A virtual discussion on the subject “Structure and Governance of a Local OSM Community” held on March 23, 2023 was the third of the Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team (HOT) Community Working Group Peer-to-Peer Learning Series aimed at supporting the new OSM chapters in Saint Lucia and Dominica. This session was attended by 18 members of the OSM Community from across the globe. The session was guided by some key questions on the subject; below are the major take-aways from this discussion.

What are the different roles that people can play in a local OpenStreetMap community?

The roles and responsibilities were discussed as a precursor to the discussion on the structure. It is important to identify what the community should consist of ahead of assessing how it is organized. The most common roles highlighted were mapper and trainer. However, roles such as sponsor, social media marketer, community coordinator, communications and project manager. Communications include posting on social media, blogs and even responding to questions on the forum.

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Background

This Peer to Peer Learning Exchange Workshop Series is aimed at providing a space for knowledge exchange to benefit the newly emerging OSM communities in Dominica and Saint Lucia. OSM community representatives from across the globe joined this 1-hour virtual session. It was extremely interesting to note that there were attendees from several different countries among the 36 persons who were in this April 25th peer to peer learning session. This was the first of six online sessions. The sessions are spearheaded by the Humanitarian OpenStreetmap Team (HOT) Community Working Group.

What is the OSM Community?

The Peer to Peer learning session kicked off with a discussion on “What is an OSM Community?” While some persons defined it in a broader sense, a group of like-minded people, who come together to map and some went into further detail. This included explaining the importance of charging a small membership fee in order to keep the group accessible for persons from all income brackets. One representative also mentioned the importance of having multiple members on the board of directors for continuity and accountability.

What should be the vision and mission of an OSM Community?

The general consensus was that the mission was to be a representative organization for mappers and mapping in their country/region. Further, it is important that clear goals and objectives are developed for example, increasing the number of mappers in the community, improving the quality of data and promoting the use of OSM data for community development

What should be the values to promote as an OSM community?

The dominant theme was that of inclusivity: ensuring that the OSM community was a welcoming and accessible space for all. In documenting the values the common approach is to have an informal policy at first, but written documents can be prepared and shared on the OSM Wiki.

Is there a need to register as an OSM community, either at a country or regional level?

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