GlobalGiving.org: Open Green Map to Support the Greening of China

Thanks to You, We are Winning!

Wendy Brawer — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:49:01 GMT

Green Map's 2011 Awards

A quick shout out, holiday greetings and thanks to our wonderful network of supporters:

Green Map System is delighted to share the good news that the Open Green Map interactive mapping platform that you help to support through your Global Giving donations has just won its third award in 2011!

We won the NetSquared Invitational, an award that comes with a little cash and plenty of help for our ongoing development, which is really great because we have big plans for the year ahead!! A project of TechSoup, NetSquared is focused on the intersection of technology and social impact. Their soon-to-launch new website will feature our video and help us reach a diverse new audience, too.

2011 also brought other honors - we are recipients of one of the very first Victor J Papanek Social Design Awards - this honor features the Open Green Map in exhibitions in Vienna and New York, a book and other outcomes.

And thank you again to Treehugger.com! We received the Best of Green 2011 for our mobile app in the Science and Technology category (we were also honored in their tourism category in 2010).

Today, there are more than:
• 60 countries involved
• 785 cities, towns and campuses with locally-led Green Map projects
• 500 uniquely designed printed editions and
• 250 Open Green Maps, linked by
• 150 Green Map Icons

Awards are an important part of our outreach strategy and a testament to the value of our work and impacts on communities worldwide through engaged mapmaking. The NetSquared Invitational is the 8th award for Open Green Map and one of 23 international honors to Green Map System overall.

We invite you to explore Open Green Map's 19,300+ locally charted sites and consider using this remarkable social mapping resource to chart progress toward sustainability in your community, too! Of course many communities in China are opting to create beautifully designed printed Green Maps, to ensure that people without computers can benefit from these fresh perspectives on familiar places. Two blogs linked below provide insights into our program, on the ground in China and New Jersey.

Let's make 2012 a transformational year together. Along with this good news, we're enclosing our gratitude for all you have done for us and our best wishes to all for a healthy, resilient, joyful and ecologically-sound year to come.

Our Director at the Papanek Awards by P. Aiolov

Chinese and other Green Maps being Archived, 2011

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In and Around China with Green Map

Wendy Brawer & Yutaka Nakashima — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 01:52:45 GMT

Young Mapmakers share results in HeFei

Hello to Green Map supporters! We continue to make steady progress and are excited to share brief updates from the region including and around China.

In September, we topped the 60 country milestone. Among those newly registered is the first Tibetan Green Map project. It was initiated by the Tibetan Village Project, a non-profit, non-political organization dedicated to promoting sustainable development while preserving the rich cultural heritage of Tibet. Tibet is our network’s 10th Asian country!

Japan’s Exhibition

This summer, a Green Map exhibition was created for the prestigious Zenrin Museum in Kita-kyushu, located just across the East China Sea from Shanghai in Japan. Several Chinese Green Maps were displayed amongst the Green Maps created across Asia and around the world. Lectures and interactive workshops rounded out the visitors’ experience. Youth and families even took time to explore Kita-Kyushu and create their own Green Maps. More about the exhibition is linked below.

Our Social Mapping Platform

Gradually evolving with new features and information, we updated the “About” section of Open Green Map. Fresh EPA students at Guangzhou Mega University Centre pitched in and updated the Chinese interface. This helps us attract new participants from China on a regular basis, with Xinhui, Jiangmen City ( ) - Guangdong Province joining us today.

Blogging from HeFei CHINA

We love seeing the blog posts by dedicated young people like the group of green urban planning students from Hefei University of Technology who shared their method of mapmaking in August. They went out around different parts o the city charting green living sites, taking time to interview citizens, including residents of retirement homes, about their environmental and future visions.

We appreciate how they enriched their mapmaking with in-depth interviews and discussions and we are looking forward to seeing the outcomes! More information about their experience (in Chinese) and and photographs are linked below.

Thank you as always for your support as together, we map our way to be more beautiful and healthy world.

Interviewing elders for the GangJi town Green Map

Kita-kyushu Green Map Exhibition

Links:

Mid-Summer Update on Chinese Green Map Projects

Wendy Brawer — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 17:17:41 GMT

Image:Open Green Map Flowchart (simplfied Chinese)

Thanks to all our Global Giving supporters! We are pleased to share introductions to the two newest registered Chinese Green Map projects.

