By Morgan Henley

Do you have access to the internet?
Do you like traveling, exploring your city or just getting out of your own bed from time to time?
Do you consider the planet we live on as an important and not just a giant trash bin ?

Then Ecomaps is for you!

Whether you are a die-hard environmentalist or are just a little curious, Ecomaps will connect you with new places in your own community or abroad that offer an alternative to the “work, consume, sleep, repeat,” mantra that has lead to lifestyles that are simply not sustainable for our planet. It’s time we started to think more about what we consume and how we act, and we want to prove that doing so doesn’t have to be difficult.

We paid particular attention to those who may be new to ideas of sustainability and being “green.” In addition to the interactive maps, you will also find hand-picked articles, videos, and infographics that explain various issues which we hope will give you some context to the various things included in the map. With the help of this guide, we hope that making the step from being environmentally conscious to applying it to your everyday life will be easier and easier.

Our aim is to connect all people with the environmentally sustainable lifestyle that they did not even known was possible. We know that the options are out there in cities in all corners of Europe, and we want to help you discover them! Whether it be with introducing you to more local food options, alternative forms of transport, or finding a job that leaves you with a clean conscious, the possibilities of what you can find in Ecomaps are endless. The map will be always growing with new listings and new areas.

With info from locals in the know, we want you to be able to navigate a new city in a way that helps you discover the places that are making a difference in their communities and can make traveling more environmentally-friendly. We want you to be able to find the spots that locals really love and experience cities from the perspective of fellow environmentally-conscious citizens. Also, what better way to experience a new city than by trying out unique restaurants with healthy food, finding local products to bring home, or discovering the city’s green spaces?

We hope this project will not only guide you but that you can also guide it. Please send us your own suggestions for things to add and rate the listings to help out other users of the map. We want Ecomaps to grow and and learn from its users so we can make it as useful as possible for you. We envision this to be a project that you can give back to just as much as you take from it. This is a philosophy we believe in for life and Ecomaps is no different!

This project has been fun to create, but we are truly excited about what happens now, once its users can really start to use the guide. So please, don’t let our work go in vain and get out and start discovering!

This project is kindly supported by the sub-granting mechanism of CONCORD-EYD2015 Civil Society Alliance.