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Brice (eMerzh) lives in Jette. He is 30 and programmer in a small start-up in Brussels that is active in social analytics. He is passionate about open source and everything around it. For his job he works on Archlinux + KDE and his preferred OpenStreetMap editor is of course JOSM!

When and where did you discover OpenStreetMap?

I discovered OpenStreetMap by accident in 2007, when it was mentioned on a website with Linux information, (http://linuxfr.org). I was attracted by the collaboration and open aspects of the project. I soon discovered that my street was not mapped yet and see… I was bitten by the bug.

Do you use OpenStreetMap yourself?

I regularly use OpenStreetMap for looking up information and visualising it on the internet. Sometimes I also use OsmAnd on a smartphone when I am abroad. But I have to confess that I still use Google Maps a lot, probably until OpenStreetMap and Mapillary have reached the same level.

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Josefien and Ruben (M!dgard) are 20 and 19 years old. Between their mapping activities, they are going to college. In high school, they were best mates; and now they walk the streets of Blankenberge and neighbouring villages with their self-made OpenStreetMap badge. Ruben is more interested in the technical aspects, while Josefien spends her free time to design and make two OpenStreetMap T-shirts to wear during their surveys. They love to help others, e.g. they give blood plasma every two weeks in Ghent.

How and when did you Learn about OpenStreetMap?

Ruben: In 2012 I looked at Google Maps and saw that a path in my neighbourhood was mapped incorrectly. I decided to change it with the new Map Maker. Unfortunately, the change only became visible months later. My dad had heard of OpenStreetMap and thought I would enjoy it more. So I browsed to openstreetmap.org, and shortly after that I had made an account.

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Pierre Parmentier is an engineer in construction. He first worked on construction sites and projects in Africa, the Middle East and South America. Then in Belgium. Currently, as freelancer, he participates in industrial projects in different countries of the world. Everything what has to do with mapping, orienteering and fortifications are his hobbies. And many other subjects ! He maps under the name foxandpotatoes.

How did you get to know OpenStreetMap?

That was in 2009. I completed the highway network in the Sonian Forest. Then, everywhere I stayed, where I went, where I worked, like in Saint-Quentin, in Montmédy, traveling, on vacation, around Brussels, I completed the data. I also call upon my memory of living overseas.

Do you use OpenStreetMap?

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OpenBelgium 2015 took place in Namur on February 23.

Ben Abelshausen organized a session on OpenStreetMap and asked me to be co-presenter. I arrived early in Namur, because I wanted to avoid the traffic jams around Brussels. Hence I had plenty of time for a short walk in the town center. Although a lot of POIs are already mapped, I still took over 300 pictures and hope to find some missing features. And yes, so far I found a couple of missing memorials, statues and it turned out that some POIs could be updated as. Haven’t finished this yet.

Back to the conference. The session on OpenStreetMap was titled “It’s the community, stupid” to emphasize that this data is not coming from the public sector, unlike most other data discussed in the other sessions.

I had the honour to kick of the session and talked about the daily life of a crazy mapper. After me, Jorieke showed the audience that mappers do work together via a variety of tools and that mapping can be a social event as well. She also talked about collaboration with communities in developing countries through HOT.

Next, Ben talked about imports and how good imports can enrich the community. Finally, Glenn talked about using OpenStreetMap data and how consumers can be part of the community as well.

Afterwards we had to answer several questions on quality, possible collaborations with the government and how people could start using data. It seems that there will be follow-up meetings on the use of and the contribution to OpenStreetMap within the public sector as well.

Exiting times and I hope this will increase the interest in OpenStreetMap.

It was also great to see Nicolas and Julien back, as well as meeting Marc Ducobu, who is doing the translations to French of our Mapper of the Month interviews.

The next event is a mapping party in Brussels with as main topics cycling and wheelchair access. The event will take place on April 25, for more info, see the wiki.

Hope to see you there.

