About

    What is

    Map My Say?

    Where we live has deep meaning to us. Map My Say helps find out how local spaces are used, how they evoke feelings, memories , experiences and stories for the people who live in and frequent those places. 

    When it comes to large-scale community projects, it’s the people in those communities that have the greatest knowledge about the spaces in which they live, work and play. But how often do they take the next step, and get involved in community consultation at a local town hall, or write a letter to the local council to discuss the future of the places and spaces they care about?

    A better way to engage your communities

    Established to reduce the barriers of community engagement, Map My Say is a tool that enables the capture of community sentiments for use in project planning. It’s an interactive, map-based survey tool made for community consultation that crowdsources information directly from community members and unlocks the intelligence and knowledge embedded within local communities.

    It’s designed to foster public participation and make it easier for the community to provide knowledge and sentiment that can be used to inform future planning and design decisions of the places, spaces, and communities they care about.

    Who is

    Map My Say

    for?

    Map My Say was created to make it easier to engage the community on your next project.

    It helps you bridge the gap between the planning and design experts, and those directly impacted by your next project.

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    Local Government
    Local Government planning officers, community development officers and public open space planners: Map My Say will be a powerful tool to inform your community-driven plans.
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    Planning Consultants
    Gather insight and intelligence from those impacted by your project and develop a plan for your client that’s championed by the community themselves. Uncover any sticking points, contentious issues, or potential roadblocks before they occur.
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    Researchers
    Whether you’re enquiring about urban design, built environments, public health schemes, or future planning, Map My Say can be an integral part of mapping the interests and stories in your target areas.

    How

    Map My Say

    Works

    Option 1

    Capture community input

    The interactive mapping tool lets community members mark the places, spaces and projects they want to talk about.

    The tool captures comments, memories, stories, and experiences directly onto a digital map and creates a picture to show the values and uses shared about these places and spaces.

    The result is meaningful place-based data that unlocks the intelligence and knowledge of the local community, which can be imported directly into GIS software and set a benchmark for the evaluation of future community impacts.

    Option 2

    Visualise and test design proposals

    The tool allows you to include visualisations of project plans and designs and receive direct community feedback.

    Mapping layers and images can be customised to present a range of design ideas for community members to explore and have their say on.

    This allows community members to provide input into the designs of future places and spaces, so they have a hand in shaping the community they feel most connected to.

    Option 3

    Measure health and wellbeing impacts

    The design of the built environment is integral to encouraging positive health and well-being outcomes.

    We have significant experience in measuring a range of physical, social, and mental health and wellbeing outcomes that provide essential intelligence and knowledge of the immediate population, to help guide planning and design decisions that will shape future health-promoting places and communities.

    Three key

    functions to

    improve your

    community

    engagement

    Map My Say allows you to collect important community information at every stage of the planning process.
    Values mapping and needs assessment

    Gather rich information in the early stages of a planning project, and generate an overview of the planning area, its problems, and its potential.

    Map My Say can be used to collect a wide range of data to understand the non-tangible and emotional connections residents have to their current environment: How they value and experience their surroundings; which places people like or dislike; where they would like to see improvements; share stories and memories of places; and identify which places and spaces have cultural, historical, and environmental significance to the community.

    Presenting plans and design scenarios

    Once your plan is developed, Map My Say can communicate this to the community, and encourage comments and feedback on the design.

    The plans can be developed as customised map layers that can be turned on and off, and visualised on a map, allowing respondents to interact with the design proposal and share their opinions, comment, and evaluations. They can suggest alternative ideas and raise questions as they come up. This function is ideal for gathering feedback about plans, or for comparing and prioritising between different alternative scenarios.

    Evaluation of urban design projects

    Evaluating the impact of implemented plans is something that often gets overlooked. Map My Say provides a tool to assess which parts of your plan are working, which aren’t, and where you need to pay more attention. This evaluation information is essential in the next planning cycle and in informing future development.

    To help you, Map My Say can provide a range of questions that can be customised to evaluate the community benefits on your project, including physical health, mental health, and social outcomes.

    Contact

    Get in touch

    Have any questions, or want to know more? If you have an idea for a project using Map My Say, then we want to hear from you.

    Get in touch with us using the form below, and we'll be in contact to discuss how Map My Say makes it easy to capture community views and ideas on your projects.