3W map of NGOs and services in Lesvos

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Download "Lesvos 3W map NGOs and services 12.07.18 (A3 format):

Introduction

Part of my daily work is to reach out to NGOs on Lesvos and learn about their work. While this may sound simple, there is a tiny gap that makes this work much harder: the lack of online updated information to know “who is doing what and where” (3W). Too often, the lists are outdated so it becomes a challenging investigation to find out if they are still on the island, or the NGOs are not listed at all so you suddenly here about them during a conversation.
So, as a graphic designer who has lived on Lesvos for a year, I decided to conduct a research and interview my network, to create a service mapping listing all the organisations working on migration-related topics. It resulted in a poster with 115 names including more than 85 NGOs.

Why a poster?

The medium of the poster has been chosen because information is a full-time work where every new day is a day towards outdated information.
The map being a voluntary work with no financially sustainable perspective, the choice of this medium was a statement-through-work confirming that it would be a one time work with no updates in mind.

Why to do it at first then? Because it was still a perceived need where I could bring a solution as a designer:
– Many people asked for it. A few NGOs and individuals tried to do it with no success. Some succeeded but are lacking the updates they were promising by lack of time, structure to collect update and/or finance.
– The map tries to bring another perspective and therefore avoid using format used by other existing resources. For example UNHCR shares a 3W map categorizing the NGOs by clusters. Therefore it would have been useless for me to do the same map with only more updated information.
PS: after publishing this map, I contacted all the others “map makers” and shared with them a list of edit they should do to their map to be up to date.

My main conviction was to create a work where founders, coordinators and volunteers would get a better bigger picture of the actors on Lesvos in order to improve collaboration and share more relevent information to people.

Now that this information is available and easily displayed in a one-sheet-poster, it is people’s job to connect with the NGOs and receive the last updated information they need.
You can find in the comments of the Facebook publication (link below), the link to all the NGOs Facebook page presented in the map.

Publication on Facebook group "Information Point for Lesvos Volunteers":

After one week, the publication on the Facebook group reached 6600+ views, which is 1/3 of the group.
Still the first week, more than 600 people viewed the pdf on Opoiesis.

EDIT: In 2021, I have founded the NGO Humanitarian Designers, you can reach us there for more information on Service mapping.

List of names on 12.07.18

The names include: IOM, UNHCR, EASO, Europol, Eurojust, Frontex, Aegean Boat Report, IKA, Keelpno, KEP, Greek Ombudsman, Hellenic Police, Ministry of national defense, Hellenic army, Hellenic Coast Guards, OAED, Ministry of Migration Policy, RIS, RIC, GAS, RAO, Secretariat General for the Aegean and Island Policy, The Smile of the Child, Together for Better Days, EKAB, Municipality of Lesvos, University of Aegean, Vostanio, IFCR, IRC, Low-Tech Lab, MSF, 2 Helping Hands, Connect by Music, ERCI, Illiaktida, Lighthouse Relief, Refugee Rescue, Stage 2, Borderline Europe, Dirty Girls of Lesvos, Home for All, Mare Liberum, Pantotechnion, Advocates Abroad, Bashira, Campfire, Campfire Innovation, Changemakers Lab, Danish Refugee Council, A Drop in the Ocean, Gekko Center, Greek Council for Refugees, HIAS, Lesvos LGBTQI+ Refugee Solidarity, Metadrasi, Mosaik Support Center, Legal Centre Lesbos, NAN, No Border Kitchen, Office of Displaced Designers, OXFAM, Praksis, Proem-aid, Refugee4Refugees, Refugee Education and Learning International, Siniparxi, Youth Unmuted, Lesvos Solidarity, Mikros Dounias, Art Bridges, One Happy Family, DocMobile, School of Peace, Yoga and Sport for Refugees, Proyecto Movil Kitchen, The Hope Project, The Oasis, Because We Carry, Caritas, IsraAID, Latra, MDM, Movement on the Ground, Refugee Support Platforn, SOS Children’s Villages, Olive Grove, Attika Human Support, Gateways2Life, Hope and Peace Center, House of Humanity, Shower Power, Tapuat, UNICEF, Boat Refugee Foundation, European Lawyers in Lesvos, Eurorelief, Health-Point Foundation, Help Internation, Light Without Borders ORg, Kitrinos Healthcare, Rema, Starfish Foundation, Watershed Foundation, UN, EU, Online, Greece, Lesvos, Skala Sikamineas, Mytilini, Camps, Pikpa, Kara Tepe, Moria reception and identification center.