# USE-IT what? ## Our objective USE-IT is the quality label for no-nonsense tourist info for young people. Over the last 20 years, over a 100 cities made a USE-IT map. They all publish free maps, most of them have an Instagram page, some have a website, or even run an info desk for young traveller.

		Cover image
Made by locals	We don’t work with travel journalists but with local people.	/files/uKkU1nS6rfOHwn5ECiNu
For young people.	Our maps are not meant to please everybody, we have a specific target group: people from 18-30, or people who feel that age).	/files/huoqhtlDFkSDZAcYfOf4
Not commercial.	Nobody pays to be included on the map.	/files/6hCfDqfjetMsLVd9GuRz
Free	It's as simple as that.	/files/jivsTbsMgz6koIbadVxL
Up-to-date	New editions are made every 18 months.	/files/sQorBVqLKl0TwKvsEOYj
Supporting sustainable travel and creating a sense of place.	It’s about the life and soul of the city.	/files/CPF0eQy3EdrGl5RV175H

Every USE-IT team is largely independent. They find funding to run the project, usually from local authorities (city, province, region) and other local funders. USE-IT Oslo is paid with Norwegian money, USE-IT Prague with Czech money, and so on. USE-IT Europe can advise in this and help with tips on where to find funders, how to build a budget, how to start approaching funders and how to talk to authorities. Within the network, everybody shares the USE-IT principles and philosophy and is a member of the same European organisation called USE-IT Europe. ## A brief history USE-IT started in 1971 (in hippie times) in Copenhagen as a low-budget info desk for young travelers. The first USE-IT brochures (not maps yet) were made there and distributed in an alternative youth centre called Huset. Travellers pronounced it as ‘use it’ and that’s probably how the name stuck. Nobody knows for sure, though. Other initiatives followed later in Oslo, Rotterdam and Ghent, always with the same philosophy. In 2005, the first USE-IT Map for Young Travellers – as we know them now – was developed in Ghent (Belgium). In 2007, an international organisation called USE- IT Europe was founded in Belgium to support the current and future USE-IT initiatives, and also to protect the USE-IT principles. Since then, more and more cities have joined the network. In 2021, the old organisation quit and a new one started in France, to continue the work. This organisation holds the current Board, who hires the Editor-in-chief. {% content-ref url="/pages/xJvnPKSwjE5npg94DcA9" %} [what does USE-IT Europe do?](/use-it-wiki/about-use-it-europe/what-does-use-it-europe-do.md) {% endcontent-ref %} *** {% hint style="success" %} EXPLORE OUR ARCHIVES\ [use-it.travel/archives-map](https://use-it.travel/archives-map) {% endhint %} --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://use-it.gitbook.io/use-it-wiki/get-started/use-it-what.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.

Made by locals

For young people.

Not commercial.

Free

Up-to-date

Supporting sustainable travel and creating a sense of place.