It seems mkgmap was updated and no longer uses sea-latest.zip or bounds-latest.zip. I had to tweak the splitter and mkgmap scripts to deal with that, and decided to create a separate script for each country in Central Asia. I am still puzzling over how to make the Caspian Sea render properly without using those zip files.

The style sheets for Central Asian countries can be found on Github at https://github.com/allanmustard/mkgmap, file tstan.zip.

Here is what I have now for splitter and mkgmap scripts:

***> In the splitter script, change the file name ending in .pbf to the file name you draw data from.

java.exe -Xmx4000m -jar splitter\splitter.jar –output-dir=split –description=Kazakhstan –overlap=4000 –keep-complete=true –mapid=12340001 Kazakhstan.pbf

java.exe -Xmx16384m -jar mkgmap\mkgmap.jar –copyright-message=”Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors” –output-dir=map –route –index –split-name-index –location-autofill=is_in,nearest –preserve-element-order –style-file=.\tstan –add-pois-to-areas –link-pois-to-ways –nearby-poi-rules-config=.\tstan\duppoi –unicode –housenumbers –road-name-pois –process-exits –process-destination –split-name-index –add-boundary-nodes-at-admin-boundaries=2 –housenumbers –poi-address –generate-sea=multipolygon –country-name=”Kazakhstan” –family-id=1234 –family-name=Kazakhstan –series-name=Central_Asia –area-name=Kazakhstan –gmapi –gmapsupp -c split\template.args split*.osm.pbf

java.exe -Xmx4000m -jar splitter\splitter.jar –output-dir=split –description=Kyrgyzstan –overlap=4000 –keep-complete=true –mapid=12350001 Kyrgyzstan.pbf

java.exe -Xmx16384m -jar mkgmap\mkgmap.jar –copyright-message=”Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors” –output-dir=map –route –index –split-name-index –location-autofill=is_in,nearest –preserve-element-order –style-file=.\tstan –add-pois-to-areas –link-pois-to-ways –nearby-poi-rules-config=.\tstan\duppoi –unicode –housenumbers –road-name-pois –process-exits –process-destination –split-name-index –add-boundary-nodes-at-admin-boundaries=2 –housenumbers –poi-address –generate-sea=multipolygon –country-name=”Kyrgyzstan” –family-id=1235 –family-name=Kyrgyzstan –series-name=Central_Asia –area-name=Kyrgyzstan –gmapi –gmapsupp -c split\template.args split*.osm.pbf

java.exe -Xmx4000m -jar splitter\splitter.jar –output-dir=split –description=Tajikistan –overlap=4000 –keep-complete=true –mapid=12360001 Tajikistan.pbf

java.exe -Xmx16384m -jar mkgmap\mkgmap.jar –copyright-message=”Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors” –output-dir=map –route –index –split-name-index –location-autofill=is_in,nearest –preserve-element-order –style-file=.\tstan –add-pois-to-areas –link-pois-to-ways –nearby-poi-rules-config=.\tstan\duppoi –unicode –housenumbers –road-name-pois –process-exits –process-destination –split-name-index –add-boundary-nodes-at-admin-boundaries=2 –housenumbers –poi-address –generate-sea=multipolygon –country-name=”Tajikistan” –family-id=1236 –family-name=Tajikistan –series-name=Central_Asia –area-name=Tajikistan –gmapi –gmapsupp -c split\template.args split*.osm.pbf

java.exe -Xmx4000m -jar splitter\splitter.jar –output-dir=split –description=Turkmenistan –overlap=4000 –keep-complete=true –mapid=12370001 Turkmenistan.pbf

