Working on your first map?

We recommend you to start with an overview presentation of what USE-IT is, how it works and what to do to join.

What is USE-IT?

The basic info to understand what USE-IT stands for.

Timeline

A step-by-step project overview to understand what you will go through.

Starters FAQ

If your head is full of questions, the answer may be here!

Looking for fundings?

Discover the wonderfull tools created by the FUND-IT team: they will help you from project plan to application writing.

Prepare your project plan

The first and most important step of your map project: being well prepared!

Finding sponsors

Who are they? What do they want from you? How to convince them?

Tutorials to our online platform

Since 2025, we have a brand new online platform built to facilitate the map making process and communication between map makers, Editor in Chief and President. We have built a process you can walk through, that helps you create your paper map and digital map at the same time. Discover how it works!

The online platform

Get to know about the structure of the backoffice and read the user manual

Database structure

Your online map requires a specific database. Check what it looks like.

Digital map

Look at our guide on preparing assets or share it with your designer.

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.

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.

Step by step guideline

Many young people contact USE-IT Europe because they want to make a map of their own city. Visit bars, collect stories, write no-nonsense texts... That sounds like a fun job. It is, actually!

Follow these five rules and you'll get there!

If you live in a small city, the city might want to attract more tourists to it. If you live in a big city, where tourism is already a problem, they might want to divide the tourists over the city differently and teach them about sustainable tourism and the beautiful places they can see outside of the crowded city centre. You can write about the great culture and traditions your city has that you want to show the world, but also about why you yourself love your city so much. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal in this, especially when you talk to city officials! A little flattery never hurt anyone, and a lot of people are proud of where they come from.

Be sure to look at other maps your city already has. How is USE-IT different? Usually, USE-IT is different in language, local tips, honesty (nobody pays to be on the map) and the international nature of it. This comparison work really helped USE-IT Salamanca during their meeting with the town hall.

The map will be distributed all over Europe and also promoted through our social networks, website and - in the programmes we run in Europe, with and without other stakeholders in sustainable tourism.

USE-IT Prague was released despite the fact other similar projects already existed.

In our recent survey, we asked donors and funders why they decided to support the map. Some answers were:

• Putting the lesser known city on the EU tourism map

• To change or moderate how the city is perceived

• To attract more tourists and more money for the local economy

• As an educational tool, to manage overtourism

To help you put together all those motivations and be more impactful towards potential sponsors, the FUND-IT team created for you an editable booklet that answers anyone’s question about your project.

Who?

_{Who can start a USE-IT?}

Any young person who loves the city they live in can start a USE-IT! If you have a team that consists of some people who are a bit older than the target group, that is ok too, as long as you keep in mind what USE-IT is.

There are some rules to stick to though. Firstly, you have to be a local, meaning you at least live in the city for a significant amount of time. That’s the difference between USE-IT and a lot of travel guides. USE-IT believes that you cannot write well about a city if you visit it for just a few weeks.

Secondly, you have to embrace the basic rules: USE-IT is not-commercial, free and made by young locals for young travellers.

Thirdly, you cannot become a member as a private person. You need an organisation to publish your map. You can either start an organisation yourself, or find an organisation to be your publishing body. This sounds harder than it is though, in most countries, this is easily arranged. We can always give you examples on how to do it.

_{Who decides where to start?}

You. USE-IT Europe does not decide where to launch a project, it all depends on the initiative of young locals. That’s why there are some maps of lesser-known cities, while some major tourist destinations are not in the network. And that’s what makes it cool too.

Where?

_{Is my city a good city?}

Probably. It does not depend on size or popularity, but on relevance for the target group. Is your city an interesting place for young international travellers to spend a couple of days? Then it’s a good city for a USE-IT map.

_{Can I make a map of the region?}

No. USE-IT is a city project.

Not yet. USE-IT Europe wants to become stronger in Europe first.

Yes, but only the English version can be published with the USE-IT label. Other versions will not be included on the website.

Perhaps, perhaps not. Just send a mail and ask. If others have started already, USE-IT Europe will bring you in touch so you can have a coffee together. So far, there has never been any competition, only collaboration.

No, you pay a membership contribution of €1.200 to USE-IT Europe. This money needs to be part of your budget, when applying for money. If you want to know what we use the money for, we can always give you that info! It is mostly meant to keep the day-to-day of USE-IT running, keep the quality up, support you every step of the way and organise an annual live meeting where we offer you workshops and international encounters.

As soon as you have the confirmation you will have the budget to print the map and pay the membership fee, we will put you in our list of cities who are going to print soon. You can talk to the Editor-in-Chief about when would be a good time.

No. USE-IT Europe gives practical support, feedback, a network to fall back on, access to the meeting and official membership. Not money.

• From the municipality. Most cities get money from the city.

• From tourist info. Are there any tourist organisations in your city that could help?

• From the youth centre

• From the university

Can a telephone company or a bank fund a USE-IT map? Yes, but only if they agree to stay out of the content and design. They cannot brand the product. We also keep the sustainability of a company in mind, for as far as we have the information for that. Email if you have questions about what this means.

That’s hard to say, because it depends on so many things. How many maps will you need to print? Will the writer and designer get paid for the work? Who will do the distribution? Do you also want to start an info desk or a summer info tent? All these things have to be sorted out first.

The budget is usually between €7.000 and €15.000. Releasing a USE-IT map is a big adventure, why wouldn’t you be paid for your work?

Before you publish, for sure by the time you get the President’s approval for printing.

Article written by FUND-IT team

Projects you do after work or study, like your own USE-IT map project, bring unique challenges and rewards. They’re a chance to collaborate with like-minded people and pursue passions outside of the standard 9-to-5. But balancing these projects with day jobs and personal commitments can be tricky. When time is already limited, making the best use of everyone’s energy and skills is essential to keep things moving forward without causing burnout.

The key? Effective organization and time management. While there are countless productivity tools out there, many are complex and often come with a hefty price tag. For after-hours teams, especially those working on tight budgets, simple and free tools that streamline communication, planning, and accountability can make all the difference.

In this article, we’ll dive into five free online tools that can help team leaders and members work smarter together. So, if you’re looking to keep your after-work project on track, read on to discover tools that can save your team time, simplify coordination, and ultimately, make the process enjoyable and sustainable for everyone involved.

_Trello

Trello is one of the most popular project management tools, alongside Asana. With the free plan, you can create up to 10 boards and invite teammates to specific boards, assigning tasks and deadlines. You can attach files, create subtasks, and organize to-do lists. Trello also integrates with Google Drive and Gmail, as well as communication apps like Telegram or Discord to receive task updates, and Toggl to track time spent on specific tasks.

USE-IT Olsztyn used Trello to manage their project from its very first edition in 2018. It gave them a clear overview of each project phase, helped track task progress, and ensured deadlines were set and followed.

For reporting or ensuring financial transparency, time tracking is essential for an after-hours project. A reliable tool like Toggl Track can help your team monitor the hours they spend on different tasks. Toggl’s free app allows you to easily record work time, naming and tagging tasks as needed. It also provides daily, weekly, and monthly reports, giving you insight into the time spent on each project.