The Green Urban Planning Group of Hefei University of Technology in AnHui Province says “ with persistence and passion, we are planning a garden-city future for the world as a whole”. With communities everywhere beginning to address food security, biodiversity loss, localization and health through gardens and urban farms, we appreciate their outlook. We’re excited to see how Green Mapmaking helps them as they set out to explore and resolve urban-rural issues while building their professional skills and community resiliency.

In Changsa Hunan Province, the first Green Map by AIESEC is underway. An international platform for young people to discover and develop their potential, AIESEC is one of the world’s largest youth organizations with a presence in 850 universities in 90 countries. Motivation for this project originated from efforts to protect the Xiangjiang, the largest river in the province. To do this, the team has created 4 groups - made up of teenagers, young adults, environmentalists and foreign volunteers - and will be testing out different mapmaking techniques with each. We hope these pilots lead to more engagement in the region and throughout the AIESEC network.

Find the profile of each project linked below.

We also have the following food-related Green Map projects in China in the process of registering:

In Harbin, there will soon be a campus Green Map at the Northeast Agricultural University China. The 98-year-old Green Volunteers Association of Northeast Agricultural University is applying its experience with environmental protection advocacy to this effort. Beijing will soon have an organic food and farm Green Map, thanks to the Jane Goodall Institute Roots and Shoots Youth Group. We are delighted to have this large network getting involved! Also in Beijing, our long-time project with Friends of Nature is continuing its work on transportation issues with cycling Green Maps – watch for the new edition later this year!

Open Green Map Update

Right now, the Fresh EPA students at Guangzhou Mega University Centre are translating the updated “About” section of the Open Green Map platform. When this is complete, we will be doing more outreach as there are still just 2 published Open Green Maps and 2 in development from China (Taiwan, for example, has 9). We will create a media alert with links to the how to video, the website’s flow chart (attached) and more. Thank you again for your support - and have a great season!

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Attachments:

Archiving Chinese Green Maps

Joseph Pangilinan, Jinhwa Ju and Wendy Brawer — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 20:07:01 GMT

Wetlands Techeng Island - South China U of Tech

This year, Green Map System has an exciting initiative underway. We aim to make our physical collection of Green Maps and related materials created worldwide available to the public through an archiving library as well as digitally through online conduits. Accomplishing this will offer models of inclusive sustainable community development and help to spread awareness to localities all over the world, China very much included.

An important step in creating the Green Map Archive is the physical organization and evaluation of the Green Maps and materials. During this process, we’ve gone through almost a hundred diverse maps and materials created in China and Taiwan. Some of the most recent detail precious ecological systems such as the Hongze Lake (by Nanjing University), the Little South China Sea Wetlands (by Chongqing University) and Wetlands Techeng Island (by South China University of Technology)– these were created in 30 universities in partnership with WWF China. These three great examples are shown here, but all can be downloaded from WWF’s webpage linked below. Beijing, Taipei and other urban environments are included as noted in our earlier Progress Reports (archived at Global Giving) and in the profiles of GreenMap.org.

“Viewing such an assortment of maps en masse is a testament to the level of involvement and commitment that many Chinese communities have put forth towards the advancement of sustainable living in their communities”, said Joseph Pangilinan, an intern (and planning student) at the New York office.

Our Korean marketing intern, Jinhwa Ju added, "It seems Green Map is a great educational tool for many Chinese students - their Green Maps are beautiful with a hand-printing sensibility remarkable as the outcomes of proactive participation. They look very nice and they share a deep understand of the environment. I am most impressed by the Wetland Green Maps and feel these high quality results will promote the bright future of their local education and communities."

The advancement achieved in the creation of Green Maps and the development of this Archive could not have been possible without your donations and support. Green Map System looks forward to another year of working towards spreading green living and sustainable awareness in China and the rest of the globe. Find out more about our Archives in the blog posts linked below, and envision the new initiatives they will help inspire worldwide.