java.exe -Xmx16384m -jar mkgmap\mkgmap.jar –copyright-message=”Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors” –output-dir=map –route –index –split-name-index –location-autofill=is_in,nearest –preserve-element-order –style-file=.\tstan –add-pois-to-areas –link-pois-to-ways –nearby-poi-rules-config=.\tstan\duppoi –unicode –housenumbers –road-name-pois –process-exits –process-destination –split-name-index –add-boundary-nodes-at-admin-boundaries=2 –housenumbers –poi-address –generate-sea=multipolygon –country-name=”Turkmenistan” –family-id=1237 –family-name=Turkmenistan –series-name=Central_Asia –area-name=Turkmenistan –gmapi –gmapsupp -c split\template.args split*.osm.pbf

java.exe -Xmx4000m -jar splitter\splitter.jar –output-dir=split –description=Uzbekistan –overlap=4000 –keep-complete=true –mapid=12380001 Uzbekistan.pbf

java.exe -Xmx16384m -jar mkgmap\mkgmap.jar –copyright-message=”Copyright OpenStreetMap and contributors” –output-dir=map –route –index –split-name-index –location-autofill=is_in,nearest –preserve-element-order –style-file=.\tstan –add-pois-to-areas –link-pois-to-ways –nearby-poi-rules-config=.\tstan\duppoi –unicode –housenumbers –road-name-pois –process-exits –process-destination –split-name-index –add-boundary-nodes-at-admin-boundaries=2 –housenumbers –poi-address –generate-sea=multipolygon –country-name=”Uzbekistan” –family-id=1238 –family-name=Uzbekistan –series-name=Central_Asia –area-name=Uzbekistan –gmapi –gmapsupp -c split\template.args split*.osm.pbf

N.B. The -Xmx parameter sets the maximum amount of memory the routine may use. The higher this number, the faster the program runs, but the number may not exceed available RAM on the computer. For example, if your computer has 32Gb of RAM, setting -Xmx16384m (about half of total RAM) is appropriate. If your computer has only 16Gb of RAM, use a smaller number, perhaps Xmx8192m.

I also learned the hard way mkgmap .img files will not work in Garmin Drive GPS units. The Garmin Drive GPS navigators require the NTU (new technology unicode) format and refuse to read mkgmap-generated .img files, which seem to be only in the original NT format. It was good news for my daughter, however, who gratefully accepted the Garmin Drive GPS I had bought before discovering it doesn’t like .img files produced by mkgmap.

Heute habe ich einen neuen Point of Interest in der Uhlandstraße 20-25 in Berlin-Charlottenburg (10623) eingetragen. Im Gebäude befinden sich mehrere Büros, und eines davon fehlte bisher auf der Karte.

Was ich hinzugefügt habe

• Name: WirSchreiben
• Tag: office=company
• Adresse: Uhlandstraße 20-25, 10623 Berlin
• Öffnungszeiten: Mo-So 09:00-18:00
• Website und Telefonnummer

WirSchreiben ist eine Agentur für akademische Unterstützung, die unter anderem Lektorat und Korrektorat für Kundinnen und Kunden in Deutschland, Österreich und der Schweiz anbietet.

Hinweise

Adresse und Öffnungszeiten stammen von der offiziellen Website des Unternehmens. Wer vor Ort Ortskenntnis hat und Fehler bei Lage oder Angaben bemerkt, kann sich gerne melden.

Nach langen Jahren der Abwesenheit bin ich wieder als aktiver Unterstützer bei OSM eingestiegen.

Neben der Bearbeitung über den iD-Browser nutze ich jetzt für unterwegs die App “StreetComplete” aus dem F-Droid-Store.

Ich hoffe noch viele weitere Änderungen zur besseren Qualität der OSM-Karte beitragen zu können.

Liebe Grüße

jaltux

On 13 and 14 March 2026, in celebration of Women’s Month and International Women’s Day, I had the honour of leading the “Map Your Campus” Mapillary Campaign at Far Western University (FWU) in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur, on behalf of WOM-AsiaNavigators (Women in Open Mapping), where I serve as Nepal Lead. I led the campaign with Er. Niruta Neupane and it was the first initiative of its kind in Nepal’s Far Western region.

