Upcoming Events

Join MapRVA's Yesterdays team as they lead volunteers at the Library of Virginia in geotagging historic photographs of Virginia. Advance registration is required: https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/15784409?hs=a

More details to come.

Ever notice that stores in your local mall show up on your mapping application? Let's give our favorite library the same treatment! 
 
Check out indoor= to see what's mapped right now, consult the Simple Indoor Tagging schema for different use cases, and use OsmInEdit to add new things. We'll see you then!

Meet at Rosie Connelly's, we'll look around at all of the different surveillance types in the area: two different types of ALPRs and two different types of gunshot detectors! In advance of the meeting, in order to participate in mapping, please sign up for an OpenStreetMap account (https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/new) and download the DeFlock mobile app (https://deflock.org/app). We'll do a quick survey for some unmapped surveillance devices and retreat back to Rosie Connelly's for some refreshments.

Register here (free): https://openstreetmap.app.neoncrm.com/eventReg.jsp?event=221& Join OSM US & Esri for a Mappy Hour on Wednesday, May 6th from 8 - 9 pm EDT to demonstrate how the world’s largest collaborative map shows up in the tools you use every day: ArcGIS, StoryMaps, Living Atlas, and more. If Esri is part of your professional or academic toolkit and you’re looking to access OpenStreetMap data through their platforms, this Mappy Hour was created with you in mind! Here’s a brief overview of the hour: Welcome & introductions Tips for entering the current Narrative Map Competition OSM & Esri: demos and examples Q&A with the Esri team Registration is free. Once registered, be on the lookout for a confirmation email containing the Zoom link for the evening.

Meet any time after 6PM. We plan to take some street-level imagery, place some photos in Yesterdays, and map some renowned "residents".

This event is free and open to the public. It will be in the Activity Room. RPL staff at the front desk can help you find where to go.

Richmond’s Block Flock Coalition, alongside Southerners Against State Surveillance Infrastructure (@sassisouth), RVA Free School 🧠 (@rvafreeschool), and MapRVA, will be presenting “Flock’s Foundation: Surveillance’s Long History in the U.S. Settler Colonial Project.” From 1713 lantern laws that criminalized Black and Indigenous people for moving “unlit,” to COINTELPRO, fusion centers, and today’s corporate police tools, surveillance has always been a weapon of conquest. We’ll connect Flock’s license plate readers to slavery, empire, the post-9/11 expansion of the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the global testing of control technologies from borders to occupied lands. We will talk about what it means to fight the infrastructure and not just the contract. Join us in this political education teach in about abolition, anti-colonial struggle, and building a counteroffensive that needs to go beyond reform.

Come hang with us New York Deli in Carytown to talk all things mapping. All are welcome, we hope to see you there!

Virtual. Register here: https://openstreetmap.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/openstreetmap/eventRegistration.jsp?event=200&

Come hang with us and chat about all things mapping. All are welcome.

Topic: MapRVA Map & Yap

Time: Feb 26, 2026 18:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://cwm.zoom.us/j/81451882713

Discussion with OpenStreetMap US about the possibility of pursuing a grant for RVA-focused mapping work. ****POSTPONED***** Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86409811657?pwd=4PhUubIB7TauglRE6xFvrCpGaQxcvD.1 Meeting ID: 864 0981 1657 Passcode: osmus

6:30-7:30, Annex Room, RPL Main Branch

Dr. Keener and his co-authors analyzed the court-released locations of Flock ALPRs in Hampton Roads, finding that black communities were overly-surveilled compared to white communities. You can read an NPR story about the study here or chew through the preprint here. Dr. Keener is on the evaluation and application side -- namely the current status of the literature and how this information can apply to community advocacy and the General Assembly. In addition to chatting about the study, we'll use this time to talk about adding and maintaining surveillance device location within OpenStreetMap, with a view toward how these data could be used in advocacy action.