Gamifying work can make it more enjoyable, especially for those hard-to-start tasks. Gamification can also be beneficial for neurodivergent team members who may need an extra boost to focus and stay motivated. Study Bunny is a free app that’s helped some teams tackle everything from studying to writing grant applications.

With Study Bunny, you create a virtual bunny and set a timer for your tasks. Each time you complete a task, you earn carrots to feed your bunny and coins to purchase outfits or furniture for your bunny’s home. If you skip the timer or leave the app, your pet goes without rewards, giving a lighthearted incentive to stay focused!

Many younger team members are moving away from Meta-owned tools; Messenger is less commonly used, and WhatsApp tends to be reserved for private communication with family and friends. For team-based communication that respects work-life boundaries, Discord is an excellent alternative.

Originally popular among gamers, Discord is now a growing platform for team collaboration, used by both small and large organizations. It’s free to use and allows for dedicated channels on specific topics as well as private messaging. Discord supports video and audio calls via voice channels, so quick team calls don’t require Zoom or Google Meet links. It also integrates with Trello and other tools, allowing project updates and task tracking to stay organized in one space.

Scheduling a meeting for a large team is challenging, especially when your project is an after-hours commitment. Instead of having lengthy conversations about potential dates, Doodle lets team members vote on available times, and you’ll get notified once everyone has chosen their preferences.

Doodle also offers features beyond group scheduling. You can set up 1:1 meetings by sharing your availability, and create sign-up forms for activities like new team member recruitment or extra events connected to your project.

Article written by FUND-IT team

When writing an application to get money for your map project, you will generally need to answer a few common questions. Here are some tips to answer them!

Shortly describe your project

Feel free to write the description of your project with your heart but here are some elements to help you in the writing process:

USE-IT is a European label for tourist info made by locals, for young travellers. The USE-IT label was created 15 years ago and has grown to a well-known label throughout Europe for young, honest, sustainable tourism information. Today, local teams are organised into an international network called USE-IT Europe. Every team is independent and creates local maps of their city. This means that maps are made by local people, with local money, and with local tips, but they are supported by a European network that shares knowledge and resources. The maps get distributed through the network, so it improves the fame of the city in the rest of Europe. All maps have a different, local design. This is a great chance for local artists to promote their work all over Europe.

All the maps share the same values:

• USE-IT is made by locals; map makers don’t work with travel journalists, but with people who experience the city every day!

• USE-IT is a non-commercial label; no one pays to appear on the map

• USE-IT is made for young travellers, or everyone who identifies as that

• USE-IT maps are updated every year

• USE-IT wants to be the reflection of the soul of the city

• USE-IT is a FREE map in English

• USE-IT is without advertising

• USE-IT promotes sustainable and responsible tourism

In this part, you can describe your own motivation for the project and what you plan to do.

Young travellers The first people who benefit from your project will be the young travellers who visit the city. They will find the best places to go, the best local food to eat, they learn about the city, they experience the place totally differently from how they would normally. For the time that they are in the city, they become ‘temporary locals’. They can also learn about cities they wouldn’t visit without USE-IT, and consider going there.

The city City governments are always looking for ways to promote their city. This is an easy way to do it! Who can better promote the city to young travellers than young, enthusiastic locals? You can focus on what your city needs. Does it need more people visiting, or people behaving better when they do, for example.

The volunteers/workers in the project Don’t forget that USE-IT is a great way to gain international work experience! Many cities work with very young people, who improve all kinds of skills while working on the map. You can think of writing, researching, making budgets, writing proposals, pitching, networking, etc. This is also partially because of the USE-IT Europe network, where they can attend online meetings and the live USE-IT meeting each year.

Local entrepreneurs More tourists means more revenue from those tourists! It’s not all about the money of course, but especially for smaller entrepreneurs, some extra people in the city can make a whole lot of difference. Especially when they sell good quality, local stuff, it is a win-win situation. USE-IT likes to highlight shops, bars, restaurants, entertainment places and other places which might be harder to find for someone who doesn’t know the city.

International students For international students, it can be hard to become a local in the short period they are in a city. The USE-IT map can help with that! All around Europe, universities have included the map in their welcome packages.

The region / country (for small countries) Especially if a region has multiple USE-IT maps (for example: Calais-Lille, Nijmegen-Arnhem, Ostrava-Zlin-Brno-Prague), it can be of huge importance for national or regional tourism! The groups can work together to promote the cities and encourage travellers to travel between them.

You can explain what the impact of a USE-IT map would be for your city. Here are a few ideas, depending on what kind of city you live in and who you are talking to:

Small, less touristic cities (for example: Bremerhaven, Erfurt): having a USE-IT map can attract tourists to your city. You put the name of your city in an European network and that way, the city benefits from USE-IT travellers. It also might help people to look further than capitals and in that way, help divide tourists all throughout the country.

Bigger, touristic cities (for example: Prague, Paris): having a USE-IT map can divide the tourists around the city better. Prague, for example, tries to get people to look further than the city centre and avoid the busy touristic places. This lowers the pressure tourism has on big cities, which, we know, can be a big problem.

All cities: USE-IT promotes sustainable tourism. This doesn’t just mean sustainable in a green sense of the word. We support sustainable travel, buying green products, encouraging sustainable food choices and shopping locally. But sustainable tourism means more. It means creating a ‘sense of place’, knowing where you are, respecting the city you are visiting and showing interest in it. We don’t recommend standing all-together on a small bridge in Venice to take the exact same photo. We ask something from our users, namely to take an interest in where you are and treat it respectfully.

A few years ago, we have pledged to multiple principles within The Future of Tourism Movement. This is a coalition of six non-governmental organisations that have come together to stand united in an appeal for change. Other tourist organisations can commit to their principles and promise to work towards a better future of tourism.

So now you know what you want to do, you have worked hard towards a motivation and a budget, now you need a timeline. A good timeline shows possible funders that you are realistic in your plans, it shows what you need all that money for and it helps you when you start making your awesome map!

We previously told you to make a timeline. Make sure to do this! In this part of the application, you can also write about your team, their expertise and all the help you plan to get from people who love the city and the project!

• The words you use in your description of the project need to fit with the sponsor you target. Key words are different for the Youth Department or Regional Tourist office for example!

• Once the application is submitted, notify your contact person. She might notice some little mistakes or missing elements in your application and can come back to you quickly. It would be such a shame for your project not to be eligible for a small detail.

Article written by FUND-IT team

Creating a USE-IT map is an exciting yet challenging journey, filled with creative possibilities and meaningful connections. However, anyone who’s taken on this project knows it’s also a path full of hurdles. Teams often start with overwhelming enthusiasm, only to find that maintaining that spark requires ongoing effort. For many, the challenges go beyond just the practicalities of map-making – funding falls through, team members get overwhelmed, or the original purpose can become clouded in the day-to-day big and small life events.

Yet, for teams that have successfully brought their maps to life, each of these challenges became an opportunity to learn and grow. Drawing from their experiences, here are some proven strategies that USE-IT teams across Europe have used to stay engaged and motivated, even through the toughest phases of the process.

Celebrate small milestones

Breaking the project down into achievable milestones and recognising each milestone, such as finalising a project draft or securing a sponsor, helps the team maintain energy. Teams from cities like Zlin and Wroclaw emphasised how small victories boost morale and create a sense of progress. Without these incremental goals, the project may start to feel overwhelming, with the final goal seemingly out of reach.

