Citizen Action Networks near you

The aim of this group of pages (see end menu) is to help a growing number and diversity of people involved with CANs, find each other easily over time. The map on this page is to help people find place-based CANs. A companion page, map and listing, CAN support map is to help people find theme-based CANs, and support organisations or initiatives. Both CAN maps and CAN support maps are accompanied by related video and news pages.

Development of CAN maps

In addition to, or perhaps eventually replacing the above map a series of more localised maps are planned. These are listed in the end menu.

Add Citizen Action Network

Each of the more localised map pages will contain a form to add a CAN to the maps.

CANs as a generic term

CAN is a generic term for new forms that are appearing everywhere. CANs have autonomy and their development can be described as fractal.

Read more

Reflecting what's out there

It's perhaps inevitable that any map such as this one, especially in the early stages of development, will be at best, an extremely partial view of the numbers, richness and diversity that's out there. For example just considering mutual aid alone, Mutual Aid Wiki currently (Sep 2022) lists 5,781 mutual aid groups throughout the world.

It's well known that movements wax and wane and will be affected by events such as the global pandemic. The pandemic will have affected both what's out there and any attempts to reflect this in a complex variety of ways, sometimes opposite trends cancelling each other out for example. One of the more positive recent trends perhaps being the proliferation of intergenerational or multigenerational expressions of community agency. We're perhaps increasingly aware that we need to be in this for the long haul.

Civics Neighborhood initiative maps

Thanks to the fantastic and creative commons licensed, civics, the first map of citizen innovation that citizens develop daily throughout Ibero-America, (Lists (Oct 2022) 5,866 initiatives), Civics maps are being embedded in many of CASwiki's city and country pages. These city based maps can also be accessed via the CAN maps.

CAN maps

The CAN maps are experimental and collaborative. Initially the data for the maps came from a small sample of Daily Alternative articles mentioning CANs, and the Alternative Global Co-creators network. This is then added to by CANs identified via the ongoing development of CASwiki's local information. It's hoped that over time we can develop the maps through collaboration, people adding CANs directly into the maps.

Why map CANs

Like Los Madriles, Atlas de iniciativas vecinales (Atlas of neighbourhood initiatives), Madrid, and Civics Neighborhood initiative maps, it is suggested that CANs create "new spaces of possibility, through self-management and participation". This map of CANs "also wants to be a gesture of recognition, gratitude, visibility, self-criticism and inclusion." Also the maps and related pages can be seen as a celebration of the richness, diversity and innovation of CANs.

Back to top

Notes and References

• What is a CAN? Information from The Alternative UK, thealternative.org.uk
• Daily Alternative articles about building CANs, thealternative.org.uk/dailyalternative