Dozens of Map Makers Met in Prague for the USE-IT Conference to Discuss Sustainable Tourism, Digitalization or Financing of Non-Profit Projects
Over 50 young creators of the non-profit USE-IT maps and their fans and supporters met in Prague from May 29 to June 4 to share their expertise. USE-IT maps in its iconic square format have been already published for 20 years thanks to the passionate volunteers – residents of various cities – providing tourists with useful tips on places worth visiting.
Alternative maps have been promoting sustainable urban tourism since the first Copenhagen USE-IT project launched in 1971 when the idea of negotiating the relationship between tourists and locals was discussed.
The important part of this year’s USE-IT conference was also digitalization. The feedback on the new format of the digital maps was collected, technical procedures were tested within case studies that have been created since the beginning of 2024, and the delegates also tested the beta version of the digital USE-IT map during a special game in the streets of Prague. Having done so, the conference participants used the ongoing interim results of the European Project within Erasmus+ program called “DIG-IT: Creative Digitalization For Building A Community of Conscious Youth Urban Tourists” in practice.
Another project supported from the EU sources the Prague conference built on was Erasmus+ “FUND-IT: Expanding Funding Skills For The Financial Sustainability of Youth Initiatives” that has been running for two and half years and is focused on financing the non-profit initiatives.
Not only visitors, but also inhabitants of the cities are the focus for the map creators who try to motivate tourists to be respectful to locals. “We are interested in ecological, but especially socio-cultural aspect of sustainable tourism. What we see as the most negative effect is that due to the tourism the locals are moving out of the city centres. And what will be left there when all the local life is gone? We believe that thanks to our humorous way of encouraging tourists to behave as locals in the traditional and popular chapter of the map called “Act like a local”, the visitors will empathize with them more easily and will be respectful to them,” says Eva Křížková, the Coordinator of the Prague project and the main organizer of the Prague conference.
About the USE-IT EUROPE Project
The concept originated in 1970s and currently incorporates around 30 European cities. The conference has been held annually since 2011 (except of the pandemic years) in various cities such as Brussels, Ljubljana or Lille. This year’s 13th edition was held for the first time in the Czech Republic. The Prague conference was organized by Jůzit company with the support of the Prague City Tourism under the auspices of the City of Prague.