Little South China Sea Wetlands - Chongqing U 2010

Hongze Lake Green Map - Nanjing University 2010

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Green Map in China - 2010's been a great year!

Wendy Brawer — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 17:54:11 GMT

Fresh EPA of Guangzhou Presenting

Thanks to the support of Global Giving donors like you, we've had another year of positive communications and activities in China for sustainable community development through mapmaking in 2010.

This year, new projects in Hangzhou, Xiamen-Wecl, Qujing City, Shanxi, Dongtai, Jiangxi and Shanghai are making a real difference in their communities. This is also the first year of WWF China Green Map projects, and 30 universities took part in charting fresh water and wetlands - these Green Maps were shown at EXPO and are now touring (a link below describes Nanjing's exhibit). Find more about this in progress reports added earlier in 2010.

University students are important stakeholders. We are delighted that the Fresh EPA group in Guangzhou has added several blog posts about the work they undertook this year to our website (see links below, or click News on GreenMap.org/home anytime). Now helping to spread Green Mapmaking to other universities and NGOs in the region, this group has published a wonderfully detailed Green Map of the Higher Education Mega Center, completed several community maps and developed their own workshops and hand-on activities.

We look forward to continuing to work with these students and many others across China in the year to come. To support this effort more fully, we are expecting to increase our team with a native speaker of Chinese this winter. We are hoping some of our latest resources - possibly including the Green Map iPhone App (which has new data collecting features, as seen at GreenMap.org/app) can become more available for the many kinds of smartphones being used by Chinese people. Your help will help us do more to support on-the-ground community building, skill sharing, communicating clearly about sustainability's complexities and strengthening networks in China.

Thank you and our best wishes for a healthy and green 2011!

Fresh EPA Students of Guangzhou in the Field

Creating the Mega Campus Green Map

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New Green Map Developments in China

Wendy Brawer — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 15:00:34 GMT

PondsPapago Open Green Map

Our network in cities and towns throughout China and Taiwan continually makes progress as each project works to engage local communities in sustainability.

This season, we have had a new kind of partnership underway with WWF China. As seen in their webpage about the program (linked below in Chinese and English), a unique series of wetlands Green Maps will be on view at the 2010 EXPO in Shanghai in late September. These were created by 30 university teams working with WWF China's Wetlands Action program, with the involvement of Green Map Beijing and experienced Green Mapmakers at China Mangrove Conservation Network! It was exciting to note that their call for participation received a greater than expected response, and WWF expanded the program so more students could take part.

We are looking forward to receiving copies of these wetlands and fresh water-themed Green Maps in New York, sharing them with you and making them a part of our Archive. Our goal in the coming year is to collect or create a digital version of every Green Map so anyone can access them on demand. Useful for technology transfer, assessing progress toward sustainability and to change perspectives, our Archive - which now includes over 500 published Green Maps, plus locally developed education and outreach resources - will make an important contribution that benefits all of society.

We are continuing to make progress on the Open Green Map's Chinese interface, and getting the word out about this resource. Society of Wilderness is starting to develop a Service Learning program for students. Ideal for this purpose, each student can contribute a site, then continually report what they have accomplished, add images, videos etc over time to the Open Green Map platform. We'll attach an image from the PondsPapago Open Green Map. Its 121 green sites highlight the beauty of ponds in Taoyuan.

Green Map System (with PhD candidate Bala Mulloth and law student Sara Imperiale) also contributed a ‘social innovation’ paper to the journal produced for Shanghai's recent 'Young Creators for Better City, Better Life' conference, based at Tongli University. You can download this paper by clicking the link below (it's 8 mb, including images and charts in Chinese and English).

Shanghai has a new Green Map underway too! In our next progress report, we will share more news - in the meantime, thank you so much for your much valued support and interest!

Thank you again!

China's Little Things Magazine Story on Green Map

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Green Map Progress in China, midsummer 2010

Celine Teo Ying Zhen and Wendy Brawer — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:12:24 GMT

Guangzhou Mega University Green Map

Through your kind donations, Green Map System has proceeded further with our aim of promoting and localizing sustainable living resources in China and Taiwan. There are currently 13 Mapmakers and 30 Green Maps in China. In Taiwan, 22 registered Green Mapmakers have produced 88 Green Maps! This Global Giving project has been instrumental is making China one of our most active countries. There is now greater awareness across an even more diverse group of population and topics.

