The course is designed for humanitarian and development field workers and others who want to use GPS and free/open source mapping tools in their work. The syllabus is grounded in practical, proven methods used by MapAction in disaster emergencies and development projects. It will include advanced use of Google Earth, how to find useful map data, and using the open source MapWindow software package.

The venue and facilities are being provided by the UK Royal Geographical Society, which is an experienced provider of training on fieldwork methods.

Jonathan Douch, MapAction's operations director, said: "Aid workers have told us they need this kind of practical training. We know from experience what methods work in the field, and we'll be drawing on real life humanitarian and development scenarios throughout the three day course."

Full details about the course and how to book a place can be found on the following RGS-IBG website page.

UK, 8 June - Michael Palin, in his role as President of the UK's Royal Geographical Society, presented MapAction with an award at a ceremony in London on 7 June 2010. The Geographical Award was conferred on the charity for its work in disasters since 2004. 

Since 1832, the prestigious RGS medals and awards have recognised excellence in geographical research and fieldwork. Dr Rita Gardner CBE, Director of the Society, said: 'Our award recipients illustrate the breadth of geography and its importance in understanding our world’s changing societies, environments and economies. MapAction’s use of GIS technology is a great example of the role geography can play in providing invaluable emergency relief and disaster preparedness to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.'

A team of four MapAction trustees and volunteers accepted the award from Michael Palin CBE, whose television and film-making output has focused increasingly on geography topics, and who became President of the RGS in 2009 having been a Fellow of the Society since 1978. The Chairnan of MapAction's board of trustees, Andrew Douglas-Bate MBE, said: 'This award is a fantastic recognition of the team effort that is MapAction, we're honoured and delighted to accept it.'

Following on from MapAction's vital role in the intensive search-and-rescue and relief assessment phases, the charity's services have remained in demand from partner organisations including the United Nations and International Red Cross during the delivery of ongoing relief assistance to more than one million people left homeless by the earthquake.

Two MapAction team members Emese Csete and Helen Wood are currently (April 2010) working with the Emergency Shelter and Camp Coordination and Management Clusters in Port-au-Prince. Their work still includes mapping but also involves wider aspects of information management, in an effort to maintain a shared picture of needs and response plans so that hundreds of aid organisations can coordinate their actions.

Volunteer Chris Phillips has just returned from a second stint in Haiti, this time for five weeks. He has been instrumental in securing facilities for the Haitian national mapping agency CNIGS to integrate its efforts with international humanitarian agencies, to be ready for continuing natural disaster risks.

Chris Phillips said: "Although there's some early planning for recovery, we have to stay aware that hundreds of thousands of Haitians living in temporary camps are highly vulnerable as the rainy season approaches, and worse still the risk of tropical storms. There are only a few weeks to make sure that preparedness for another disaster shock is as good as it can be. And that includes preparedness of mapping data and GIS resources."

Chris also facilitated a visit to Haiti by two members of OpenStreetMap (OSM) who trained Haitian and international staff in how to collect and work with OSM data. The map data of Haiti produced rapidly by the OSM community worldwide, within days of the earthquake, were used by MapAction as vital base mapping from the first stages of the crisis and remain an important resource.

Funding for MapAction's work in Haiti was granted by European Commission Humanitarian Aid (ECHO). Chris Phillips was made available for the mission by his employer Ordnance Survey, the UK national mapping agency, which also provides sponsorship funding to MapAction.

The charity was approached by NGO leaders in Pakistan seeking assistance with risk and emergency planning mapping in the Hunza district where a mountain landslide earlier this year dammed the Hunza River creating a lake. Rising water levels are now threatening to breach the dam, putting 45,000 people at risk from an outburst flood.

MapAction found that UK flood researchers at Durham and Newcastle universities, led by Professor David Petley, had been studying the situation, and that there was now an urgent need to map the potential at-risk areas downstream and to form a basis for evacuation planning. At the same time, as a member of the EU-funded SAFER project, MapAction was able to request specialist assistance through Infoterra UK and its partners.

Within a few days, the University researchers and the SAFER team had run state-of-the-art computer models to indicate the possible extent of a "worst case" flood. Using data about the shape of the valleys, the volume of water and the speed of its movement, the result was a series of detailed datasets showing areas potentially at risk. MapAction volunteers helped to map and interpret the data, working with staff of Focus Humanitarian Assistance Pakistan, an NGO which is taking a lead in relief and risk mitigation work in the region.

MapAction team member Nick McWilliam commented: "Predicting floods in such complex terrain is an uncertain and difficult science. MapAction was able to tap the expertise of some of the world's leading experts, connecting their results to beneficiaries on the ground. It's a good example of research techniques being rapidly applied to create maps for a very pressing humanitarian crisis."

Having deployed a large team of volunteers immediately after the earthquake, MapAction is still continuing to support the ongoing humanitarian situation by providing mapping and information management support within specific clusters. One of the key issues for Haitians remains that of shelter; many people are still without adequate waterproof shelter, and are living in areas which are at risk of flooding as the weather worsens. MapAction is helping the Shelter Cluster to consolidate and present information from its many partners, to aid in the identification of gaps and overlaps in provision.

Google Earth has proved itself to be a valuable tool for the dissemination of large data sets covering a wide geographic area. In order to support MapAction's activities, Arc2Earth have donated licences for its software, an add-in for ArcGIS which facilitates the export of GIS data layers into a Google Earth format. It supports a very rich representation of multiple layers of information, and allows it to be packaged into one file for easy distribution. The Shelter Cluster are using this tool to package together a range of key geographical datasets for its cluster partners, allowing them to have a better overview of the activities of other agencies.