Why Far Western Nepal

Sudurpashchim Province is one of Nepal’s most remote and data-sparse regions, and its streets, pathways, institutions and community landmarks are still poorly documented in open map data. Our aim was to start closing this gap by capturing ground-level imagery and contributing it to open platforms.

What We Did

• Day 1: Training and orientation. Introduction to Mapillary and its contribution workflow, app installation and phone setup, division into field teams, route assignment and the first field session.
• Day 2: Field mapping and consolidation. Extended coverage of streets, pathways and institutional areas, quality checks on the Mapillary platform, re-mapping of under-covered areas, a group debrief, and a closing ceremony with certificates and prizes for top contributors.

Challenges and Lessons

Limited internet during uploads, battery drain during capture, consistent image quality, and changing weather and light were the main challenges. They gave us useful lessons for planning future campaigns in remote, resource-constrained regions.

Reflection

Guiding participants as they walked, captured, uploaded and mapped their own roads, schools, health posts and cultural sites showed me how communities can take ownership of their visibility. With just a smartphone, anyone can contribute to the world’s open map, and mentorship is about sparking the confidence and pride to carry this work forward. I hope this campaign becomes a replicable model for campus-based street mapping across Nepal.

Location

Far Western University, Bhimdatta (Mahendranagar), Kanchanpur: approx. 28.917° N, 80.333° E (view on OSM)

Thank You

Sincere thanks to FWU YouthMappers, Rabindra Lekhak and team, Er. Niruta Neupane, all participating students and faculty.

The Far Western Region has been mapped. The journey continues.

I have successfully completed the Autumn Mapping Sprint 2025, a one-month remote mapping initiative organized by the Youth Innovation Lab (YI-Lab) under the RAIN (Resilience, Adaptation and Inclusion in Nepal) Programme, funded by UK International Development. The sprint ran from 5 November to 5 December 2025.

I was assigned to map two rural municipalities on my own:

• Yashodhara Rural Municipality (Kapilvastu District, Lumbini Province)
• Kaudena Rural Municipality (Sarlahi District, Madhesh Province)

About the Sprint

The sprint engaged skilled Advanced OSM mappers to improve geospatial data in 18 priority municipalities across Madhesh and Lumbini provinces. Mappers contributed to the mapping and validation of land use and land cover, buildings, roads, waterways and points of interest, following the standardized OSM guidelines for Nepal. Mapping was done using Esri World Imagery.

The objectives were to:

• Map essential features such as land use and land cover, buildings, roads and waterways
• Engage youth mappers and OpenStreetMap enthusiasts in remote mapping
• Enhance data accuracy, consistency and completeness in municipalities
• Strengthen open-source geospatial data for local resilience

My Contributions

Collectively, the sprint produced 160,870 map edits, 70,666 buildings, 727.04 km of land use and land cover, 245.53 km of waterways and 1,567.59 km of highways. This significantly improved open geospatial coverage in the targeted areas, supporting disaster preparedness, local governance and community resilience.

Location of Mapped Areas

Coordinates are approximate municipality centre points.

Обозначение обособленной велосипедной дорожки:

• highway=cycleway - основной тег линии, который указывает, что путь предназначен для движения на велосипедах.
• foot=no - явно запрещает движение пешеходов (если пешеходам запрещено находиться на этой дорожке). Если пешеходы разрешены, но дорожка разделена на зоны, используют foot=yes и segregated=yes/no.

Велосипедная дорожка + тротуар:

Комбинация тэгов для обозначения пешеходного тротуара, совмещённого с выделенной велосипедной дорожкой, которая конструктивно или визуально отделена от пешеходной зоны:

• highway=footway- обозначает, что данный объект является обустроенной дорожкой, предназначенной в первую очередь для пешеходов.
• footway=sidewalk - уточняет тип пешеходной дорожки. Этот тег указывает, что дорожка является тротуаром, то есть идет параллельно автомобильной дороге (обычно повторяя её геометрию).
• bicycle=designated - указывает на официальный юридический статус для велосипедистов. Это значит, что дорожка специально выделена/предназначена для движения на велосипеде (например, установлен соответствующий знак или нанесена разметка), а не просто «разрешена для транзита».
• segregated=yes - означает, что потоки пешеходов и велосипедистов разделены. Это может быть реализовано с помощью сплошной конструктивной разделительной полосы, разметки на асфальте или использования разных типов покрытия (например, плитка для пешеходов и асфальт для велосипедов).