Since this Global Giving project started, new Green Maps in China have impacted communities that range from students to socially responsible companies. Geographically, their locations are spread out, from Beijing in the North to Yunnan Province in the South.

We recently received copies of the FRESH Green Map of Guangzhou's Higher Education Mega Center (see image below). It was created by university students who are reaching out to their local communities as they charted sustainable areas and recycling facilities within this educational hub. Your support assists them in promoting more environmentally aware choices. If you would like a printed copy, please send a large self addressed stamped envelope to our office: Green Map, 220A East 4th Street, New York, NY 10009. Find other resources, such as the Kumming Youth Green Map or the Little Things article on our website.

Since our last update, we have proceeded with the translation of the Open Green Map interface, and subsequently the all-important FAQ pages. However, there remains more work to be done, translating tools, videos and other resources for youth and community Green Mapmaking. With the aid of our Green Mapmakers in China, we have plans to further collaborate on new resources and expand our translation efforts. Through this, we hope to build ties with our Chinese partners so that they can work on ground to address issues of sustainability and a healthy environment.

Kumming China Youth Green Map 2010

Green Map in 'Little Things" magazine, May 2010

Chinese Interface Underway at Open Green Map

Wendy Brawer & Bo Wang — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:06:36 GMT

Open Green Map in Chinese, in progress

This introduction is in Chinese below. Dear supporters at Global Giving, Thanks to you, we are now working on the Chinese interpretation of the Open Green Map. You can see the start of it online now here: http://OpenGreenMap.org/zh-hans/home We expect to complete this important work in summer 2010. Then, we will reach out to Chinese media, bloggers, universities, municipalities and others, encouraging more people to become Green Mapmakers and create Open Green Maps! Thank you again! You may enjoy using the new mobile version of Open Green Map and the Green Map iPhone App, too. Find out more in our blog (linked below) (in English). best wishes from everyone at Green Map! 亲爱的“全球捐赠网”的支持者们：非常感谢您的帮助！目前我们正在着手“开放绿地图”(Open Green Map)的翻译工作。您可以在线看到我们的初步成果：http://OpenGreenMap.org/zh-hans/home 我们预期在2010年夏天之前完成这项重要的任务。之后我们希望能够能与中国的媒体，博客们，大学，行政部门以及其他机构开展合作，并以此鼓励更多的参与者加入到“开放绿地图”创建者的行列中。再次表示感谢！您还能够体验新的手机版绿地图以及iPhone绿地图应用程序。您可以在此找到更多的信息：http://GreenMap.org/greenhouse/en/node/7844 (此网站内容为英文)

Daling Open Green Map

Bo Wang, interning at Green Map System

Links:

Fresh Blogs, Tangible Outcomes

Wendy E Brawer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 21:20:55 GMT

Click News or the Blog links below for the latest updates

All Green Map project leaders are invited to blog at GreenMap.org/news, where you can quickly enjoy some of the latest activities and impacts of local Green Map projects. Here are some highlights from our Blog's front page today:

Copenhagen: Green Map System and Green Mapmakers are presenting our practical, community building approaches at several events and meetings during COP15, the UN climate conference.

Indonesia: 3 prestigious national media awards recognized creators of Green Map stories!

Craik Canada: This rural Green Map project has added 1500 images to the online resources it already offers. Now building an eco centre using natural materials, the Craik Sustainable Living Project is planning to make a new Green Map in 2010.

Tianjin China: The "Love Without Borders" group provides delightful images of the 25 people who experienced their October Green Map workshop. Scroll further down for a translated Blog.

Iceland: Green Map Iceland held an exhibition celebrating the 3,171 sites they have charted using both Green Map Icons and ‘home grown’ Icelandic icons signifying volcanoes, whale-watching areas, light-houses and turf-houses.

Kauai Hawaii: Enjoy Current TV video clips about the Kauai Green Map and how it supports local green businesses created by Malama Kaua'i, a Kilauea based non-profit.

