USE-IT is a collaborative European network of local initiatives dedicated to publishing free city maps for young travellers. The information provided is straightforward, created by locals, non-commercial, and up-to-date.
Each map highlights around a hundred locations in the city, including museums, bars, affordable restaurants, clubs, and places to connect with locals rather than other tourists. The project is entirely non-commercial, with no fees for inclusion. Maps are distributed for free in hostels, tourist information centres, youth information centres, welcome packages for exchange students, and other venues.
The initiative to start a new USE-IT map always comes from young locals who seek funding and are responsible for their own content and design. Each chapter prints and distributes between 20,000 and 180,000 maps annually. Many also manage social media pages, websites, and information desks.
Our network is driven by young people and professionals from various backgrounds, including product development, graphic design, software development, fundraising, and community facilitation. All share a passion for digital products, cartography, and unique city insights.
Every local USE-IT initiative is part of the international not-for-profit organisation USE-IT Europe. The aim of USE-IT Europe is to support new members and maintain the name as a quality label. Local initiatives can only become members if they adhere to our non-commercial principles.
The name USE-IT originated in 1971 in Copenhagen, but the network of city maps began in 2005 with the first map of Ghent, Belgium. Since then, the number of cities in the network has grown, reaching our 100th city in 2023
Co-funded by the European Union, we launched the DIG-IT project in 2023 to enhance the digital skills of youth leaders in the field of sustainable urban tourism. It aims to foster experimentation and harness the creativity of youth leaders to build a community of conscientious urban tourists. This will enable more youth initiatives to share local tourist information in a contemporary way using digital media, thereby reaching a wider audience of young urban travellers (you :)).
The Netherlands, Poland, Czech Republic and France are leading this 3-year process of learning, testing, and implementing mapgic online, created by and for young workers and map makers. This digitisation project will result in the launch of a new digital presence (website + app) for USE-IT by 2025.
The project activities are divided into three groups:
- Teaching and Knowledge Sharing: This involves web development and digital maps, delivered through online seminars, an online platform, and a guidebook.
- Testing and Experimentation: Activities include hackathons, case studies, brainstorming sessions, lab testing, and focus groups.
- Development: Based on the results of the previous activities, this phase involves creating a new platform for young travellers and the community of youth leaders engaged in sustainable tourism. It includes design, copywriting, beta and alpha web development, and a conference.
Thanks to DIG-IT, the community of youth leaders who create innovative alternative tourist paper maps will become more proficient in IT, enabling them to share their creative content online. Young travellers will have access to a platform where they can find digital maps and content, providing them with authentic tourist information from young locals in various European cities.
Youth leaders will also have a powerful tool to persuade official funders to support their initiatives. You can explore our catalogue, which includes comprehensive knowledge about digital mapping tools!
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Ready to act like a local while travelling? Eager to start a USE-IT map project for our city? www.use-it.travel From all over Europe with mappiness 🚀