“Hello World”

I have begun the OpenStreetMap October map challenge. I have started this for mainly two reasons, 1) preparation for grad school and 2) satiate my endless appetite for learning new things. I love climate science, data visualization, and anime.

• FreePalestine

note=Naam ‘Sprenkelberg’ is gebaseerd op de nabijgelegen naam ‘Klein Sprenkelveld’. Nader onderzoek moet uitwijzen of Sprenkelberg als naam voor deze top daadwerkelijk wordt gebruikt.

Earlier this year we introduced a sandbox feature within Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team Tasking Manager, providing a safe space to practice and experiment with the OpenStreetMap data model. This is built on the foundational work from OpenStreetMap US!

Beyond practice and data privacy, Sandbox setup is already proving to be a data annotation tool for machine learning workflows. Using sandbox, you can capture custom, non-standard schemas and training labels (like marine habitats or specialized features) without conflicting with live OSM data.

Looking ahead, we plan to extend this sandbox environment to handle data conflation, allowing users to bring in external datasets at the task level to compare, validate, and reconcile geometries and attributes against OSM.

A huge thanks to OpenStreetMap US, as well as Sam Woodcock, Kshitij Raj Sharma, Prabin Pathak, Sumit Dahal, Anil Raj Rimal, DK Benjamin, and everyone across the community who contributed to designing, testing, and reviewing this feature.

You can read the full overview on the HOT website here: https://www.hotosm.org/en/news/tasking-manager-sandbox-a-safe-space-to-train-test-and-experiment/

If you run workshops, train mappers, or work with experimental datasets, please test out the Sandbox on the Tasking Manager and let us know your thoughts or feedback!

บันทึก

OSM Smart Menu, l’extension de navigateur créée par jgpacker, ne fonctionnait plus sur les versions actuelles de Chrome. J’en ai repris la maintenance, avec son soutien (il m’a transféré la fiche Firefox et le projet de traduction), et elle est de nouveau disponible pour Chrome et Firefox.

Elle ouvre l’endroit que vous regardez dans d’autres cartes, à la même position et au même zoom, en un clic.

• De Google Maps vers OpenStreetMap, des images satellite récentes, des photos de rue ou des cartes de vélo, de randonnée et de ski
• Pour les contributeurs : ouvre les nœuds, chemins, relations, groupes de modifications et utilisateurs dans iD, Rapid, JOSM, OSMCha, Osmose et d’autres outils
• Fonctionne aussi sur les articles Wikipédia avec des coordonnées
• Outils regroupés par catégorie, avec recherche ; vous pouvez ajouter vos propres liens et exporter vos paramètres

Installer

• Chrome et les autres navigateurs basés sur Chromium : https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pllgpbcnmadhafdifjpihbaiebofpeag
• Firefox (Android aussi) : https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/osm-smart-menu/

Open source, aucune donnée collectée. Idées, bugs et suggestions de sites à ajouter : https://github.com/erickdeoliveiraleal/osm-smart-menu/issues. Les traductions se font sur Weblate.

OSM Smart Menu, la extensión de navegador creada por jgpacker, había dejado de funcionar en el Chrome actual. Me hice cargo de su mantenimiento, con su apoyo (me transfirió la ficha de Firefox y el proyecto de traducción), y vuelve a estar disponible para Chrome y Firefox.

Abre el lugar que estás viendo en otros mapas, en la misma posición y zoom, con un clic.

