The NextGen Mappers initiative is a regional pilot led by the GIS Society of Trinidad and Tobago (GISSTT) in partnership with the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD). The programme aims to introduce secondary school students to GIS, open mapping, and disaster risk management (DRM), while supporting them in completing community-focused geospatial projects. The course provides a comprehensive understanding of GIS concepts and its applications in disaster risk reduction, consisting of three (3) modules followed by a hands-on tutorial session and community project:
- Module 1: Introduction to Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Module 2: Disaster Management
- Module 3: Introduction to QGIS
In Jamaica, the initiative is closely aligned with the GIS in Schools Education Programme (GISSEP) led by the National Spatial Data Management Branch’s (NSDMB), especially as it relates to geospatial capacity development, teacher mentorship, and student project-based learning
The course aims to introduce secondary school students to GIS, open mapping, and disaster risk management (DRM), while supporting them in completing community-focused geospatial projects.
By the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Understand the fundamentals of GIS and its common applications in disaster risk management
- Understand the basic principles of map design, coordinate systems, and projections.
- Appreciate disaster and risk management, mitigation strategies and ways of building the disaster resilience capacity of communities, and society as a whole.
- Learn the fundamentals of the HOTOSM platform and the QGIS software tool
Who is this course for?
This course is for secondary school students, in particular those with an interest in geospatial data and its applications in disaster risk reduction with a focus on vulnerable groups.
What do I need to know?
Participants should have basic computer skills, or equivalent digital skills training
How long is this course?
The NextGen Mappers Course is organized over 4 weeks and contains 3 modules, plus a hands-on/project component. The courses are self-contained, but together they create a learning journey focused on increasing your capacity to apply GIS tools and knowledge to disaster risk reduction. Each of the self-directed module will take approximately 1.5 – 3 hours to complete, and you should be able to complete the course within 4 weeks.
You can study the course at your own pace and we’ve designed each course to be flexible so it fits with your schedule, and you can move ahead if you have time or catch up when you need to. You should expect to spend approximately 5 – 8 hours per week for best results.
Structure of the Course
This course is broken down into three (3) modules, namely:
- Module 1 – Introduction to GIS: introduces participants to the core concepts and principles of Geographic Information Systems (GIS).
- Module 2 – Disaster Management: acquire knowledge and skills pertinent to Disaster Risk Reduction, Emergency Preparedness and Response, Disaster Recovery and Rehabilitation and International Disaster Management
- Module 3 – Introduction to QGIS: a free and open source geographic information system (GIS) program that enables users to display, manage, and analyse geospatial information on the computer, and create map products
You will complete the modules in sequence as you work through the course. Please note that all modules are locked, until the previous one is completed, so you have to completely finish each module and the related assessments in order to progress through the course.