New York City: Recent interactions with local universities and student interns' reflections on their experience at the global Green Map office.

Budapest Hungary: A terrific new digital Budapest Green Map was launched at a press conference and resulted in exciting media coverage for the Hungarian Association of Conscious Consumers on World Heritage Day.

Detroit USA: Announcing plans to restart their project, Green Map Detroit invited all interested partners to meet and discuss at the Great Lakes Bioneers Detroit event.

Cape Town South Africa: As the city gears up to host the FIFA World Cup Games in 2010, the City of Cape Town is moving quickly on printed and Open Green Maps.

Click the 'More' link at the bottom of each page of the Blog - the stories continue. This is an inspiring testament to the diversity and impacts Green Map System has supported worldwide!

We hope you are inspired to support our work and all these green communities worldwide. Your donations are worth 50% more to Green Map in November, thanks to Global Giving and our board of directors. Special thanks to all who help us meet this Challenge. We all win when we work together to make the world a better place!

Visit GreenMap.org/news anytime for fresh Blog posts and inspiration, thanks to the dedication and insights of Green Mapmakers around the world.

Links:

http://GreenMap.org/news

Attachments:

Backgrounder (PDF)

Green Map System Updates from China

Wendy E Brawer — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 18:49:29 GMT

On September 4, 2009 the Xiamen Evening Paper published a four-page story about the Green Map produced by China Mangrove Conservation Network. The story includes three Green Maps already published, and a report about a training workshop in August. The Mangrove Conservation Green Maps address climate adaptation and pollution prevention while protecting habitats. Xiamen is a coastal sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian province of about 2,400,000 people, where hopefully many have now learned about sustainable living and Green Maps through this recent publication!

The Fresh Environmental Protection Agency of South China University of Technology (SCUT) recently published 2,000 copies of their "Higher Education Mega Center of Guangzhou Green Map." Their future plans include working with their university to distribute Green Maps to every new freshman in their student body of over 33,000 students!

Getting involved with Green Map Systems now will help further promote Green Mapmaking in China!

Attachments:

Open Green Map now in 3 languages

Wendy E Brawer — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 23:10:11 GMT

Our request for help as we translate the interface on OpenGreenMap.org has yielded 3 languages to date, Spanish, Portuguese and German. The first 2 are thanks to support from Natural Cosmeticos and the latter thanks to interns. Our template is working well and our website smoothly changes from one to the next. Now we have seed funding toward Chinese, and hope more Global Givers will step up and contribute.

We had an amazing launch for this social mapping platform - 13 events in 10 countries on World Environment Day! Download our illustrated report and then explore the first 55 Open Green Maps and 4700 sites!

Now we are developing the mobile applications, sharing, youth and low cost resources to go with it. See the first of these on the website under Share and Promote!

This is a great time to get involved with Green Map System, and help us reach more communities in China and provide our easy mapmaking and exploring platform to all!

Attachments:

Launch Report (PDF)

A greeting from Hu Huizhe

Wendy E Brawer — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 03:30:21 GMT

