The app Mapting was created by Earth Charter International and Soka Gakkai International in 2016 as a way to track and map activities that contribute to actualizing SDGs and to learn about the Earth Charter Principles related to each SDG. While the concept of the app was born in Costa Rica, the process that led to it started nearly 15 years ago with the coproduction of two worldwide exhibitions, "Seeds of Change" in 2002 and "Seeds of Hope" in 2010, highlighting ordinary individuals who took action to initiate change.

Mapting is a universal photo-sharing app which invites users to take photos or videos of any act, project or idea that will help achieve the SDGs and share them on a world map. The app can be downloaded on any Android or iOS device. The app has been promoted and implemented in many different ways. Seeds of Hope, the exhibition co-produced by Earth Charter International and Soka Gakkai International, which laid the foundations for Mapting, was held at the ACSF Cultural Center in Paris in June. Dino De Francesco, co-creator of Mapting and previous Digital Communication Specialist for ECI, was invited to present Mapting to representatives of the Youth Division. Thirty young people gathered at this event to learn more about the App Mapting was first introduced in Malaysia during the opening ceremony of HIJAU, an art exhibition celebrating nature, hosted by Soka Gakkai Malaysia (SGM) from April 8th to 23rd. Local artists came together to create artwork exposing the 17 SDGS to launch the Mapting exhibition. Mapting has also been launched in the Netherlands this past May. More than 40 students and professionals working in sustainability and education participated in a Meet Up organized by the Friends of the Earth Charter Netherlands. Mapting was introduced here by Christine Lacayo, Youth Projects Coordinator for the Earth Charter and Alide Roerink, Earth Charter Council Member. Earth Charter International has carried out three Mapting photo contests for International Womens day, Earth Day, International Biodiversity Day, and our 4th one coming up with International Youth Day. The top three winners are those who post engaging photos on Mapting of the specific SDGs related to that day with the appropriate hashtag. ECI has collaborated with LEDSafari to send solar lamp kit prizes to the winners. LEDSafari, is an NGO which aims to integrate their hands-on approach towards renewable energy into the regular teaching curriculum.

Dino De Francesco, Mapting Communications Officer, has traveled to many conferences, events, and exhibitions to promote the app for various audiences including youth, NGOs, technology start-ups, university students, and social innovators. From April 20th to 22nd, Dino took part in the GoodFestival 2017 in Lausanne, Switzerland. An initiative that gathered more than 100 social entrepreneurs and innovators from all over the world to share and present projects aiming at building a better world. Dino also participated in the Good Education Summit and worked with a group of people who came up with great ideas to improve the App and were able to find many synergies between their own projects. Each participant then had a 5-minute pitch to present his/her project in front of a jury and get a chance to win an award. From a total of 65 projects for this edition, around 20 of them, including Mapting, were awarded a PremaGyan Good 100 Medal. Dino also attended Viva Technology, a global rendez-vous for innovations, which gathered more than 6000 startups and close to 70000 visitors in Paris from June 15 17. Co-organized by Publicis Groupe and Groupe Les Echos, the event was structured around the technologies that will shape tomorrows world and aimed to bring start-ups and leading companies together to create partnerships and advancements in Technologies. Mapting was one of the projects invited on the Spark News booth and, together, the two encouraged visitors to Snap & Map all the Positive Impact initiatives related to the SDG they are contributing to. This was an entertaining way for people to discover great projects and learn more about the 17SDGs, which sparked a lot of interest among professionals, students, young entrepreneurs and families.

We are now working from Costa Rica, India, Japan, US, the Netherlands, and Switzerland on email and skype basis. We are planning to form a core group.

Earth Charter International (ECI); Soka Gakkai International (SGI)