What is Visual Storytelling?
Our clients commonly face issues expressing complicated results in a digestible and truthful manner. Maps are an effective storytelling tool that can be incorporated into virtually all projects and subject areas.
Our Expertise
When it comes to presenting data, we know that there is no one-size-fits all solution. We are highly experienced in carrying out ongoing engagement so our solutions are tailored to your specific needs
Audience
Specific
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Our web-enabled maps can support panning, zooming, searching, and viewing data. Our Storymaps are a popular option for those who appreciate the ability to guide a user through a spatial analysis process.
Interactivity
Experience with diverse applications/clients
We are proud to have clients in the nonprofit, private and public sectors, and a broad range of product delivery methods. We provide GIS tools as ESRI or open source mapping products, and code in a variety of languages.
We specialize in leveraging maps as powerful and versatile storytelling tools, employing various well known techniques such as hierarchical organization, visual contrast, and visual balance. Then, we take this cartography one step further by creating interactive webmaps, web mapping applications, and captivating ESRI StoryMaps. Allowing users to zoom, pan, toggle layers, and explore the back end data on their own facilitates a deeper understanding of the spatial data and helps users uncover new insights and connections. By using standard well known cartographic methods along with new cutting edge web mapping tools, we ensure that the data presented is not only visually appealing but also easily interactive, digestible, and intuitive.
Explore the below case studies to learn more....
Cowichan Valley Regional District Story Map
Mapping Climate Change Impacts for Vancouver Coastal Health
Smarter Shift Tailings
Map
For each case study, make sure to click through on the links in their corresponding sections to see a live version of the Webmap or StoryMap!
Case Studies
THE CHALLENGE
The Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD) is in the process of a large undertaking - modernizing the Official Community Plan (MOCP) for the Electoral Areas. Developing and refining an OCP presents many challenges, and these are compounded when considering a unique semi-rural community such as the CVRD.
Land use planning is in general a complicated process, and explaining these sometimes convoluted concepts and results can pose a challenge. CRVD thus contracted us to help to disseminate information about the MOCP to the general public. (We are also supporting the development of modernized land uses and generalized GIS and cartography support).
Case Study 1
Cowichan Valley Regional District Story Map
THE SOLUTION
While we love harnessing the communicative properties of static maps, we knew that CVRD's sophisticated challenge creates room for a sophisticated solution. Recognizing the depth and breadth of information that we would need to convey to do justice to the MOCP’s land use designations, we settled on creating StoryMap.
With this solution in hand, we were able to combine all our mapping work with explanatory narrative text to add a layer of information. Of particular importance, both the text and the maps are dynamic. This means that users are able to interact with the data we’ve created. Interacting with the data makes residents more involved in the planning process, and presenting information in this manner is often a more accessible way of disseminating convoluted concepts.
Check out the online StoryMap here!
Case Study 2
Mapping Climate Change Impacts for Vancouver Coastal Health
THE CHALLENGE
A team of University of British Columbia (UBC) researchers developed a climate vulnerability index to assess the susceptibility of communities in the Vancouver Coastal Health and Fraser Health regions to health impacts caused by extreme heat, wildfire smoke, flooding, and air pollution. The index aims to help communities and governments understand and address climate change-related health risks at a local level. To create a single index of vulnerability, statistical analysis was done on exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to these hazards.
To get the most out of the results of this highly technical project, it is crucial to disseminate information to the public, municipalities, regional districts, First Nations, and community organizations. However, given the complexity of the analysis involved in this work, simplifying it into a digestible package presents a challenge. It’s important to consider factors such as maintaining accuracy, the potential for information overload, minimizing technical jargon, and avoiding oversimplification of concepts. If done properly, this would result in collaboration and resilience building efforts in the communities.
THE SOLUTION
To address this challenge, we created a comprehensive mapping project. This includes a StoryMap outlining how the statistical analysis was done and regional maps showing the results for each health district in the study area. Additional regional maps provide users with significant interactive abilities and clear visualization of the data for each hazard per region. In this way, users can take what they learned about the analysis in the StoryMap, and look at it in practice for their region of interest.
This solution provides a strong foundation for strategic planning and targeted interventions to enhance the resilience of vulnerable communities. Check it out here!
Case Study 3
Smarter Shift Tailings Map
THE CHALLENGE
The British Columbia (BC) mining industry has a history of tailings storage facility (TSF) failures, which have caused significant environmental damage and posed risks to public safety. Addressing these concerns, we teamed up with Smarter Shift and the Mining Law Reform Project to identify areas with potential TSF failures and raise awareness of the issue.
The challenge involved mapping the locations of TSFs, assessing their current status, understanding the risks associated with each facility, and evaluating the potential consequences of failures.
THE SOLUTION
To tackle this challenge, we developed an interactive map that showcases the locations of tailings storage facilities in BC. The map provides critical information about each facility, such as the mine's name, the TSF's status, and the potential consequences of a failure.
This visual representation of TSFs across the province allows users to understand the distribution of these facilities and assess the associated risks. By making this information accessible, the Mining Law Reform Project aims to encourage transparency, promote dialogue about mining practices, and drive the reform of BC's mining laws to better protect the environment and public safety.
Check out the Webmap here!
