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By viv, 7 December, 2011 8:32 am

I have recently become a citizen of Nowhereisland.  It was really easy, no tests, no restrictions – I visited  the website, filled in a quick online form and quickly joined the growing number of citizens.  A few days later my certificate arrived in the post which says I am an official Nowhereisland citizen.  Nowhereisland currently has 3948 citizens – more than the Vatican City or the Falkland Islands and closing fast on St Helena.

So where is Nowhereisland and what’s it all about?

Nowhereisland is a public art project conceived by artist Alex Hartley. It is one of 12 arts projects across the UK, funded by the Arts Council of England, which will form part of the Cultural Olympiad in summer 2012. Next summer, Nowhereisland will journey from Weymouth to Bristol over six weeks stopping at 7 ports and harbours en route.

In 2004, Alex discovered an island which had been revealed by the melting ice of a retreating glacier in the High Arctic region of Svalbard. He was the first human to stand on the island which was subsequently named Nyskjaeret and is now officially recognised and included on all maps and charts .

In September 2011, Alex returned to the Arctic to retrieve the island territory. With the permission of the Governor of Svalbard, a quantity of island territory was removed and sailed into international waters north of Svalbard. Once in international waters, Alex declared Nowhereisland a new nation on 20th September 2011, before the island material was shipped back to the UK to be formed into the floating island sculpture.

Nowhereisland is a place that seeks to redefine what a nation can be and will ask questions and inspire activities around geography, migration, nationhood, citizenship, land grab and climate change. Which fits really well with GeoVation – a place where communities, innovative thinkers, geographic data, skills and expertise can get together for the benefit of communities and their needs.

And … for Mission:Explorers  – when you  sign up you receive a code to unlock bonus points for a Nowhereisland badge.

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By viv, 22 September, 2011 8:00 am

Did you know that today is World Carfree day and an opportunity to leave the car at home and walk, take a bus, train or cycle? All this can help to highlight congestion on our roads, pollution from exhaust fumes and the threat of dangerous climate change caused by cars.

Some of the winners of our‘How can we improve transport in Britain?’ GeoVation Challenge have some great ideas and tools for alternative ways to travel.

If you’re cycling,  Cyclestreets have a great journey planner.  Their website and mobile apps use OS Street View® map data from the OS OpenData™ datasets as well as  OpenStreetMap options for route planning.

Public interest in the London Cycle Map Campaign is growing with nearly 1500 signatures but they need 100,000 signatures in order for a petition to be debated in the House of Commons. So if you think Simon Parker’s London ‘Tube Map’ for cyclist is  a great idea  – sign the petition now!

Mission:Explore are working closely with Sustrans and Arla to create challenges and activities called ‘missions’ along parts of the cycle network to encourage families and new users to get out and cycle on the National Cycle Network

If you have problems travelling on public transport, why not report it on FixMyTransport a site for public transport users to report problems and get them fixed!

AccessAdvisr, another of our winners are busy building their proof of concept for a new website and smartphone app that intends to improve the quality and richness of information about accessible transport networks.

And if you really need to take the car, have you heard about liftshare week (3^rd – 7^th October 2011)?  liftshare Week is the UK-wide event which aims to encourage more people to discover the benefits of car-sharing.

What maps or apps do you use to help you to leave the car at home and plan your cycle, walk or journey by public transport?