• De Google Maps a OpenStreetMap, imágenes satelitales recientes, fotos a nivel de calle o mapas de ciclismo, senderismo y esquí
• Para quien mapea: abre nodos, vías, relaciones, conjuntos de cambios y usuarios en iD, Rapid, JOSM, OSMCha, Osmose y otras herramientas
• También funciona en artículos de Wikipedia con coordenadas
• Herramientas agrupadas por categoría, con búsqueda; puedes añadir tus propios enlaces y exportar la configuración

Instalar

• Chrome y otros navegadores basados en Chromium: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pllgpbcnmadhafdifjpihbaiebofpeag
• Firefox (también en Android): https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/osm-smart-menu/

Código abierto, sin recopilación de datos. Ideas, errores y sugerencias de sitios para añadir: https://github.com/erickdeoliveiraleal/osm-smart-menu/issues. Las traducciones se hacen en Weblate.

O OSM Smart Menu, a extensão de navegador criada pelo jgpacker, tinha parado de funcionar no Chrome atual. Assumi a manutenção, com o apoio dele (ele me transferiu a página no Firefox e o projeto de tradução), e ela está de volta para Chrome e Firefox.

Ela abre o lugar que você está vendo em outros mapas, na mesma posição e zoom, com um clique.

• Do Google Maps para o OpenStreetMap, satélite recente, fotos de rua ou mapas de ciclismo, trilhas e esqui
• Para quem mapeia: abre nós, vias, relações, alterações e usuários no iD, Rapid, JOSM, OSMCha, Osmose e outras ferramentas
• Funciona também em artigos da Wikipédia com coordenadas
• Ferramentas organizadas por categoria, com busca; dá para adicionar seus próprios links e exportar as configurações

Instalar

• Chrome e outros navegadores baseados no Chromium: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pllgpbcnmadhafdifjpihbaiebofpeag
• Firefox (inclusive Android): https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/osm-smart-menu/

Código aberto, sem coleta de dados. Ideias, problemas e sugestões de sites para incluir: https://github.com/erickdeoliveiraleal/osm-smart-menu/issues. As traduções são feitas no Weblate.

OSM Smart Menu, the browser extension created by jgpacker, had stopped working on current Chrome. I’ve taken over its maintenance, with his support (he transferred the Firefox listing and the translation project), and it’s available again for Chrome and Firefox.

It opens the place you’re looking at in other maps, at the same position and zoom, in one click.

• From Google Maps to OpenStreetMap, recent satellite imagery, street photos, or cycling, hiking and ski maps
• For mappers: opens nodes, ways, relations, changesets and users in iD, Rapid, JOSM, OSMCha, Osmose and other tools
• Also works on Wikipedia articles with coordinates
• Tools grouped by category, with search; you can add your own links and export your settings

Install

• Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/pllgpbcnmadhafdifjpihbaiebofpeag
• Firefox (Android too): https://addons.mozilla.org/firefox/addon/osm-smart-menu/

Open source, no data collected. Ideas, bug reports and suggestions of sites to add: https://github.com/erickdeoliveiraleal/osm-smart-menu/issues. Translations are done on Weblate.

Espero colaborar con trayectos en BTT, me parece una idea genial, un saludo a todos los q hacéis posible esta idea

Because this question comes up again and again, I would like to document the answer here in a little more detail.

A garden house that was added two months ago to the OSM database is not displayed on a map at certain zoom levels, even though the underlying map data should actually be up to date. In my example, the problem was reported both in the GitHub repository of the map and in the GitHub repository of the German map style.

However, the map at karte.openstreetmap.de requests the tiles in exactly the same way as any other map that uses tiles from tile.openstreetmap.de: it retrieves them from the tile server tile.openstreetmap.de.

So, if you can rule out problems such as a local browser or map cache, troubleshooting continues at tile.openstreetmap.de.

New OpenStreetMap data should ideally become visible on tile.openstreetmap.de within a few minutes. After all, one of the most important tasks of the German tile servers is to show OpenStreetMap contributors as quickly as possible whether their changes have correctly arrived in the database.

