News & Updates

Citizen science project invites community engagement to map footpath accessibility in Cork

19 Feb 2021

Crowd4Access is a Citizen Science project that works with communities to collect data about the accessibility of footpaths in Irish cities and towns for people with varied mobility needs. The project is currently looking for community groups and organisations that would like to participate in this mapping initiative. They invite groups and interested parties to attend an information session on Tuesday 23 February to find out more. 

Everyone has challenges when navigating the footpaths of a city. The wheelchair user and the parent pushing a buggy may need access ramps, the runner may need an even surface, the user of crutches may need shorter street crossings, the person with low eyesight may need a good contrast between footpath and the street, whereas the blind may need tactile pavement. We want to learn about the problems that you encounter when navigating the city.

The Crowd4Access is a citizen science project organised by researchers in Computer Science at the Insight Centre for Data Analytics (a centre with researchers in 4 Irish Universities). Would you like to be part of it and volunteer to help map Cork's footpaths?

They provide all training necessary as soon as there is a minimum number of people interested in mapping a given area. The training is provided on-line via zoom and all participants in the training are invited to join the team of volunteers. You can choose your own time commitment.

The project provides training for community groups and organisation on how to map by:

  1. Taking pictures of the local footpaths (using a smartphone with camera, GPS and Wi-fi)
  2. Adding characteristics of these footpaths on a map (using a computer with Internet access)

Want to find out more? Join us during the information sessionTuesday, 23 February at 2pm. 

Click here to register now.

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The Crowd4Access project is supported by Cork Smart Gateway

crowd4access logo    cork smart gateway logo

Civic & Community Engagement

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