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Brecht Bonne is mapping on OpenStreetMap under the name “peeweeke”, how he got that name, is a long strory … Brecht is 33 years old and lives in Bruges. Currently he is in between jobs, but he has an education in computer sciences and as network administrator. Brecht is always on the move and has a lot of hobbies. First of all, of course, computer sciences, but he also volunteers a lot: at a youth movement for disabled people, at the Red Cross, at Oxfam Solidarity and their Worldshops. He likes to travel, not always far away, because close to home he is experiencing the same fun! For several years he combines this now with mapping for OpenStreetMap.

How did you get to know OpenStreetMap?

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# Introduction Since five years Guy Roman is retired. Before that he was technical electrician for a engineering company. He mainly followed up projects for energy distribution and automation. So he was already “drawing” during his career.

How and when did you discover OpenStreetMap?

I accidentally discovered OpenStreetMap in 2008.

What kind of mapper are you and where are you mapping?

I map a lot, mainly in Hainaut, a province in Belgium, but I also map abroad. Partly based on trips I make during my vacations, but I also base my mapping on photos that appeal to me. An example is a photo of St Rambert-en-Bugey in France that I found in a magazine about railways. I looked up the area in OpenStreetmap and then mapped it based on the picture and Bing arial images.

What do you map and do you have any specialisation?

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Recently I noticed that the links that I have been using for heritage:website in Flanders were broken. Since this has been going on for a couple of weeks, it is not just a temporarily hiatus, but a permanent problem. So I have to update them all.

The old format was http://para.ms/relict/<relict-number>

The new URL is https://inventaris.onroerenderfgoed.be/dibe/relict/<relict-number>

First, I use an Overpass query to find all those listed buildings.

Overpass allows you to open the result in an editor, e.g. Level0.

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One of the projects I have been working on since April this year, is adding lanes & turn:lanes information to all motorways, trunk roads and primary roads in Flanders.

The work is far from finished, as you can see on

This is the Overpass Query I used: http://overpass-turbo.eu/s/6zf

The second article in this series. Nederlandse tekst - Texte français

Mapper of the month: Guy Vanvuchelen

Guy’s username is GuyVV. He is 70 and lives in the area around Tienen. He has worked all his life for a bank. During the last years of his active career he made a lot of statistics, using tools such as Framework, DBase, Excel and Access. He bought his first computer, a MSX, in 1988. A few years later he switched to a “PC”. Although he lost track, he assumes that he already owned 20 different models. He is an amateur photographer since his 16th birthday. Later on, he also made digital videos and recently he is into digital photography. Since his retirement he started to walk, slightly pushed by his wife. After buying a Garmin Etrex, he enjoyed it more since he had something to do; namely recording tracks!

How and when did you discover OpenStreetMap?

While I was looking for free maps for my Garmin, I discovered OpenStreetMap. Almost immediately, I realized that those free maps were often better than the official, expensive maps from Garmin. For this reason I use OSM on my Garmin and with OsmAnd.

What kind of mapper are you and where are you mapping?

Wherever I go for my walks, typically signposted walks with a club, I make notes. I do not really make structured notes. For this purpose, I use OsmAnd with voice recording. At the moment I try to “write down” the width of roads, the maximum allowed speed, the surface or type of track, the start and end of villages. Furthermore I am interested in all chapels and wayside shrines, so I mark them as well. From time to time I also encounter footpaths (“Trage Wegen”) that are missing. After a walk of 10 kilometers, I have 30-50 minutes of voice recorded notes. From time to time I get some unexpected help from my walking buddies when they let me know beforehand when we are approaching a wayside chapel. They do not really know what I am doing and they think I am only interested in taking a picture.

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This is story is based on real stories. It is not my story as a newbie, but I decided to write in the first person to avoid she/he discussions. Also, since English is not my native language, so I apologise upfront for mistakes.

I love to ride by bicycle and for plannng my trips I found those great free maps offered by OpenFietsMap. I used them during my vacation in The Netherlands and now I want to improve the map for cyclists in my hometown in Belgium.

I created an account on OpenStreetMap and quickly found out how I could launch the iD-editor. It seems pretty simple to add a separate cycleway, just as I saw on the map in The Netherlands. I think it is important to see the difference between street with and without those separate cycleways. So let’s try to add them.

