Policy-makers and the public will have a greater understanding of the latest climate change research (such as the "Big Melt" of last summer in the arctic), future scenarios, the urgency of acting immediately and strongly, the huge opportunities for a "new deal on green jobs," and the consequences if we don't. This will impact the next President and Congress, who *must* pass and begin to implement binding global agreements and national policies on reducing greenhouse gases. The impacts will be both direct (allowing elected officials to see a more clear and direct view of the science and policy options) as well as indirect (supporting and growing the growing movement for climate change action and climate justice).

This project also creates a new platform, which could have many other applications: a way of combining web video and the intelligence of hyperlinking, using the timestamp inherent in all digital video (hr:min:sec) as the central reference point. It allows existing video, from shorts to feature-length documentaries, to be "sliced and diced" in a way that gives the viewer more control over the "flow" of the information. This benefits learning by (a) chopping up long narrative content into more bite-sized blocks; (b) allowing the mashup of smaller bits of video which have logical links into a new narrative; (c) giving the user the option to investigate 'tangents' off the main narrative without getting "lost on YouTube", and (d) allowing the viewer to fit new information into her brain in the order and way it makes sense to her, not to the filmmaker. It speaks to the shorter attention span of the "YouTube" generation, while maintaining the integrity of the information presented. Finally, it uses video, rather than text or traditional web content, at the center of a mashup of information which brings viewers to other content online, as their curiosity leads them there.

Since 1995, Green Map System has engaged communities worldwide in charting a sustainable future. Now, we’re taking the next step by merging local knowledge and our freshly updated iconography with a Google Map mashup to create an open interactive Green Mapmaking website that will inclusively help people worldwide quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and resources online. The resulting interactive Green Maps will be viewable from our own and many other websites, starting in mid-2008. With open commentary, green ratings, multimedia elements, 'impacts index', mobile access, on-site markers and more, everyone will be able to get involved.

My Green Map (working name) will give a powerful voice to thousands and ensure that an enormous diversity of successful sustainability activities and critical issues are shared with the broadest audience possible. It will merge the booming ‘local first’ and green development movements with social networking and interactive mapping. It will draw from a rich data source: thousands of green living, nature, social and cultural resources already charted on 335 published Green Maps, used by millions both near home and while traveling.

Our network of 450 locally-led map projects in 50 countries will be the first to add sites to My Green Map. Each of their mashups will be linked to profiles and the locally-designed Green Maps already viewable at GreenMap.org. Once technical and financial barriers to participation have been overcome, we intend to phase in public mapmaking and behavior change assessment, mobile formats, thematic worldviews, and more. Thus, the N2Y3 Mashup Challenge can play a key role in promoting inclusive participation in sustainable community development around the world.