Currently, the community mapping project is hosted using the technology available at the college. It offers a rich and eclectic view of the cultural landscape. Much of it based on a series of maps commissioned by Annapolis Ventures book, ‘ Cemeteries, Graveyards and Burying Grounds in Annapolis County’ n.d.. If these online community maps are to be used for Community Planning, then it will be important for the technology to remain current. To address these concerns, there will need to be agreements about ownership of the data, quality control and access for decision making purposes. The community mapping project is an excellent initiative which uses the skills and interests of the local residents, and links it with GIS technology at the college. To be sustainable, it likely requires its own portal, with appropriate access rights for the different ‘communities of interest’.

Modern web GIS facilitates this type of collaboration, where local connects with global. The Annapolis Valley has a wonderful resource at COGS, which can help address deeper conversations about the creative rural economic (Greg Baeker) and place-based education ( David Gruenewald and Gregory Smith).

There are a number of similar initiatives happening in other parts of rural Canada.
For example, Vancouver Island (www.whereishereculturalmapping.com).

In conclusion, in the words of Map Annapolis :
‘”Community- created asset maps are based on the premise that local residents possess expert knowledge of their local environment which can be expressed in a geographic framework which is easily understandable and universally recognized. Participatory maps often represent a socially or culturally distinct understanding of landscape and include information that is excluded from mainstream