With the MapInclusive project, we were able to develop a different pedagogical approach to digital inclusion, using geography, maps and open source tools (particularly OpenStreetMap) to attract new audiences far removed from digital technology (computers) while creating social links. This project also enabled us to share this methodology and the associated content with players involved in digital inclusion in France (Chambéry / Rhône Alpes) and Greece (Athens). On the one hand, this approach involved the use of participatory mapping (mapathons), which consists of mapping areas of the globe where geographical data is non-existent or incomplete, using satellite images. For these mapathons, we pair up a volunteer and a migrant in order to help them with the exercise and the computer tool, but also to create social links, mutual aid and discovering others. Although CartONG has been running mapathons for many years, the project enabled SHA to be trained in this new method of digital inclusion and mapping. Finally, the other aspect developed thanks to the project is the construction of a methodology for digital inclusion workshops through the use and navigation of maps and open source tools.
According to several reports and surveys by actors involved in the reception of migrants and asylum seekers in France and Europe ("Enquête sur les usages numériques des personnes réfugiées", Délégation interministérielle à l'accueil et à l'intégration des réfugiés, 2021, Etat Français; Emmaüs Connect; UNHCR...), there is a growing gap between digital tools and asylum seekers. In fact, these tools have become indispensable to the vital steps taken by these people and to their integration (administrative procedures for asylum applications, job search procedures, social aid applications, children's schooling, etc.), but also for maintaining links with their loved ones. With the digitization of these procedures, it is essential for these people to master basic computer skills. Having access to a computer is still a privilege in many countries.Turning on a computer, knowing how to print a document, doing a search on a web browser... so many gestures that may seem to be mastered by everyone, yet are still foreign to some people, particularly migrants. Also, the usual methods of digital inclusion can lack pedagogy and appeal. That's why CartONG has set up this project to invent new approaches to digital inclusion