Use the USE-IT network

The USE-IT network not only provides practical advice, but also emotional support. Many teams have maintained motivation by connecting with other creators and sharing ideas. Regular interactions with the network can help prevent the isolation that often leads to burnout and remind the team that it is part of something bigger.

Feel free to ask for help or share your feelings in the Whatsapp community, that’s also what it’s made for!

Infusing the project with creative side activities, such as brainstorming promotional ideas, experimenting with map designs or even just planning fun group activities in your favourite spots in the city, can help with maintaining a fresh perspective. Teams like the one in Arnhem found that adding these elements along the way made the work enjoyable. Without these creative opportunities, the project runs the risk of becoming purely task-oriented, which can lower enthusiasm over time.

Cities such as Thessaloniki and Olsztyn drew motivation from the involvement of locals, who shared their favourite places and stories for the map. This not only generated enthusiasm within the community, but also reminded the team of the impact of their project. Without this connection to the community, team members might feel detached from the purpose of their work.

Relying on multiple sources of funding, from local and municipal grants to crowdfunding and beyond, can stabilise finances and strengthen commitment to the project. Many cities through time have seen the benefits of this approach. Over-reliance on a single source, however, can be risky: if the funding fails, the team may suffer a serious setback.

Regular check-ins, a clear division of tasks and role flexibility help to create a supportive and organised team culture. At Zlin, role definition and open communication were key to maintaining motivation and efficiency. Without this structure, team members may feel isolated or overloaded, which can lead to frustration and reduced commitment.

When setbacks occur, such as funding rejection or delays, viewing them as learning experiences rather than failures can sustain morale. The Salamanca team, for example, gained valuable insights into local bureaucratic processes through these challenges, which strengthened their strategies for the future. Focusing only on setbacks, on the other hand, can make the team feel discouraged and lose sight of the growth that comes from overcoming obstacles.

For long-term projects, it is essential to periodically review the ‘why’. The Prague team, which has been publishing maps for years, attributes its motivation to a clear vision of promoting authentic and sustainable tourism. Without this sense of purpose, everyday tasks may start to seem trivial and the larger mission may take a back seat.

Of course, the money you ask for differs per country, since income height and costs are different. The basic principle of budgeting is simple: listing and calculating your costs and your benefits!

The basic costs of a USE-IT project include:

However, many teams do the editorial and coordination work as volunteers, without being paid, as their first objective to reach is to be able to release the map. Of course, we encourage you to do your best to be able to pay for your own work and that of your team, you deserve it!

If you have negotiation skills like the Wolf of Wall Street, you can negotiate for your printing costs to be covered by funders, the municipality for example. And if you find a designer who wants to practice or is a design student, you can pay 0 € for design. But in most cases, this is the base you need to pay for. And let’s be fair: we like to pay good people for good work, right? So let’s tell our funders that and explain what we need our funding for!

We encourage you to be accurate while building your budget by mentioning all posts required by such a project. Text writing takes time, make sure to show that in your budget. Distribution in your own city needs to be done multiple times, often, when places run out of maps. Distribution to other cities not only costs money for postal fees, but also time to pack maps and take them to the post office. And project management is a vital task, so don’t be afraid to show that on your budget! You are doing a great job and it is nice to show that.

On the other hand, if you create a map with the absolute minimum and only volunteers, how will you convince your local authorities that they have to give you more next year? And what will happen when the volunteers leave on a world trip? It’s best to take it seriously from the beginning, because that’s the best way to provide continuity.

Some teams also add:

You don’t need to be shy including those costs; it has already been done! The heart of your project has to be map making and printing, but think what other costs you could make and don’t hesitate to ask for that money, as long as it is relevant and honest. You are offering a useful project that can have a very positive impact on tourism, on your city and on the people who arrive, and suddenly find a great local dish instead of a fast food hamburger and an underground party instead of the first bar they can find. You rock!. So be confident and don’t be afraid to ask for its price.

Here are is a concrete example of budget from Arnhem map project (NL):

Article written by FUND-IT team

Before or after sending your application to possible funders, we encourage you to ask for a meeting with them.

It is not just your team presenting the project. It’s a conversation, so it’s important to make sure you know who you talk to. And whoever you face, this meeting needs to be prepared. The first impression is really important and people have to remember your project as something cool and serious. We know how hard it can be to meet officials sometimes, so we, as your tribe, will help you in succeeding in your 1st meeting!

Make it real, do not send long emails or PDFs. Make sure there is somebody at the table, a face, shake hands, speak to them and do not take the attitude of somebody who is begging for money. Take the attitude of somebody who has a wonderful idea and is presenting a strong project that will help the city. — Ghent team

Here are the core ideas :

🕵️ Dig in the objectives of your sponsor to find out which way your project fits in.

🚀 Concentrate all your preparation elements in a short presentation.

💡 Anticipate questions sponsors could ask.

👯 Ask questions and make them feel they are already a part of your journey.

It doesn’t matter who you are trying to contact, do not forget they are human beings, "they read emails too". Do not be afraid of them! — Bratislava team

Since 2025, we have a brand new online platform built to facilitate the map making process and communication between map makers, Editor in Chief and President. This has been a long and exciting adventure through an Erasmus+ project called DIG-IT.

We have built a process you can walk through, that helps you create your paper map and digital map at the same time. This means that, if you want to create a digital map, you already need your final list of spots for the paper map, and the design needs to be made and exported in the right format. This way, the making of the paper map and digital map aren’t two separate things, they very much go hand-in-hand. That way, USE-IT will always be USE-IT, just better.

This graph presents a concise flow of the map creation process through the platform. Most nodes contain hyperlinks for more details.

GET TO KNOW MORE INFO ABOUT THE ONLINE PLATFORM

The DIG-IT team wrote an entire manual to explain how the online tool works. There is basically a tutorial for every possible action you can do to create your digital map. Have a look!

First of all, you have to write a realistic timeline. To make a timeline, you start at the back, your ultimate goal: a big party to celebrate your beautiful map. From there, you work towards the start. This way, you have enough time to do all the steps. We’ve seen maps being published in any time between 4 months and several years, depending on how much time the creators had, how easy it was to find money and the life events of the people involved.

You start at your release. When do you want to release your map? You can try to let this release go together with an event or important moment in your city. There might be an event, anniversary or historical fact that creates a good moment to hand out and promote your map. If you don’t have such an event, think about when tourist season might start, or when it would be convenient for your city government to promote it.

From the experience the network has collected, we can tell you the whole USE-IT project duration is:

We know it can be difficult to picture it, so here is an easy example:

First of all, remember...

YOU are the one who chooses. Not a sponsor, not the municipality, not the entrepreneurs in your city, but you and your team.

Speaking of choosing: really choose. You don’t need to tip 15 places to have coffee. Travellers want to know the best ones. It might hurt sometimes, but kill your darlings!

When you write about them, be specific. Tell us about the one thing from the menu we should order, the one place in the park where we should lay down our blanket, the one word we should say to the bar owner.

Don’t feel you have to be complete. You don’t have to tell us everything on the menu, for example. Or name every single theme night. Pick and choose what you like!