We're pleased to forward this Global Giving Greeting from Hu Huizhe, China's Green Map Hub Leader, from her base at Friends of Nature in Beijing: 绿地图能从个人生活的视角体现出社区的魅力所在。很多生活中的自然、文化、绿色环保的信息都可以通过绿地图来展现。绿地图可以用灵活互动的方式联结本地生活和全球视野。Open Green Map的互动标注系统可以为地球村的村民们提供更加多元和有效的参与。在这里，我们可以跨越地域的局限，展示、讨论和分享各种丰富的生态、社会、文化信息。同时，Open Gren Map 不仅易于操作，即时更新，还具有超国界的延展性，网络和手机用户都可以即时参与。让我们一起使用 Open Green Map来给这个世界添加色彩和个性，并共同拓展出更有活力和希望的未来！ Green Maps highlight local natural, cultural and green living sites to promote personal and community well-being. Transforming local information into global interaction, the Open Green Map social mapping platform spurs healthy participation as it shares diverse public viewpoints. Celebrating sustainability and social resources without barriers, Open Green Maps are always available, easily updated, expanded and explored in online, mobile and custom formats. Enrich today's world and envision a verdant, hopeful future with Open Green Map! 2005年，自然之友成为中国大陆地区第一个在北京开始绿地图活动的组织。到2009年，已经有20多个各地组织参与到绿地图活动中。这些绿色制图人包括来自学校、社区、环保组织、研究机构、生态旅游、乡村等各式各样的伙伴。很多地区都创造出富于当地特点，丰富有趣的绿地图。这些地图既能反映出当地文化的原创魅力，同时也具有国际视野。我们相信中文版的Open Green Map 可以让更多人了解到在中国的社区所发生的各种环保活动。同时，Open Green Ｍap 也可以鼓励更多中国公众方便、有效地参与到社区记录和发展活动中。这个系统可以为所有的中国绿地图制图人提供很好的帮助！ Since its beginning in 2005, now there are more than 20 active Green Map teams all over China. Friends of Nature is the first authorized organization to outreach for and create Green Maps in Beijing. Various groups including student groups, local communities, academic researchers, eco-tourism and village communities have participated in Green Mapping in different forms in China. We have also created quite a few unique and fresh maps featuring the local cultural essence while reflecting a global vision. We believe that a Chinese interface of Open Green Map will let more people understand how Chinese Green Mapmakers work on sustainable development and environment protection. In the meanwhile, Open Green Map also provide an efficient, feasible, and interesting interactive platform for more public participation from China. It will be a great support for all Green Mapmakers.

Attachments:

Open Green Map Slide Show (PDF)

November 2008 Update

Wendy E Brawer — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 02:53:44 GMT

It's been a tremendous season of activity, thanks to your support! We are making great strides and continuously discovering the limitless potential of the Open Green Map (OGM). Please preview our work in progress at OpenGreenMap.org, and explore the first 2000 sites and 30+ maps that have already been posted. There's lots more features to come before we celebrate the public launch in Spring 2009.

In the summer, we opened OGM to all Green Mapmakers around the world, so their maps could set a high standard for the thousands and thousands of sites we expect to follow. Already OGM is showcasing a vast array of sites, paths and resources charted by our network worldwide, soon to be enhanced by a great diversity of insights, images and impacts that have been added by the public. The first of the Chinese Open Green Maps is taking shape, and Google Map has recently improved street maps of Beijing and other Chinese cities. One we have secured the support to translate OGM's interface, we think it will become a very popular resource!

New features will be added throughout 2009-10 as OGM further expands its user base and magnifies its impact. Using widgets, each map will be accessible from many different websites and blogs. Users will be able to filter their view and discuss, share images and personal impacts related to each green site. In the coming months, OGM will support mobile phones access and data sharing, connecting with calendars, newsfeeds and potentially even offline exhibits or textbooks.

OGM has already been a Finalist in the NetSquared Challenge and in Tele Atlas' Maps in Apps competition, appeared in numerous articles and blogs, and presented in several countries and conferences.

Demand for this remarkable new tool is constantly increasing - and at the same time, OGM is building the demand for our traditional mapmaking resources in China and other places. Our network is expanding faster than ever! In October 2008, we reached the 500th project milestone, and we welcomed new project leaders from our 54th country!

In preparation for the significantly expanded audience generated by OGM, in May 2007, we re-launched GreenMap.org as a multilingual presentation-collaboration-tool center. This past spring, we completed an expansion of our award-winning global iconography, so OGM’s symbol set reflects our updated understandings of social justice, economic integrity and environmental vitality. This past summer, our in-house OGM team of staff and interns at Green Map System expanded to a dozen, and our network of OGM advisors and supporters grows weekly. Our motto is “Never underestimate the power of a small donation.” Small ($10 and up) contributions helped Green Map System rank in the Top Ten of America’s Giving Challenge in January 2008 – thank you Global Givers! These funds seeded OGM's development, and helped us leverage ober 50% of the project's 2year budget. We are very happy to receive your assistance through this website. Or contact us directly if you wish to help us in other ways.

Thank you again for your continued assistance and encouragement. We hope you are as excited as we are to realize the brighter future of communities worldwide, thanks to the Open Green Map, our suite of adaptable resources, and the spirit of Green Mapmakers everywhere!

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