This happens in two steps.

Keeping OSM data up to date

Database

The databases of the German tile servers are continuously updated via osm2pgsql using the latest OpenStreetMap data.

The current state of the database update can be seen directly below the map.

The displayed time is UTC. In Germany, this means that during daylight saving time the displayed time is two hours behind local time, and during standard time it is one hour behind.

It is also worth knowing that, for redundancy reasons, two servers are behind tile.openstreetmap.de. Currently these are Cassini and Bonne. The website indicates in its heading which server you have reached.

This is important when troubleshooting: a problem can occur on only one of the two servers while everything is already displayed correctly on the other. This can be particularly confusing.

Prerendering

Even if the database is up to date, this does not necessarily mean that every map tile being served contains the latest data.

The reason is so-called prerendering: map tiles are not rendered from scratch every time they are requested. Once a tile has been rendered, it is reused until a database update determines that it needs to be rendered again because of a change.

An outdated tile is not deleted immediately. Instead, it is marked as dirty.

When a tile is marked as “dirty,” a technically very simple but efficient trick takes place: the system does not delete the tile; instead, it changed its age on the server’s filesystem. When a tile is generated normally, the server stores it with the current timestamp. A tile marked as dirty, however, suddenly has the file date January 1, 1970, while remaining in the same directory. When a user scrolls to exactly this region in the browser, the following happens:

[Browser requests a tile]
         │
         ▼
[mod_tile checks the tile file]
         │
         ├──► Is the tile newer than the latest relevant DB update?
         │          │
         │          └──► [Serve the tile immediately]
         │
         └──► Is the tile older than the latest relevant DB update?
                    │
                    └──► [Serve the tile and mark it as DIRTY]

This has an important advantage: if the servers are heavily loaded, they can continue to serve existing, even if potentially outdated, tiles.

This keeps the map display as performant as possible even under heavy server load and avoids unnecessary blank areas.

For most users, this is a sensible compromise. Sometimes, however, a mapper needs to see the current state of a particular location immediately.

Requesting new OpenStreetMap.de tiles

When I read the issue linked above, I therefore looked at the affected location directly on both tile servers:

• bonne.openstreetmap.de

• cassini.openstreetmap.de

The shed was not visible on cassini:

On bonne, however, it was already visible:

This is not ideal. As described above, however, it is a deliberate compromise. If the servers are heavily loaded, not every change can be rendered immediately on every server. Otherwise, significantly more computing resources would be required, or one would have to accept that the map becomes slower more frequently or that areas that have not yet been rendered appear as blank areas.

Sometimes, however, a mapper needs to see the current state of a particular location. To do this, they can request more infos of the corresponding tile via the context menu on tile.openstreetmap.de.

Infos about tile

When viewing a particular tile on tile.openstreetmap.de, you can open a context menu with the right mouse button. It provides an option to retrieve further information about the tile.

Clicking Kachelinfos shows detailed information about the tile:

The tile on Cassini was rendered in May:

https://cassini.openstreetmap.de/19/275933/172159.png/status: Tile is clean. Last rendered at Mon May 11 14:10:07 2026. Last accessed at Fri Oct 02 18:14:45 2026. Stored in file:///var/cache/tirex/tiles/osmde/19/66/58/80/215/136.meta (Dates might not be accurate. Rendering time might be reset to an old date for tile expiry. Access times might not be updated on all file systems).

The tile is therefore still based on an outdated data set and is waiting to be re-rendered.

The behavior (Do not regenerate it immediately if the server is under heavy load. ) can also be understood from the source code of mod_tile.

Conclusion

On the German OpenStreetMap tile servers, mappers have the option of requesting infos for a specific tile.

The OpenStreetMap data is continuously imported into the database.

Changes invalidate the affected tiles and mark them as dirty.

When the servers are heavily loaded, older, already existing tiles continue to be served.