Combine! ‘Buy a sandwich here and go to the park there’, for example. Or: ‘this bar lets you bring your own food, go to this and this shop to buy this and this and have it with your beer’. This is really something only locals know.

Meet the community: public events & street interviews

We used to organise "carto party" in bars to ask people to vote for their favourite spots. We did it in different neighborhoods to have different points of views. Then we counted the votes and we decided if it was worth to be on the map or not. — Marina, Lille

In Olsztyn & Warsaw we organized an event in bars or outdoor drinking areas. We stoped people and asked them to write their favourite places on the board / paper. After that we read them and saw how many repeat, and if we didn’t know them yet, we decided who will go and quality check it. — Iga, Warsaw & Olsztyn

We simply use the vast knowledge of all team members : students, people on the streets, everybody they meet what they think should be on the map. — Coen, Tilburg

“Here in London we're planning a proper collab with an academic partner who’ll run a community event or workshop. They’re called LivingMaps Network based in King’s College London (www.livingmaps.org/). They were founded by the late husband of the woman who published USE-IT London back in the 1970s!

We’re adding the cost of the workshop coordinator and materials to our budget. From this collab we’re hoping to get insights we can put on the map, get local young people involved, and hopefully end up with an academic publication and plenty of public-engagement evidence we can use for future funding bids. — Jonathan, London

Last times in Nijmegen we invited a focus group. One time including a stake holder so they could see our approach. After the focus group, the team divided the categories and looked what we thought was really important. So really a big mix from outsiders and the own team! — Iris, Nijmegen

We just get together with the team and discuss it. We drop a form on social media and also ask some of the spots we put in the map what places they'd suggest, but quite often that would result in suggestions for expensive restaurants that are outside the backpackers' price range. — Korneel, Bruges

In Erfurt, we originally wanted to engage with people at public events and tap into the team’s collective knowledge. Then COVID hit, and we switched entirely to the digital realm by launching a survey. Before that, we had already been following numerous local multipliers and institutions on our Instagram page, introducing the project, the team, and our favorite places in order to gain followers ahead of the survey.

On Instagram, on different days, we posted illustrated questions such as “You have visitors. It’s raining. What do you do?”, “A good place for kissing,” or “This is where the party’s really at at night…”. We also offered all the questions together in an online survey. — Theresa, Erfurt

All of the team members make a list of best places in their opinion, and then we assign other team members, who don't know the place, to quality check it and rate it. — Iga, Warsaw & Olsztyn

We use Google spreadsheets to rate all the places we have gathered to go from a long list to a short list. Then we discuss it in team meetings if we really agree with the choices. If the rating is contradictory or people disagree on things, we pitch why it should or shouldn’t be included. Also once we start writing and nobody feels like writing for a particular place or it is not catchy enough, we might drop it after all. — Coen, Tilburg

We collected all responses in a doc, calculated their weighting, and sorted them into categories (culture, gastronomy, nature, nightlife, …). Through very long team discussions, we gradually narrowed down the selection. — Theresa, Erfurt

Since 2025, with the DIG-IT project and the launch of the online platform, we decided to digitalise the entire map making process, from the validation of your text by the Editor-in-Chief to the final publication of your digital map on the use-it.travel website (and all the steps in between, of course.) This helps you have an overview of your work-in-progress and makes the feedback process of the editor-in-chief easier. What is good at a certain time does not need to be rechecked later right?

So, we decided to create a template where you can put aaaaaall your data directly on the right structure that fits the technical requirements of the digital map. This document is shared with you by the Editor-in-Chief when you become a work-in-progress. You will then be able to share the doc with your team, designer or whoever else needs access. The template will also be the place where you will add all the text from your map: spot selection, Act Like A Local, and all your sections together in a single sheet.

Of course, you do not have to use this structure from the beginning of the research. If you feel like putting all your collected spots in your own spreadsheet, work with sticky notes or any other creative way to sort all the info you collected. But when the writing phase starts, it means that it’s time to switch to the USE-IT template!

This template is basically a Google Doc divided in two parts. First, a table for map spots with title, name of the spot, text, GPS location, categories and tags. You can also mention if this spot is a Local Tip or a Tourist Classic.

Then, you can fill the sections. Some are mandatory for a USE-IT map (Act Like A Local, that you can also rename the way you want, 5 Minutes Of History, Practical Info, Where Next? and About USE-IT (which corresponds to the backcover of your map). You can also add up to nine with the content you want: Local-habit Bingo, Bike ways, Events calendar, Treasure hunt and so much more. Up to your creativity!

Article written by FUND-IT team

Try to contact people who are really fans of your city. Those are the correct ones that will support your idea. — Bremerhaven team

Within the network, many different parties helped in sponsoring USE-IT projects:

Municipalities

Most USE-IT projects are funded by the municipality of their city. Sometimes there are open calls for projects, issued by the municipality or organisations affiliated to the municipality. Sometimes there aren’t and you have to find the right person within the municipality yourself. This is a bit more complicated of course, but definitely doable! You can think of people who are working in tourism, city marketing, youth work, or culture, for example. It is always good to try the municipality first, before you look for additional funders. They are often the funders with the best resources and also the most contacts to help you along.

Tourism organisations

ex: tourist info points, city stores, city promoters, city tour organisations, other map projects, etc.

For example, the Barcelona, Spanish map was supported by Barcelona Tourism, Barcelona City Hall, and the Barcelona department for Youth. We also suggest you to reach a tourism organisation at a national level.

Youth centres

USE-IT is a youth project, we aim our maps at young people. It is also a great opportunity for young people to gain work experience in tourism, writing, graphic design, fundraising and all kinds of other work that comes with working on our maps. Because of that, youth centres might help out with money, team members, opportunities for events and distribution possibilities.

If there is a university in your city, it might be good to contact it. Universities and other higher education institutions often have internationalisation offices and international student associations. They might be able to sponsor you, because they might want to give maps to their incoming international students.

They also have missions and budget in sectors where USE-IT could be a solution. USE-IT in Belgium has prospered during several years thanks to regional money, because they had multiple cities in the region. Regional money has also helped Kutna Hora (CZ).

There are options for European money. First of all, the Solidarity Projects, financed through the European Solidarity Corps. In their programme guide for 2023, you can find:

Participation in a Solidarity Project will also be an important non-formal learning experience for young people. It should foster a sense of initiative, active European citizenship and entrepreneurial spirit. In particular, young people managing the project could absorb in practice the concept of social entrepreneurship by creating new products or services that benefit the local community or society in general and address important societal challenges. By putting their own ideas into practice, meeting unexpected situations and finding solutions for them, trying out innovative and creative measures, young people will learn new skills and develop their capacities, express their own creativity and take responsibility for their action. They will boost their self-esteem, autonomy and motivation to learn.

As you can see, this is a very fitting thing for USE-IT. In the network, a few teams ran successful European Solidarity Corps: Viterbo, Prague, Nijmegen, Arnhem, Oulu.

USE-IT Mons in Belgium and USE-IT Oulu in Finland have been funded thanks to European City of Culture status. So it means that you can do it and that you can ask them questions !

