Mapping for Change

Name

Mapping for Change

Legal name

Mapping for Change

Website

https://mappingforchange.org.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Mapping for Change is a UK-based social enterprise and wholly owned UCL subsidiary that delivers participatory mapping, citizen science, and community engagement services to local councils, NGOs, and government bodies, powered by its Community Maps online platform and GIS-based methodologies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Participatory Mapping Services

NAICS

Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (54137), Surveying and Mapping (except Geophysical) Services (541370)

akta.pro primary industry

Mapping & Basemap Platforms (Tiles/SDKs) (BPAMANAB)

Keywords

• Participatory mapping
• Citizen science
• Community engagement
• GIS services
• Environmental monitoring

Headquarters

HQ city

City Of London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Project Contracts: Mapping for Change generates revenue through commissioned projects and contracts with government bodies, councils, NGOs, and community organisations. Since 2009, they have secured more than 20 contracts worth in excess of £435,000, delivering over 30 projects.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Mapping for Change is a UK-based social enterprise that delivers participatory mapping and citizen science services. It produces community maps, runs citizen science environmental monitoring projects (including air quality using NO2 diffusion tubes), facilitates community engagement, and provides map visualisation and analysis for voluntary groups, businesses, and government bodies.

Product overview

Mapping for Change offers a unified participatory mapping platform called Community Maps, supported by five interconnected service offerings: Maps (core mapping capabilities), Citizen Science (environmental data collection methodology), Community Engagement (outreach and participation services), and Map Visualisation & Analysis (GIS-powered spatial analysis). The Community Maps online platform serves as the central hub where communities collaborate to create, share, and analyse maps. Together, these services enable groups and organisations to understand, improve and produce information about places that matter to them.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Community Maps: An online participatory mapping platform that enables community and multi-stakeholder consultation across various projects and sectors.

Products and services

• Maps Production of community and participatory maps for voluntary groups, businesses, and government bodies.
• Community Maps (online platform) Online participatory GIS platform that enables community groups to create, share, and analyse maps collaboratively.
• Citizen Science Citizen science environmental monitoring services, including air quality monitoring using NO2 diffusion tubes and related low-cost sensors, for community and public-interest use.
• Community Engagement Facilitation and consulting services supporting community engagement through participatory mapping and citizen science activities.
• Map Visualisation & Analysis GIS-based map visualisation and geospatial analysis services for voluntary groups, businesses, and government bodies.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 5,000 people directly engaged across projects
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers23 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• UP2030 Horizon Europe ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023EU-funded project aiming to guide 11 pilot cities through climate neutrality transitions. MfC works with Budapest City Council and GGGI Hungary, and Belfast City Council.
• D-NOSES Consortium (EU Horizon 2020)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Three-year EU-funded project (€3.158M funding) tackling odour pollution globally with 15+ partners across Europe. MfC is a partner delivering UK case studies and citizen science methodology.
• Trees for CitiescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Environmental charity collaborating on Planting Healthy Air in Schools project. Trees for Cities redesigns playground areas while MfC monitors pollution levels.
• Lancaster UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2019Academic partner in Planting Healthy Air project, providing expertise on green infrastructure and evaluating effectiveness of planting in reducing pollution.
• WeGovNow Project (EU Horizon 2020)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Three-year EU research and innovation project on civic participation in local government. MfC contributes community mapping platform and engagement methodology.
• University College London (UCL)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA wholly owned subsidiary of University College London. Operating as UCL's social enterprise spin-out, MfC benefits from UCL's research infrastructure and academic credibility. The ExCiteS Group at UCL co-developed tools (Sapelli, Geokey) used by MfC.
• Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKCCA is the primary local government partner for air quality monitoring projects in Kampala, Uganda. MfC collaborates on setting up monitoring programmes and training local teams.
• National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) UgandacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEMA is Uganda's environmental regulatory body. MfC works with NEMA to support development of air quality standards and monitoring protocols in Uganda.
• Makerere UniversitysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating university in Uganda for air quality research, carrying out land use and population studies to support site selection for monitoring.
• Mapping for Communities (Uganda)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerUgandan-based NGO partner for D-NOSES odour pollution project. Uses participative methodology based on civic communal science and GIS for citizen engagement.
• Science for ChangesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean partner in D-NOSES consortium working on odour pollution research across Europe and Africa.
• UnLtdsupportingOthersListed as a supporter of Mapping for Change. UnLtd is an organisation supporting social entrepreneurs.
• GGGI HungarysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in UP2030 project working with Budapest City Council on public engagement for green infrastructure improvements.
• Mildmay Community PartnershipsupportingOthersCommunity centre hosting MfC's office location. MfC uses this base to engage with the local community for COMENSI project.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Maptionnaire: Map-based community engagement platform from Finland, enabling participatory mapping and surveys for urban planning — closely aligned with MfC's Community Maps offering.
• CitizenLab: Civic engagement and participatory platform serving cities and governments with consultation, ideation, and mapping tools. Most direct commercial competitor to MfC's community engagement and participatory mapping services.
• Social Pinpoint: Digital community engagement platform for local government, including interactive mapping and consultation tools. Competes for the same UK council and municipal clients as MfC.
• PlaceSpeak: Location-based civic engagement platform focused on community consultation and participatory mapping. Operates in adjacent public participation workflows to MfC.

Broad incumbents

• Mapbox: Major commercial mapping platform provider offering APIs, SDKs, and visualization tools. Provides underlying technology that MfC's Community Maps platform could theoretically leverage or be displaced by.
• CARTO: Location intelligence and spatial analytics platform serving enterprises and governments. Provides cloud-based mapping and analytics capabilities that overlap with MfC's GIS visualization services.
• Esri UK: UK arm of the dominant GIS software vendor (ArcGIS). Sells enterprise GIS and mapping tools to UK councils and government — many of MfC's clients use Esri, making it both a potential partner and competitive threat.

Emerging players

• iNaturalist: Citizen science platform used globally for community-contributed environmental observations. While environmental rather than urban-focused, iNaturalist is a relevant peer for MfC's citizen science methodology.
• SmartCitizen (Fab Lab Barcelona): Open-source citizen science platform for environmental monitoring using low-cost sensors — directly comparable to MfC's citizen science approach (e.g., NO2 diffusion tubes, hand-held monitors).

Others

• OpenStreetMap Foundation: Open-source collaborative mapping project that provides foundational map data and tooling used by civic mapping initiatives. Serves as an enabling ecosystem participant for participatory mapping efforts like MfC's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/mapping4change
• Facebookfacebook.com/MappingforChange
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mapping-for-change

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mapping for Change