Hello everyone,

In the middle of the great annual changeover, we wish a good rest to those off in August, a good return to the July holidaymakers, and a thought for those taking no break at all, or taking it at a quieter time.

We are carrying on the work of preparing the next Map Day and bringing key organisations on board. We will keep you posted on how that goes.

In the meantime, here is some news and a few useful links. 

To pass the time, explore the publications of our steering committee and our partners.

Worth noting: you can sort the results, in particular by type of document (videos, podcasts...).

A summer call, this Thursday 6 August from 5 to 6 pm:

No single speaker this month. Come and share your news, your finds and your experience where mapping and democracy meet.

A back-to-work call, Thursday 3 September from 5 to 6 pm 

With Damien Deville, geographer, author and speaker, who will talk to us about his work and about his book « La France des Mille Lieux ».

Autumn looks busy. La République des Cartes will be at: 

State of the Map - Friday 28 to Sunday 30 August : the major event that brings together the whole OpenStreetMap community from around the world, held at Géodata Paris (formerly ENSG-Géomatique) in Champs-sur-Marne. We will present La République des Cartes there - in English - and run a round table on what maps mean for democracy (Find out more)  

Colloquium: Trouble in Cartography - Counter-cartographies and shifting paradigms - Monday 7 to Friday 11 September, in Paris. We will present La République des Cartes and the first edition of Map Day.

GéoDataDays - Wednesday 16 and Thursday 17 September. 9ᵉ edition, the national reference event for the geodigital sector. We will run a round table, "Maps and democracy", on Wednesday 16th at 4 pm (Find out more) 

Festival International de Géographie (FIG) - Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October. As last year, we will have a stand and will run a few workshops and a talk there. 

If you think you will be there, do let us know!

Catch up on the latest calls you missed

The Map Day 2027 launch call of 29 June

It was the moment to share how Map Day 2027 will work. A replay is available. We will shortly schedule a second such call for the end of September.

July's guest - Eve Ben-Haïm, on maps and video game worlds

La République des Cartes has appeared in a number of media and talks. Here are a few gathered over recent weeks. Thank you to our ambassadors!

02/08 - La Croix - Face à Google Maps, reprendre les cartes en main (paywalled article, in French)

22/07 - Radio France - Le téléphone sonne - Is the future of knowledge collaborative? Beyond Wikipedia, the examples of IGN and the natural history museum

20/07 - TEDx Talks - Le (vrai) pouvoir des cartes | Bertrand Pailhes | TEDxNantes

17/06 - French National Assembly -  Hearing of Sébastien Soriano on IGN, before the Committee on Sustainable Development and Regional Planning (a passage on La République des Cartes at 1h18m54s).

Country Draw combines the pleasure of Pictionary with the joy of brushing up on your borders. The principle is simple: you are given the name of a country and must draw its outline from memory, with your mouse or your finger on a phone. A clever calculation then gives you a score. 

So, who will beat the extraordinary sketch of the United States drawn by the author of this newsletter? 😉

We are using the summer to give the La République des Cartes website a facelift, translate it into English, and push on with the Map Day 2027 communications kit and the teaching materials that go with it. 

If you need anything, do get in touch with the author of this letter 🙂:

Matthieu Chatry, coordinator of La République des Cartes matthieu.chatry@ign.fr / + 33 6 76 16 55 33

 About La République des Cartes

Doing it together is what makes a republic

Bringing together and making visible everyone who uses maps to make democracy - or would like to and doesn't know where to start. Through regular publications, a podcast and one major annual day, we make visible the essential role of cartography as a power to understand, decide and act together on the future of the places we live in.

Our partners

IGN -  Banque des territoires - LEONARD - La Fabrique de la Cité 

Ubisoft - Nodesign - OVHcloud - DocaPoste  - La Poste

With the support of

CY école de design - Conseil National de l’Information Géolocalisée - AOC - Afigéo - OpenDataFrance - Apur - Ville de Paris - Fondation Université Gustave Eiffel - Université Gustave Eiffel

© 2026 La République des Cartes. A project supported by IGN and its founding partners.

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