O great, there are arial images that I can use, so I do not have to upload tracks that I recorded with my GPS. OK, let’s see, the cycleway starts here, in front of those houses. So I start drawing the line there and continue here, cross the street and it ends here in front of this parking lot. Now add some tags to it…mmm .. a name… mmm maybe “fietspad” (Cycleway in Dutch).

Ok, now the other side. Mmm, the houses that the previous mapper placed are on top of the cycleway. I’ll move them so I can draw the cycleway in the correct place.

Hey, that was easy, let’s save this so the others can enjoy my work. O, do I need to add a comment… mmm … “Fietspad” will be ok I hope.

So far the first editing session from an newbie user as I see it. The user honestly tried to improve the map. But could you spot some mistakes ? Here are some

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After having mapped all sculptures in the Middelheim museum,

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The Belgian community wants to put each month another mapper in the spotlight. The reason is that OSM would not exist without mappers. This mapper receives the title “Mapper of the month” and gets the chance to herself/himself through a small interview. There are not really criteria to become a “mapper of the month”, besides that you map.

On the Belgian website http://osm.be you can find the article in Dutch and French together with some pictures.

Since we do not have an English section (yet) and I made the translation anyway, I decided to post it here. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Mapper of the month: Ben Laenen

Ben Laenen, in OpenStreetMap known under the username Eimai (pronounce /ˈimɛ/ like the Greek word είμαι), lives in Antwerp and is in his daily life a train conductor. During his studies he became active in the FOSS-world, now already a time ago. He is for example one of the people responsible for DejaVu Fonts, one of the standard fonts in several Linux distributions. The same font is also used in the main rendering engine of OpenStreetMap, Mapnik. As such, he is also active in the Libre Graphics community, more specifically in the typographic aspects.

How and when did you discover OpenStreetMap?

Suddenly OpenStreetMap was one of the projects that got additional attention from the open source community, which I already followed because of my involvement in DejaVu Fonts. I started to map in 2007, when there was almost nothing mapped in Belgium and the OpenStreetMap community was only a handful of people. As a little boy I was already interested in all kinds of maps. I could spend hours looking at atlases and printed maps. I even drew imaginary street maps myself. OpenStreetMap must have stirred up my interest in maps again!

How do you use OpenStreetMap?

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I have regularly visited the Middelheim museum in Antwerp. It is part of a park, free to visit, dogs are allowed (on the lead) and it’s not too far away. Until 2 weeks ago I never bothered to map it. it was just of of those places that I visit.

Two weeks ago, we had a meetup in Antwerp. One of the topics we discussed was mapping the Antwerp Zoo. There I got the idea to map the museum in more detail.

So after 2 visits, I have mapped about 2/3 of the artwork (statues, sculptures, constructions). For each piece I recorded the name, the artist and the “construction” date as indicated on the information panels next to each item.

This is the map so far http://umap.openstreetmap.fr/en/map/standbeelden-in-middelheimpark_19613#16/51.1829/4.4175

I cannot add pictures of all items, as in Belgium we do not have freedom-of-panorama. I could have done it for older work, but I tend to forget the exact age.

I hope to add the last third with my next visit.

The Belgian community is currently looking at some tools to import house numbers from the AGIV CRAB database. We are in an experimental phase, there is no formal go for the import yet.

Using the tool I saw a street in which I didn’t collect house numbers so far. It was tempting to just copy the numbers. But since I needed to walk the dogs, I decided to pass through that street. So what did I discover during this short survey ? A zone 30, a memorial for Frans Abels (a composer 1899-1962), a missing path and a waste bin. It was just 10 minutes extra compared to our normal walk.

Conclusion ? For me it is not sufficient to just copy numbers from a database. It’s better to go out for a walk with the dogs. Using this method I collect more diverse data en I learn something along the way.

Recently I’ve been working on some documentation in preparation of a house number import for Flanders. Mapping is more relaxing than this :-) The first version can be found on osm.wiki/AGIV_CRAB_Import A more extensive document, with more details for mappers is constructed under osm.wiki/WikiProject_Belgium/Using_AGIV_Crab_data

After the first feedback from the Belgian community, I’ll try to describe some more complex scenario’s for merging the data.

