Dear members of the Participatory Mapping Working Group at the International Cartographic Association,
I hope you are all doing well. We have a few updates.
- We (Jirka Pánek, Thibaud Chassin and Lydia Valdesera) are organising a Pre-EuroCarto WS titled: “Are Large Language Models Advancing Participatory Mapping?”.
- This workshop explores whether and how Large Language Models (LLMs) are reshaping participatory mapping practices–from data collection and community engagement to knowledge co-production and map communication. As conversational AI tools become increasingly accessible, they offer new methodological opportunities while also raising important ethical, epistemological, and practical challenges for researchers working with communities. The session will begin with a series of short lightning talks (5–10 minutes). We particularly encourage PhD students and early-career researchers to share work-in-progress, experimental approaches, or preliminary case studies (submission of a 100-word abstract required). To broaden participation, remote contributions via Zoom will be supported, enabling involvement beyond in-person attendees in Brno. Following the presentations, participants will engage in structured, interactive knowledge exchange. The workshop is informal, discussion-driven, and explicitly output-oriented. It aims to foster critical debate on the role of LLMs in participatory mapping, lay the groundwork for a joint position paper, and identify concrete avenues for future collaboration, including potential research proposals.
- The workshop is free of charge and will be also hybrid – so some online presence will be possible. You can register HERE:
- More info about pre-EuroCarto workshops is available at: https://eurocarto2026.org/workshops/
Regarding the communication channels:
- For more “professional” visibility/networking we have newly established a LinkedIn profile – please join us, if you are on LinkedIn and tag us, while posting about participatory mapping.
In case you have any further questions, do not hesitate to contact me.
Jirka Pánek
chair of the PMWG