Completing a 360° Cycling Journey Through Every Brussels Street

Back when OpenStreetMap Belgium was discussing starting a camera grant project, Stéphane De Greef already bought his own 360° camera, a GoPro Max, which is the same camera we use, and started collecting street level imagery of the Forest des Soignes. For the first time, there would be a “streetview” of the forest!

Mapper of the Month: Michel Hebert (France)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello Michel. Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

I am a retired man - three quarters of a century old - and the current president of an association in my town that has nothing to do with OpenStreetMap. I practice cycling for fun and to stay in shape, and I have been a member of the local OpenStreetMap group in Grenoble for several years. I am not a computer scientist but I pay a particular attention to this environment.

Mapper of the Month: Zverik (Russia)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello Ilya. Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi, I’m Ilya, and I love everything around open maps. I have done a lot of things with OpenStreetMap, including mapping, software, conferences, OpenStreetMap Foundation work, and writing. When I move places, it’s always exciting, because - yay, new area to map! This project is like one unending source of excitement for me, which I really like.

Mapper of the Month: Jean-Louis Stanus (Belgium)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello Jean-Louis ! Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

I really enjoy collecting data in the field on foot, by bike or by car. I also enjoy hiking and caving. I like to travel and visit my family and friends all over Wallonia. This gives me many opportunities to contribute to the project. I live in Namur. On the other hand, my profession is GIS analyst for the city of Brussels at I-City.

Mapper of the Month: LivingWithDragons (UK)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello Gregory! Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

Hello, I’m Gregory Marler. I’ve done a lot of mapping, mainly in the North East of England. The community is fantastic so I love to celebrate how we share data, skills, and knowledge. This means you may have heard me shout ‘Maps!’ to get everyone’s attention when it’s time for the conference to start.

State of MapComplete

Our member Pieter Vander Vennet is the main developer of MapComplete. Most of the core of the project was made during several paid projects. Now, Pieter has received significant funding from NlNet, which allows him to work half-time on MapComplete for the coming year. Many improvements to the user interface are to be expected. You can follow the progress on the Github pages. There is already some interesting research on his diary.

Looking for some mapping tasks?

Most of us map just the things that interest us. But OpenStreetMap Belgium likes to focus on specific areas that we think can help the map forward in a significant way. We’ve created a short list of topics where we can use some help: mapping roads, buildings & addresses, the effects of traffic signs and improving long distance hiking trails are on there. All these projects should contain help to get you started, but don’t hesitate to ask for help on any of our channels.

What we did in 2021

Every year, we write a report about the activities of the Local Chapter. We already finished the one for 2021 last October, but we still wanted to share it with you. Here’s a write-up of all the things we’ve been doing in the year before last. We’ll make the 2022 version soon.

Mapper of the Month: Eebie (Belgium)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello Erik! Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

My name is Erik and I live in Hasselt in Belgian Limburg. I map under my initials Eebie. I am 65 years old and recently retired.

Mapper of the Month: lusdavo (Uganda)

His homepage and his contribution page.

Hello David. Would you like to briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

I am 35 years old, married and a father of four children. I live in Kampala, Uganda’s capital.