== English version below ==

De eerste sessie is afgelopen. Samen met Eric & Gilbert over een aantal plugins, presets en kaarttekenstijlen gegaan en de building configuration. Verder vooral de nadruk op het toevoegen van gebouwen en huisnummers. We hebben alledrie weer wat bijgeleerd !

Een toffe manier om te communiceren met mensen die wat verder wonen. Voor herhaling vatbaar.

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The first session is over. Together with Eric & Gilbert we talked about our JOSM configuration (plugins, presets, map styles, building configuration). Most of the time was spend on efficient ways to draw buildings and housenumbers. There was something new for the three of us.

A nice way to communicate with people that live further apart. Will be repeated.

I gave 2 talks (or 1 big one if you wish :-) ) during the meeting at ESI in Brussels yesterday. I promised to send out the links to the slides, so here they are

The State of the Map Belgium: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1F69PAR44JF3pBE1mBuv-8VaNmkyIOxxQhcAYEM_PuWo/edit?usp=sharing

The one on mapping: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1qsrZfYJ-8SUz7Ww3-sZ1Q3zsASdQP7wCsQ0_Bg6YynY/edit?usp=sharing

Feel free to contact me in case you have questions. The first talk gives a long list of websites to get an idea about the completeness and quality of the code, as well as some fun, interesting topic maps. The second one attempts to give an overview of the different mapping types, but the demos where more important.

This evening will try to setup a google hangout (in Dutch) to exchange tips and tricks on using JOSM. It will be the first time that we’ll do this so it will be a nice learning experience with hangouts as well. I’ll post the URL between 19u30 and 20u00 to the Belgian mailing list. You need to install a browser plugin to follow.

I would like to thank Nicolas and ESI for organizing and hosting the meeting yesterday. I enjoyed meeting the other people (and even giving the talk :-) )

Normally I do my surveys with a Garmin GPS and make notes using waypoints. Those waypoints and the corresponding track can be loaded in JOSM. In order to update OSM, one still need to manually create nodes and add tags to them.

So I wrote a Python script that does part of this work. It converts the waypoints that I make into OSM points. I can then easily integrate those nodes with the existing data, without have to create notes or add tags.

The script recognizes the waypoints with the following formats:

- VB  for amenity: waste_basket  (Vuilbak)
- BK  for amenity: bench (Bank or Zitbank)
- FIREH for emergency: fire_hydrant
- M50/M70/Z70/Z30/Z50 for maxspeeds (Z for zones)
- PIKNIK for tourism: picnic_site
- WSS [name] for historic: wayside_shrine
- CDC for power: cable_distribution_cabinet
- ESS for power: sub_station
- STOP/GW  for highway: stop / give_way
- LLI/RLI for highway: street_lamp
- PAAL, KGATE, SWINGGATE, SWGATE, GATE, FBAR for
      barrier: bollard / kissing_gate, swing_gate, swing_gate, gate, cycle_barrier
- house number notations, e.g. R10, L10-12, L10+-+20, L10+12---13+15
- PB 1445 for bpost post_box with (last) collections_times Mo-Fr 14:15
- GLB for recycling glass bottle container (Glasbol)
- TXT for recycling clothes contains. Some operators are recognized as well WMS, VICT, ...

Since I am also interested in mapping protected buildings in Flanders, I often use the data that wikipedia has on this topic. An example can be found here.

Until this weekend, I manually located the building and added the necessary tags via a JOSM preset. On my previous diary entry someone suggestion using a toolserver service to obtain a kml-file with all the nodes.

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Using the heritage list of protected buildings and monuments of wikipedia, I managed to map all such buildings in Mechelen en Lier.

The result can be viewed on the geschichtskarten, e.g. Lier

Up to the next town. Antwerp ?

Did a walk in Ruisbroek yesterday evening. Got even more housenumbers to put in OSM. Also found that ‘Leuk’ (street) was split in smaller roads with different names. According to some newspaper website, this was already done in Q1, 2011.

Weird that I didn’t notice this when I visited the place last summer (or was it the summer before that ?)