Meeting Title: Surveillance Inequality: Race, Poverty, and the Geography of Automated License Plate Reader Deployment
Meeting Description: Dr. Steven Keener of Christopher Newport University will speak about his new study, "Surveillance Inequality: Race, Poverty, and the Geography of
Automated License Plate Reader Deployment". MapRVA members will show how to add surveillance technology, including Flock Automatic License Plate Readers (ALPRs), to OpenStreetMap for community advocacy work.

https://openstreetmap.us/events/mapping-usa/2026/historical-mapping-workshop/
 
From georeferencing historical Sanborn fire insurance maps on OldInsuranceMaps.net, to georeferencing historical photographs, to mapping through time on OpenHistoricalMap, we’ll share demos and how to get involved.

https://openstreetmap.us/events/mapping-usa/2026/creating-thematic-webmaps-ultra/

This workshop will dive into creating thematic maps using OSM data using Ultra.

https://openstreetmap.us/events/mapping-usa/2026/sotmus-2026-info-session/
 
Thinking about participating in State of the Map US 2026 in Madison? Come learn from past SotM US attendees about what to expect, ask questions about fellowships and other aspects of the conference, and brainstorm ideas for your session.

This free virtual conference features two days of talks, workshops, and all things OpenStreetMap.

Register (for free!) here: https://openstreetmap.us/events/mapping-usa/2026/

This free virtual conference features two days of talks, workshops, and all things OpenStreetMap.

Register (for free!) here: https://openstreetmap.us/events/mapping-usa/2026/

https://umd.zoom.us/j/92811217198

Please RSVP in the Slack channel!!

See #local-rva on Slack for details!

RSVP in Slack!!! More info at maprva.org

A spooky MapRVA meetup, at Main Library (Gellman Room) Beth Zizzamia from University of Richmond will present her work mapping Richmond's cemeteries, and some of the amazing local history she has uncovered in the process. We'll discuss strategies for mapping cemeteries and similar sites, and make sure everyone's up to date on the Richmond Vampire lore.

Classic MapRVA hangout. Come chat about maps, RVA history, or just about anything else.

Join us for a special event at University of Richmond, an opportunity for MapRVA, U of R students and faculty, and other stakeholders to celebrate GIS work in the region, discuss opportunities to collaborate, and maybe don some sweet merch?!    Event is in the Spatial Analysis Lab (SAL) in Room 300 (3rd Floor) of the Carole Weinstein International Center. Feel free to use the parking lot directly next to the building.

Join MapRVA on Zoom for a virtual mapping sesh. Mapping theme TBD. All are welcome!

Topic: MapRVA Virtual Map & Yap

Time: Aug 8, 2025 18:00 Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

https://cwm.zoom.us/j/82095328004

**STUDY ROOM C** at Main Library! A classic MapRVA library meetup at Main Library in downtown Richmond. Bring a laptop if you like, and come join for some collaborative mapping! This meetup's focus will be mapping bus stops. Don't worry though, if you want to just come hang or map anything else, rock on!

This meetup will start at New York Deli at 6pm! Folks who want to get food or drinks will be welcome to.

Once everyone has arrived and we're feeling ready (6:45 or thereabouts?), those who are interested will head on out into Carytown for some POI mapping with Every Door. If you're new to surveying with Every Door, we'll walk you through it!

Please bring a smartphone if you have it to run the app. If not, please reach out and we can bring a spare phone.

The third and final in our talk series with PlanRVA, we will discuss transit mapping and pull out our laptops to learn how to map bus stops together.   Bring a laptop if you have one, but you are still welcome if not!

COME MAP RVA SIDEWALKS WITH US! 
 
This event, hosted by OpenStreetMap U.S., will highlight the Pedestrian Working Group's work. We will discuss the sidewalk mapping schema developed by the PWG, and try it out hands-on with some beginner- and intermediate-level mapping workshops.

Register here:

https://openstreetmap.app.neoncrm.com/np/clients/openstreetmap/eventRegistration.jsp?event=178

The second in our talk series with PlanRVA, we will discuss MapRVA's bicycle and pedestrian mapping efforts in detail, and learn about PlanRVA's initiatives to promote smarter development in the region using geospatial analysis.