Another option is a small-scale partnership, financed through Erasmus+. In their programme guide, it says:

Small-scale Partnerships are designed to widen access to the programme to small-scale actors and individuals who are hard to reach in the fields of school education, adult education, vocational education and training, youth and sport. With lower grant amounts awarded to organisations, shorter duration and simpler administrative requirements compared to the Cooperation Partnerships, this action aims at reaching out to grassroots organisations, less experienced organisations and newcomers to the Programme, reducing entry barriers to the programme for organisations with smaller organisational capacity. This action will also support flexible formats – mixing activities with transnational and national character although with a European dimension – allowing organisations to have more means to reach out to people with fewer opportunities. Small-scale Partnerships can also contribute to the creation and development of transnational networks and to fostering synergies with, and between, local, regional, national and international policies.

Small scale partnerships and the bigger ones (Cooperation Partnerships) were successfully ran by a partnership of USE-IT cities, but it never aimed at publishing a map itself. However, if you want to apply to those projects, feel free to ask advice to the Editor-in-chief or the Board of USE-IT Europe.

They will benefit greatly from your map, and might need a map to give to their guests when they check in. In fact, this is how our Editor-in-Chief has found USE-IT, in Prague. So it works! These organisations might be interested in helping you reach your goal. The USE-IT Dresden manager worked in a hostel so the benefit of the USE-IT project was obvious for him.

You can try crowdfunding or smaller-scale sponsoring from organisations that might be on your map. This is a bit of a tricky one, because we don’t sell spots on the map. So this means that organisations that you ask to sponsor you, might not end up on the map. It is hard, but it has been done! Ostrava, Nantes and Bordeaux are cities who could fund part of their project thanks to crowdfunding money!

Can a telephone company or a bank fund a USE-IT map? Yes, but only if they agree to stay out of the content and design and they will not get involved in the decisions you make with your map. USE-IT is non-commercial, so there’s no branding or money-making involved for them. On top of that, be mindful about the kind of organisation that fits our sustainable-travel goals. However, there are banks that provide funding for community projects, and that can be a great resource. Email info@use-it.travel if you have questions about what all this means.

Read more : FUND-IT blog article : ESG for Environmental, Social and Governance (external link)

READ MORE → , a blog article by FUND-IT team

You need money, because you need to pay your designer, printer, membership fee, postal prints and hopefully yourself. However, secondly, think of the importance of non-financial support as well. Organisations can help you with meeting rooms, contacts, distribution support, information, team members, and anything else you might need from them. So keep an open mind, show your enthusiasm for the project and see how you can help each other! In addition to those tips, please have a look at our tutorial. It’ll provide methods to start from 0 and teach you how to map your “sponsors community”

FUND-IT team lead a research on how USE-IT project - succesfull or not - were funded with the last 20 years. Check how cities from your region, country or of the same size as yours fund their local initiative:

Article written by Marketa Beitlova and Stanislav Popelka, coordinated by the DIG-IT team

The USE-IT map design starts with the paper map, and the digital one is a consequence of the paper one. However, you have to prepare some assets and take into account some digital requirements for later in order not to lose time - and money. The most important of them being cartography!

You have 2 options: the long journey, drawing everything from scratch. It’s time-consuming and not super precise, especially since we now offer a digital version of our maps, where people can use GPS. And then, there is the efficient and precise version: downloading the geographic data directly from OSM. Here is a precious tutorial on how to do it.

OpenStreetMap (OSM) is a free, collaborative world map created by thousands of volunteers. It contains detailed information about streets, paths, buildings, parks, rivers, and many points of interest— all available under an open licence.

Using QGIS, a free and open-source GIS program, you can easily import OSM data into your project. With the help of built-in tools or add-ins such as QuickOSM, you can download specific layers (e.g., buildings, footpaths, tram lines, green areas) directly for your selected city or neighbourhood.

This allows you to quickly obtain a clean and accurate geometric base, which you can then simplify, recolour, adjust, or generalize according to the graphic style of your USE-IT map. It saves time, ensures precision, and gives you a solid foundation on which to build your custom cartography.

Whatever the option you choose (using OpenStreetMap or Google Maps as a base map or even drawing it yourself), just make sure you do not violate any copyrights and that you give proper credit to the sources you use. You can do it in the credit area on the back cover of your paper map and on the allocated section in the online platform.

USE-IT’s style is like speaking to a foreign friend.

USE-IT explains things the way they are – it’s that simple. No difficult words, no promotional blah blah, no exaggerations, no poetry. A golden rule: if the text does not sound natural when you read it aloud, it’s not a good USE-IT text.

Concrete

Our texts give information that young travellers need.

The reader should know what it’s about. That sounds logical, but haven’t you sometimes read brochures that tell you how wonderful everything is without really giving information? If you write “cool bar with great music” or “open-minded place for all kinds of cultural events”, that might be true, but nobody knows what you mean. What is cool? What kind of music? Can you give an example of past events? What’s the typical crowd?

It’s never easy to define a place, but nobody will go there anyway if you stick to the clichés.

Chemnitz

Esch-sur-Alzette

Nantes

USE-IT texts include details that can actually be ‘seen’ when somebody reads the text, or ‘heard’, ‘smelled’, ‘tasted’ or ‘felt’.

Ghent

Nijmegen

Graz

We do not make critical evaluations. It’s not about saying which place is good and which one sucks. Basically, if it sucks: don’t include it. Just give a clear description so that people who would like it will know. After all, who are you to decide? A metalhead expects something else from the city than a couple of lovers, who also expect something else than a group of five backpacking friends. Don’t give one- to five-star ratings, just inform clearly.

Esch-sur-Alzette

Tromso

Graz

Don’t forget to include practical tips and be detailed about them. Taking a train isn’t hard as a local, but as a traveller, it can be challenging. Give as much practical info as you can.

Chemnitz

Prague

Nijmegen

USE-IT conveys local history and the stories behind places. Invite a historian, a sociologist and an architect to join your team! Our maps are more than simple fun, it’s about the character of your city, which is always grounded in history. Do your research well!

Also, ask around. If you’re not gay, ask a gay friend. If you’re not into techno, ask a clubber. Etc.

Ghent

Warsaw

Prague

USE-IT writes in a young style for a young audience. Don’t write in hiphop slang, but don’t be too formal either.

Esch-sur-Alzette

Nantes

Warsaw

Keep in mind that the best joke is the one that is actually true. Stating a fun fact is better than inventing a silly joke. Also, don’t exaggerate. Is it really “gigantic”, “unbelievable” or “spectacular”? Really? These are words to use rarely. Before you know it, your text will sound like a tourist brochure.

Just write as if you were speaking to a friend and your texts will feel more real. And please take it easy on the exclamation marks. (!!!!!!!!). They usually make jokes less funny and make facts less surprising. Or worse: they make you sound like the marketing department. Oh and: no smilies or emojis please. You don’t need them.

Brussels

Tromso

Tillburg

USE-IT maps are updated every 18 months and include the talk-of-the-town. Which area is hipsterizing? Which bar burned down and started a crowdfunding campaign to rebuild? Many spots could never be described the same way on last year’s map or next year’s map.

