Public Map Newsletter - October 2026
Hello and welcome to the first Public Map newsletter!
Mapping helps communities share knowledge, strengthen connections, and understand place. We believe that by getting more people mapping, we can use this as a force for shaping future decisions for the good of all.
Join our new Mapping Community
publicmap.org/mapping-community
Monthly online gatherings for learning and connecting
We’re excited to announce the launch of the Mapping Community, to foster a lively discussion around mapping and how it can be applied by individuals for many different purposes. They’ll be run by our experienced community mappers, sharing their full suite of varied knowledge, and will cover a selection of topics, from giving technical help in using platforms to questions of why we map and what we gain from it.
This week is the start of a regular series of online sessions. Each will be a free drop-in event, held on Teams and accessible through our website, on the first Wednesday of each month.
The sessions are intended for people of all levels of experience, so if you have any interest at all in mapping as a tool, follow this link and join us!
First session: Introduction to Mapping Community Assets
Led by Jen Willis and Maya Lee, Community Mappers
Wednesday, 7th October, 1pm to 2pm
Lle Llais 2026: Building the past and future in Wrexham
Our biggest event of the year, Lle Llais (‘Voice Place’) took place at the National Trust’s Mindful Meadow at Chirk Castle, Wrexham in September! One of Public Map’s major aims is to get people who wouldn’t otherwise get the time to do so the chance to stop and think about their surroundings, and Lle Llais has always been envisaged as a sensory experience with memorable hands-on activities.
This year, a week of structured workshops with local school groups (Ysgol Bryn Alun, Ysgol Rhosnesni and Ysgol Clywedog) was followed by a festival day open to the public, where castle visitors of a wide range of ages got to spend time creatively in the meadow. We were also visited by representatives of local authorities, including a very supportive Steve Witherden, MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr.
Participants worked with local poet and musician Natasha Borton to craft personal poetry about the young peoples’ experience of life in Wrexham and dramatically perform it. They also decorated and posted secrets to a sculptural tree, created bricks from clay engraved with what they want to build towards in the future, played with place names in tapestry form. They created seed bombs with artist Lily Tiger to explore ecological and personal memory. Poet Rhys Trimble conducted our traditional opening ceremony and welcoming performance, under our renowned Rural Roaming Room.
The response from the young people, teachers and visitors was enormously positive, with many admiring the thoughtfulness with which each activity was led, and how well it meshed with the Wrexham locality, really giving people a sense of place.
New blog on our site
Public Mapping through community events
by Matt Diston, Public Map East Anglia
Matt was part of the team that visited Wrexham for Lle Llais, and reflects here on the value of being present in the community for events such as carnivals, festivals and pop-ups in libraries in Cambridge over the summer.
“It is always possible to gather accurate, valuable, direct community data in a timely fashion, if you engage your audience in the right way.”
Film
Community Mapping in Cambridge
On the subject of public events in Cambridge, this film by filmmaker Dewi Fôn Evans beautifully showcases one day of activities we held on the high street outside our East Anglia headquarters, The Cambridge Room. We were joined by our longtime collaborators Play:Disrupt to run activities in photography, animation, and symbology.
Publication
How a minority language relates to place attachment and nature connection: the case of Welsh
by Thora Tenbrink, Matthew Scowen, Simon Willcock, Flora Samuel
Back in Wales, this new paper for Cogent Arts & Humanities explores how the language interacts with feelings of connection with the natural world, and uses young people’s use of Welsh during Public Map engagement events as a clear example.
“As the Welsh language and culture is recognised to be under threat, exacerbated by environmental changes, local climate change discourse frequently includes discussion of language along with other cultural heritage aspects, motivating people’s engagement towards resilience.”
Mapper Award Scheme
Are you interested in getting accreditation for mapping? We have a pilot project coming up for formal online training. Contact [email protected] if you’d be interested in taking part.
Much more is on the horizon, and these newsletters will continue monthly, with many more stories, ideas (and maps) to share. I regularly post updates on Instagram and keep an eye out for news and blogs on our website.
Cofion cynnes,
Map Cyhoeddus · Public Map