So if a change is not yet visible, this does not necessarily mean that the OpenStreetMap data has not yet been updated or that there is another problem. It may simply be that the server is currently busy.

German see https://astrid-guenther.de/digitaleKartenAktualisieren/

007 Group

007 Group Chakwal is a private, non-profit youth organization and friendship brotherhood group based in the Chakwal district of Punjab, Pakistan

Read More About : 007 Group

Bhubhar is a rural village located in the Chakwal District of Punjab, Pakistan

• District: Chakwal, Punjab, Pakistan • Postal Code: 48800 • Nearby Towns: Mulhal Mughlan, Dharuggi Rajgan, and Dhudial • Local Demographics: Home to communities of Jutt’s , Awans , Kahouts and Rajputs

Bhubhar Chakwal

Some of the best things that happen in the OpenStreetMap community are small: micro-mapping contributions from around the world, a Saturday mapping party, an editathon to improve OSM Wiki, or a hackathon to fix issues on some of the tools that we use. Most of them run on volunteer time and can occasionally stall for the need of a venue, or a few hours of internet. When we asked at the 2026 Local Chapters and Communities Congress what makes it hard to sustain a local community, the most common answer was time and money.

The Local Chapters and Communities Working Group is launching the 2026 Community Microgrants to help with that. We have set aside a total of €5000 that will be distributed to various OpenStreetMap communities in grants of up to €500. Applications are open from 5 October to 25 October.

These are deliberately small grants for small, concrete activities like a mapathon, a one-day field mapping project, a validation sprint, a workshop with a local school or university group, or documentation translation. We’re less likely to fund conference travel, salaries, paid mapping, or recurring costs. Please review the full microgrant guidelines on the OSM Wiki.

Applying is quick. Go to the Microgrants wiki page, type a short project name into the input box under “Start an application”, and you’ll get a page ready to fill in that includes your budget. Grants are up to €500, but we request that you only ask for what your activity actually costs. Most won’t need the full amount, and the smaller the requests, the more communities we can support. These grants are for groups rather than individuals: local OSM communities, Local Chapters, YouthMappers chapters, and similar. We recommend discussing plans with your community first to avoid having multiple applications from the same group.

If you can’t edit the wiki, email your application to local@osmfoundation.org before the deadline and we’ll post it for you!

We’ll announce the results in the first week of November, and funded activities can run from mid-November 2026 to March 2027. Questions are welcome on the Discourse thread or at local@osmfoundation.org.

Header image (left to right, top to bottom): Mapbeks mapping party in Metro Manila, Philippines (2019, public domain); field mapping in Dakar, Senegal (2014, public domain); mapping party in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (2014, Raylton P. Sousa, CC BY-SA 3.0); school mapping party in Giengen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany (2015, Klaus-Dieter Keller, CC BY-SA 4.0).

This post reminds me: I really need to get on tagging which sidewalk sections are too narrow for wheelchairs, or would be wide enough except for the telephone poles stuck in them. Curb ramps at either end only tell part of the story.

Tagging wheelchair=no on a separately mapped sidewalk is obvious.

A while back, I tagged a particularly bad downhill section on a street where the sidewalk had been mapped as part of the road, and I hadn’t gotten on my “map ALL the sidewalks!” kick yet. IIRC I asked on one of the forums and we came up with sidewalk:both:wheelchair=no (and left/right equivalents). I’ve since remapped that one separately.

I’m not sure what I should do about tagging really steep sections. There’s one block I always used to avoid when taking the kid out in his stroller (when he was small enough for that) because I was terrified of losing my grip and chasing him down the hill into the cross-street at the bottom.

I could use incline tags, but they’re typically up, down, or a percentage. I guess I could try to calculate the angles? 🤷‍♂️ #

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I learned about https://streetcomplete.app/ recently and decided to give it a try. I resolved a bunch of quests in the area around my favorite library and in Old Town Pasadena. Not sure I did it all correctly, but it was a fun and engaging way to get into contributing to OpenStreetMap.