Arhnem

Warsaw

Nantes

Article written by Marketa Beitlova and Stanislav Popelka, coordinated by the DIG-IT team

With the framework of DIG-IT project, we had the opportunity to get a very precise analysis from Stanislav Popelka and Marketa Beitlova, who are both cartographers at Czech universities. They led eye-tracking testings and made observational analysis, identified weaknesses and proposed easy tips to solve them, for more user-friendly maps.

Map load

Map load refers to the overall quantity of content elements shown on a map – including symbols, lines, areas, labels, and text. It indirectly reflects how detailed and how legible the map is. If the map load exceeds a certain threshold, the map becomes difficult to read, and its usability decreases, because users must work harder to separate important information from visual noise.

Map load is strongly influenced by:

• the number of symbols in the legend

• the number of labels

• the typographic choices (font size, type, and style)

It is also helpful to distinguish between graphic content (visual elements such as lines, areas, icons) and informative content (text, labels, descriptions), as both together determine how demanding the map is for the reader.

• Use colour wisely: choose calmer, lighter backgrounds in dense areas to avoid visual overload.

• Simplify where you can: reduce textures, avoid unnecessary detail, and limit the number of labels.

• Choose symbols that don’t shout: use simple, balanced icon styles rather than highly decorative ones.

• Accept what you can’t change: a dense medieval street network will always look busy—focus on the elements you can adjust.

The legend of a map indicates the meaning of the symbols it contains. It should follow a few principles:

• Clarity: the legend should be immediately understandable for any reader, even someone who is not used to reading maps. Each symbol and label must clearly communicate what it represents, without requiring the user to guess or repeatedly go back and forth between the map and the legend.

• Simplicity: Descriptions in the legend should be as brief and concise as possible. Use short names instead of long phrases, avoid redundant wording, and don’t introduce more categories than necessary; every extra line in the legend adds to the cognitive load.

• Independence: The composition of symbols and the overall structure of the legend should be logically independent and non-overlapping. Categories must be clearly distinguished; for example, you should not have both “Restaurant” and “Vegan restaurant” as separate main categories if the map already treats them as one type of place to eat. In that case, use a single general class (e.g., “Food & drink”) and express details in the label or description, not by multiplying symbols.

• Make symbols intuitive, not mysterious: Use shapes people already associate with a place, like cups for cafés, trees for parks, beds for accommodation. Avoid abstract icons that force users to guess.

• Keep similar things looking similar: use one basic icon family and small variations for subtypes. Do not colour two unrelated categories almost the same.

• Stick to one clear visual language: same symbol = same shape, colour, and size everywhere. No exceptions.

• Stick to one main font: use a single clear typeface (plus maybe one variant for emphasis) so the map doesn’t look chaotic.

• Reserve italics for water: label rivers, streams and lakes in italics so people instantly recognise hydrological features.

• Set a minimum text size: decide on the smallest point size that is still readable on paper and screen, and never go below it.

Colour use is one of the most distinctive features of USE-IT maps — but also a frequent source of confusion.

• Use colour as style, not as noise: decide what kind of “feel” the map should have (vintage, pop-art, seasonal, nature-based, mood-based) and build a limited palette around that. Avoid adding new colours ad-hoc for every idea.

• Prefer qualitative colours over quantitative scales: USE-IT maps are not thematic or statistical maps, they are categorical, focusing on types of places (food, nightlife, culture, parks, transport).

• Limit the number of strong colours: too many saturated colours overwhelm users. Keep 2–3 main accent colours for categories and use softer, lighter tones for backgrounds and dense city centres.

If you want to know more on who to improve your cartography, we recommend you to read this super detailed manual written within the framework of DIG-IT project:

Article written by the DIG-IT team

As you may already know, since 2025, USE-IT maps now have a digital version available. Cool to spread good tips, but it also means more work for you, your team… and your designer. Do not worry! We tried to make it as easy as possible. Here is a list of all the assets you need to ask them to create (or just export separately 🤫), and an estimation of how much more time it should take them and your team.

Super required elements

extra working time: 2H to create/export assets + 1H to upload everything

• Web-optimized cover & Web-obtimized full paper map Yes, you already needed them, but now more than ever, with proper size.

• Original sections For each section, you will need to upload the image of the section from the paper map version. So it basically means exporting selected extracts of the map (Act Like a Local, 5 min of History and everything else)

• Base layer of the map That’s the basemap without icons and numbering, BUT including main buildings and illustrations if you have some. To put it simply: all the non-clickable elements of the map.

• Category icons Plain icons (without numbering) in separate images.

• Color palette with hex-references

• Route images If your map has routes, you will need a separate image to upload, that will overlay the basemap. It’s basically a line on a transparent background. :) extra working time: +/- 30min per route to create, export & upload asset

• Font files The platform enables you to upload your own custom font for your online map. If you really want it, make sure to use a font that you would own the file of, meaning not a Google Font or an Adobe Font — those won’t work with our system unfortunately. extra working time: none, just anticipation :)

• Optimized sections and/or seperate illustrations As we said previously, you can upload sections as a cutout from your papermap. But you can also make an optimized version for vertical scrolling. extra working time: +/- 15min per illustration + 30min per section of layout OR +/- 1H per section + 5min to upload

For detailed technical needs, see next chapter:

The classic way to divide the actual map part of your paper map, is a zoom-in of the center on one side, and a zoom-out of the area around it on the other. But this is not the only way to do this! You are totally allowed to choose a divide that matches your city. Things you can think about are:

Ghent did this , making the map a kind of poster. They still zoomed in far enough to be able to put enough street names on there, to make sure the map is usable.

You can put the north part on one side, and the south part on the other, for example. Or make maps for two sides of a river, like did. This can give you the chance to go into detail and zoom in far enough to show places that are close together.

City by day/city by night, indoors/outdoors, or something else entirely! Like did, or in their second map.

You could connect certain parts of your map to each other by public transport lines. Like did some years ago, and like Rome is doing now!

Leuven once of the center on one side, and a drawing of a specific street with bars on the other. Think of the structure of your city. What can you do with it? What makes it special?

As a designer for a new USE-IT map, you have quite a lot of freedom. However, we do have some guidelines and helpful tips to get you started. In this document, you find everything you need to know about designing your own awesome city map.

Important as a start: even though we know many people use the Internet to get around, USE-IT maps should always be useful as stand-alone paper maps. So it is important to make it clear (as well as beautiful, of course).

About the size

Regular maps are 67,5 × 40,5cm (5 × 3 squares). Some maps may take this format vertically (3 × 5 squares). If you are a gigantic city, you may add a 6th row of squares horizontally. But this was very rare, usually 5 are enough: you need to make choices in your content! For smaller cities, only 4 squares wide may be enough, and that is also okay.

There are some fixed rules about the cover and the logo. Don’t forget to tell your designer!

• Name of the city in English

• "Free map"

• "For young travellers"

• "Made by locals"

And no other text!

24mm wide (white box included) 6mm from the edges

No other logos and info.

For the logo, you have two options:

Put all current USE-IT map covers in alphabetical order.

www.use-it.travel

USE-IT is tourist info for young people: made by locals, no nonsense and up-to-date. Want to be the first to know about our new maps? Follow us on Instagram @useitmaps. USE-IT has been showing you the local ways of European cities for more than twenty years now! You know us for our paper maps, but now, we have a brand new online content for you to enjoy. Make your trip even more no-nonsense, more local and way cooler. Check out !

