OSMF updates/2021-08/Local Chapters Overview
About Local Chapters
Local Chapters (LCs) are country-level or region-level not-for-profit legal entities representing the area's OSM mappers when dealing with local government, business, and media. They have been officially recognised by the OpenStreetMap Foundation (OSMF) and can use the OpenStreetMap marks.
Each formally established Local Chapter can have one representative on the Advisory Board that the OSMF Board of Directors can consult. Current LC representatives on the Advisory Board (together with Gold Corporate Member representatives) are listed here.
If you or your organisation are interested in the becoming a Local Chapter please see the FAQ, the documents needed for application and the template agreement. You can contact the Secretary at secretary@osmfoundation.org and there is also the Local Chapters mailing list, which is dedicated to the discussion of topics and issues of interest to the Local Chapters of the OpenStreetMap Foundation, as well as those groups interested in becoming a Local Chapter. Also see the section regarding the Local Chapters and Communities Working Group.
| 8 new Local Chapters |
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8 new Local Chapters were approved during the past year (17 in total at the moment)
Please note that during the past year the whole board (instead of just the Secretary) was involved in the processing of the Local Chapter applications and in some cases the community was consulted from the initial stages of the application processing. All 17 Local Chapters are listed here. * Please note that while OSGeo Oceania is currently the recognised local chapter in the region, they are fully supportive of other groups that may form in Oceania with the intent of becoming a local chapter. One example would be a national entity that determines their interests would better represented as an independent local chapter. If this was to occur, OSGeo Oceania would be fully supportive and will not claim to speak for groups who do not wish to be represented." |
| 6 Local Chapters presented their activities |
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6 Local Chapters presented their activities during OSMF board meetings or via a post on blog.openstreetmap.org:
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| Local Chapter reports and updates to their Articles of Association |
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| During the past year, reports were received from:
The Articles of Association of Swiss OpenStreetMap Association were updated in 2020 and you can read them here: English, Deutch |
| Updated - Local Chapter Agreement |
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| Organisations that apply to become Local Chapters, have to sign the Local Chapter Agreement once accepted. The agreement mentions that the Local Chapter has to supply an annual report to the OSMF board. |
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The following changes were approved to the template agreement:
The Secretary was empowered to sign the updated local agreement with all existing local chapters: Germany, Poland and DRC have already signed. |
| 2020 Local Chapters Congress |
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The 2020 Local Chapters Congress took place online on November 21. See the schedule and read the session notes. |
| Local Chapters related surveys |
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| The Local Chapters and Communities Working Group (LCCWG) sent a survey to Local Chapters and community groups to get their views on why they applied/will apply to become a Local Chapter. One response was requested from each Local Chapter or group. The duration was: 2020-03-05 to 2020-04-11. Language: English Some points from the feedback received.
There is also an ongoing survey of Local Chapters, again initiated by the Local Chapters and Communities Working Group, in order to collect their views on paid work. Table of OSMF surveys here. |
| Other local chapter related news |
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| The board is working on a draft handbook for becoming a local chapter.
Board discussions related to Local Chapters:
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More information about Local Chapters
Local Chapters section on the OSMF website.
Becoming a Local Chapter
If you or your organisation are interested in the topic please see the resources below.
Contact
If you are ready to submit the documents for your application, please send them to secretary@osmfoundation.org
Please note that the Local Chapters and Communities Working Group is tasked with finding and implementing ways for the Foundation to support the growth of local communities.
Next Local Chapters Congress - 6 November 2021
The 2021 Local Chapters Congress (link) is scheduled to take place online on November 6, 2021 starting at 12:00 UTC.