The Mapping Party is held at the ITC faculty of the University of Twente and co-organized by the Red Cross. It is related to an initiative of the Red Cross Princess Margriet Fund, which aims to prepare people in vulnerable areas – such as Malawi - for natural disasters. Good maps are a crucial part of this effort, as proper maps allow governments to make better and faster decisions. With this in mind, participants of the Mapping Party will create a map of Malawi on OpenStreetMap based on satellite images.
ESA astronaut André Kuipers and the Princess Margriet will join the event. Princess Margriet of the Netherlands is an aunt of the Dutch monarch, King Willem-Alexander, and the wife of Pieter van Vollenhoven, who is also a Professor of Risk Management at the University of Twente.