Add the number of edition and the date of publication for archives.

It depends on your local funding authorities how you have to mention them. They may ask you to put their logo bigger, at least try to make everything balanced. Do not forget credits for your team, NGO, graphic designer and base map source.

You can add donation information, either from your local initiative or USE-IT Europe.

• Act like a local

• 5 minutes of history

• Practical info

• Where Next?

Read the Editorial style guide to know how to fill them.

It is advisable to not put any text on the folding of your map. If you do decide to do it, make sure it folds like a book, and not the other way around. You are totally welcome to be creative with this, but always keep in mind how people will eventually use your map. Also consider this when choosing the fonts and colours of your text.

For long-lasting initiatives, it’s good to keep in touch and give feedback to your sponsors, so that they see how you used the money they gave you. Because hey, you may need to knock their doors again to publish a new edition!

For a good, long-lasting relationship with your funders, here are some ideas (that are particularly efficient with local authorities for example):

with your printed map and some thanks for support from the team

to your release party!

about distribution and your NGO schedule: if you go to the USE-IT meeting for example, send them an email to explain what you have learned.

In addition, we wrote some strategic letters as template for you to give news from the network at the local level. Feel free to use them!

Article written by Mariette, our social media magician

Mapmakers, yes! Social media managers also.

You are doing great with your local tips. As you commit to make your local habits and favorite HQs shine, and your lifestyle known, appreciated and respected, let’s also share your recommendations to the crowd and promote your work behind the map: on SOCIAL NETWORKS! We are still hippies making free artsy maps, with alternative local tips and no-nonsense tourist information for young people, but we also need to go with the flow, and grow with our time.

People use USE-IT content when they get the paper map in their hands. People use USE-IT content when they browse our super website.

Spreading your content wider thanks to the Internet will make people discover it, use it (literally), and love it! The more, the merrier.

Our Bible: The USE-IT website

On use-it.travel/cities, you will have a dedicated city page that let people to know your work is in progress and/or ready to use. SEO ma(p)gic will attract people looking for travel advice in your city with our 2025 website version.

VISIT USE-IT.TRAVEL

Create your own website

It’s absolutely okay to have your own additional USE-IT-project related page on your NGO website. We have feedbacks, tutorials and several cool processes from the DIG-IT project to help you with that.

Screenshot from USE-IT Nantes – Association Salut Monde

Your teammates, your friends, your sponsors (to-be), students, expats and travellers arriving in your city… They are your first users. They are also your ambassadors sharing the maps. They are eager to get some more.

Workshop invitation, crowdfunding call, behind the scene teamwork, release party carrousel, map extracts, focus on spot, stories about your way of life in the city, prizes that you may won to make your project become real: storytelling is key when making a map (cf. the writing part), as for the social (media) management. This, both before printing AND during your map 18-months lifetime. No, your ‘work’ does not end with the release party. As you will spread your map in every corner of the city, you will also eventually make it shine BRIGHT. ;)

Here a quick review of the main social networks to get attention from your Europe lovers e-fans:

Facebook is so cancelled and full of old people BUT also overflows nowadays (!) with travellers, expats, young people looking for accommodations and travel tips in dedicated groups. So it’s still relevant to be there. Good news, we have a tip to be on Facebook while not being really on Facebook!

1. Create your Facebook page labelled “USE-IT yourcity”.

2. Follow the USE-IT page and the others from your country at least, ideally all the pages from “active cities”.

3. Pair your Facebook page with your Instagram account to only create/upload/share content on Instagram that will be automatically shared on Facebook. The only advantage of Meta…

4. Invite all your friends, people that come to your events, sponsors and official account from your city, local influencers maybe if relevant.

Instagram is definitely still the network for travels, food, culture (snap)shots with a wide range of people, influencers (hello, you are one) and businesses like your fav wine bar or the new pop-up queer space in town. To exist on this platform, even if again it is Meta related, is highly recommended.

1. Create your Instagram account on the basis @useit_city for the nickname, “USE-IT City” for the name.

2. Follow the @useitmaps page and all the others from the network on Instagram.

3. Pimp your bio text with the USE-IT manifesto among which a few suggestions: "Honest tourist info map about your city, made by locals / Free map of your city, made by young locals, not commercial and up-to-date / The best of tips to help you act like a local in your city / Your fav your city guide." — Mention your link to our network @useitmaps. — The release year when your map is out! — Links to your crowdfunding / your project page / your USE-IT city page / your playlist…

TikTok is full of young people, our main target tho, BUT it requires special content creation with mostly videos and trends to repeat. If you have someone good at it in your team, or eager to learn, that’s good, let’s have a trial! But it probably needs more than repeating the usual (and cringe) sponsored videos “we discovered this new restaurant”. We truly believe TikTok can be a cool place for creativity to expand the USE-IT vibe, but it definitely deserves a bit more work than the other platforms.

For what we know, not that many USE-IT teams are creating content there, so if you are willing to try it, give us feedbacks!

Plan B: you can create your video content on Instagram with reels edits and upload them on TikTok. It’s the Boomer version to be there without taking time here. ;)

Best feeds to get inspired:

→ → → → Cool instances from USE-IT network teams:

• USE-IT: network values focus to see what you’re up to, set the context!

• Team: we want to see who’s behind the map, why you love your city so much to commit into this project full of mappiness, what are your skills (artistic vibe, good writing, fastest bike runner…)!

• Project progress: to show your workshops and events (invitations and post-event photos/videos)!

• Money crawl

See you soon, online!

Guides on a wide range of topics as well as helpfull template documents have been established over the years.

As the goal of this USE-IT Wiki is to provide an overview of how to overcome the various challenges of a map making project, most of it's pages are based on previously established guides and other documents that cover these challenges in detail. Where the Wiki pages present mapmaking projects from a contemporary point-of-view, archived documents may explore specific topics more deeply and provide examples that could inspire your own project.

Article written by the DIG-IT team

In order to publish a digital version of your paper map, you’ll need to prepare a few graphical assets and upload them to dedicated sections of the map creator interface. These assets will later be used to display your digital map online. Below is a list of assets that need to be uploaded, divided into mandatory and optional ones.

Optimized map cover ^_(required)

Will be displayed on the website (e.g. cities subpage)

• .jpg or .jpg file

• max 500kb,

• 1:1 aspect ratio

• RGB color profile

• min 1000x1000px resolution

in Project & Organization → Your project

Will be displayed in the archives section of the use-it.travel website after membership runs out

• .jpg file

• max 10mb.

• no print marks

• RGB color profile

in Project & Organization → Your project

Print-ready version of your map

• .pdf file

• all necessary markings

• CMYK color profile

in Project & Organization → Your project

Will be used as a base layer for displaying your digital map. Multiple assets can be uploaded depending on number of map views on paper map

• .png or .jpg.

• max 15mb,

• resolution should be min 1000x1000px

• without any spots and routes, but with all public transit info, famous buildings icons as well as any stamps (POIs) that are not map spots.

Digital map module, when creating a new map tile

Category-specific icons that will be displayed as markers on the digital map

• .png or .jpg files

• max 500kb

• separate .png or .jpg files for every category icon

• RGB color profile

Separate assets for each content section (e.g. act like a local) that are 1:1 with how this section looks on the paper map. Are displayed alongside the responsive section or instead of it if not defined. Map user can open them from the city info menu and then by clicking “see original section” buton

• preferably .svg, but .jpgs (or .pngs if original section was with transparent background”

• resolution should be min 1000x1000px

• max 10mb

• RGB color profile

Asset that contains only the route line (path) and no background. Will be displayed on top of the base map after map user enables the display of a certain walk.

• .png with transparent background

• max 5mb

• RGB color profile

• should contain only the route path and transparent background and no walkrelated map spots

USE-IT Europe is an NGO based in France and is run by a Board of volunteers from USE-IT teams all over Europe. Their role is to protect the consistency and quality of our USE-IT label and keep the day-to-day of USE-IT running. They work from assignments made by the network every year during the General Assembly, build and coordinate partnerships, look for fundings, feed the social media, organize surveys on the city maps’ impact and they represent USE-IT on conferences and at European level. Co-Presidents approve the new maps before publishing and the Treasurers are responsible for the budget of the network.

The Editor-in-Chief is hired by the network to support teams in making their map. She is the first contact for people interested, organizes meetings with them, finds the good supporting people and give them feedback on the content of their maps.

Every year, the network of young teams gets together in one of the cities, where a General Assembly is held, new Board members are chosen and big decisions are made. On top of that, those weekends are great fun meeting each other, following workshops and strengthening the network together.

USE-IT Europe is also responsible for the maintenance of the website and the online platform unableing local local teams to create a digital version of their USE-IT map.

Some of the cities are working together as partners in several Erasmus+ projects.

You want to create not only an informative and helpful map, but also a beautiful piece to be proud of? Great! Here are a few tips to work smoothly with your designer and to make the best out of this collaboration.

_{WHAT DO YOU WANT? PREPARE A BRIEF}

Before even starting to look for a person to design your map, sit with your team to write your brief. A brief is a short project presentation (1 or 2 pages maximum) that has two purposes:

📋 put your ideas together and be clear on what you want 💡 give to your designer all the information they need to make a precise estimation of cost - and later create a map that fits your expectations.

To write this document, get inspired by the presentation you wrote to get fundings!

The brief should include:

👋 a short presentation of the map project, your team, the NGO and USE-IT 🎒 a few words on your target group (young travellers of course!) and your objectives ⌛ your constraints: schedule and budget (for graphic design AND print), USE-IT graphic standards (paper and digital) etc.

You can add a moodboard of inspirations, but for every image you add to this document, ask yourselves what you like on those images. Is it the illustration style? the font? the colours? Write down all those ideas and wishes.

You can also draw a draft of your map: what section should go where? What goes in the front and what goes at the back? How do you split the content? (full map on one side and text on the other? Zoom in / zoom out? North / south?) Of course your designer will later help you be more precise with this, but it’s good if you come with a rough idea.

This is definitely the hard part. There are different situations:

🖼️ Look closely at flyers and images that you like in your city. In general, the name of the illustrator is written on it. 👭 Look around you. You for sure have designer friends or relatives with great portfolios. 📣 Call for applications! Speak about the project, spread the message online and offline. You can use your social network if you already have a little community around your project. ☎️ Ask for an estimate of costs, try to meet or have a phone call: what’s their reaction to the project? Trust your first impression, human matching is important if you have to work with this person for a few months.

What to look at when you check a portfolio:

• Does the designer’s work match your moodboard?

• Did they work on similar projects before? (Designing a map OR designing a printed brochure OR designing about the city vibe…) It does not mean you should not hire them if not, but you can have an idea on their experience. USE-IT is a nice first professional project for young designers, and as juniors, they might be cheaper. But you have to bet on their skills on school and personal projects.

Remember, USE-IT is above all an informative tool. Keep it in mind in the all designing process. Before any kind of art style, it’s important to publish a map with legible text, a map with enough street names and a good hierarchy of the text.

They are willing to design the map? Great! They will have a good overview of the project objective, target, and the USE-IT standards. However, working with a friend can sometimes be tricky. From the start, and even if it’s a close friend, try to keep it professional: write a budget and contract, agree on deadlines and main design choices… And remember: never take design feedback and discussions personally. It’s about the map, not about the people.

Whoever you decide to work with, check the contract closely and make sure:

• that you understand how many draft versions and changes the designer will do

• that the copyright will enable you to use the illustrations as you want (for example make sure you are allowed to extract illustrations to use on socials and on the digital map).

A great result is not only about finding the good designer, it’s also about being a good client: giving proper information and feedback is the key!

🤝 Meet the designer (in person or have a phone call) to agree on the working process and deadlines. Explain all about USE-IT, your team, your map and its content. Yes, that’s repeating the brief, but better too much than not enough. Show your moodboard, discuss your map draft and stay open to their ideas as well. Leave them space for creativity, that’s what you’re hiring them for! 🧑‍🍳 Pick one person from the team to be responsible for being the ONLY contact with the designer, gathering all your team’s feedback. 📝 Prepare a clean, proofread final version of your text. Make sure you wrote all the addresses after the location texts in the same format for example. You can also prepare a Google map document with all your locations to help the designer visualize where all the places are and how to frame the map section. ℹ️ Share this wiki with them, in particular the sections listed bellow:

In general, your USE-IT map design will be split in two steps:

At this stage, the designer will define the visual atmosphere, the illustration style, the fonts and colors and the general layout of the map. They will also present trials for the cover (the number will depend on your budget). On your side, you will have to give feedback that may be very subjective. To make the best out of it, follow these advices:

🔑 avoid saying ‘I like’ or ‘I dislike’ without explanation: try to explain what makes you dislike a design choice. Is it about the atmosphere of the map? Is it about the user experience? Is it because it’s too different from your initial brief? 💬 stay open to discussion: try to understand why the designer made this choice/proposition. Of course you can disagree, but then think of the impact that a change may have — better than discovering a major change consequently to a little one. 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 build a trustful and respectful relationship: it’s not about people, it’s about design. This is particularly true if you are working with a friend.

The map will more and more look like a finished product. At this stage, here is what you should particularly look at: 🔎 always think of legibility: font size, colour contrast, text hierachy… 🗺️ make sure the map is usable: are there enough street names, illustrations of main buildings… Can someone actually use the map to walk around the city? 📍 how easy is it to find location numbers from the text to the map? Check the order of places on the map. (But the more you discuss this before starting the job, the better the designer will understand how important this is for you.) 👓 multiple-proofread: share the proofreading within your team to spot the last possible mistake: someone can focus on grammar and spelling, someone else on matching location numbers. 🕖 do not underestimate the time a little change takes: it may look tiny, but removing a comma can break an entire text block. Consequently, the more you group your feedback, the easiest and smoothest it gets between you and your designer.

Remember to ask the Editor-in-Chief to proofread before the contract ends! She will give you important feedback based on the network’s experience, and it’s important to implement them as well. :)

Some designers may ask you to pay for a deposit. It’s usually 20% of the total amount of the contract. You can try to negotiate to pay it at a certain time, it may work if you have a paper proving that you are going to get the funding later.

However, you should not pay the entire amount before the designer even started to work. