document the destruction in Ukraine to assess risk from unexploded ordnance ahead of reconstruction and resettlement efforts. -
MapAction volunteers map the road to safety
Volunteers for nonprofit MapAction use GIS to support global crisis relief organizations responding to disasters and conflict. -
How geography shapes life for Sri Lankan migrants
In Colombo, Sri Lanka, satellite imagery and maps illustrate how the geography of migrant communities shapes residents' lived experiences.
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Public Safety
Agencies around the world manage public safety, emergency response, fire, wildland fires, and public events from beginning to end, using location intelligence derived from GIS software.
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Portugal revamps wildfire resilience
After large, devastating wildfires in recent years, Portugal passed laws to reduce risk and better respond to emergencies. -
Securing the World Series
The Atlanta Braves ballpark relied on real-time feeds and up-to-date maps, apps, and dashboards to enhance mobility and keep the peace. -
Finding success with a public safety digital twin
Frisco, Texas, has developed an emergency response platform that delivers real-time situational awareness of assets and staff across departments. -
Hurricane Ian searchers saved time with maps
Federal and state urban search and rescue teams used a suite of tools that allowed all actions to be tracked on a shared map. -
Fusion center uses streamlined data sharing
A pilot project combines mapping and collaboration tools to enhance information sharing.
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Smart planning
Urban and community planners are achieving effective and efficient smart planning, using a location-based, data-driven approach that prioritizes the human element in community design.
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Digital twin provides clear picture of Michigan
The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG) applies 3D tools to understand how the Detroit region is growing. -
Preserving historic Hawaii while modernizing
Kauai planners sought ways to preserve the character of a historic Hawaiian neighborhood. -
Digital twin boosts growth and planning
A digital twin keeps developers and the public informed of proposed development projects in Montgomery County, Maryland. -
Inside One of Europe's Largest Urban Developments
Vienna's city within a city, Aspern Seestadt, uses a digital twin to measure progress against the original development plan and future scenarios. -
Mapping past contamination to inform the future
GIS was used to help cities visualize how revitalized industrial lands can create an inclusive and more sustainable future for communities.
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Infrastructure
Organizations use GIS for infrastructure management to model, connect, and enable relationships of the built, social, and natural worlds with advanced visualizations and analytics across the entire infrastructure life cycle.
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Scale digital twins to engineer better networks
Vodafone's lead architect started a 3D digital twin project out of curiosity, adding dimensions as it proved useful for all business aspects. -
A digital twin guides rail expansion
In Brisbane, Australia, a digital twin and a virtual reality program guide the design and construction of an underground railway. -
A digital twin helps army corps maintain waterways
The US Army Corps of Engineers integrated datasets and tools and modernized its processes using a cloud computing platform. -
Digital transformation of airport inspections
An agile approach solved a tough digital transformation of the inspection process and led to an expanding role in location intelligence. -
Prioritizing infrastructure
Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) and Office of Intermodal Planning and Investment (OIPI) have leveraged GIS to assist with projects.
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Sustainability
GIS plays a central role in sustainability efforts by providing a comprehensive ecosystem for integrating and visualizing diverse environmental data. It enables stakeholders to make informed decisions by mapping and analyzing various sustainability factors.
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How forestry and mapping support bourbon
Better barrel staves mean better bourbon. But the right trees are getting harder to find. -
Mapping growth and quality of life
The UAE established a national map to provide planning and monitoring tools to continue the advancement of the country's global stature. -
Organic Valley adopts custom maps to guide grazing
Organic Valley uses ArcGIS tools and satellite imagery to improve grazing management, pasture health, and contribute to climate-smart farming. -
Utility transforms acres into pollinator habitat
The alarming rate of global pollinator decline has made habitat restoration a conservation priority. -
Documenting workflows for sustainable forestry
The foresters at Starker Forests now use apps and dashboards to record and view their work, gaining a better understanding of the forest.
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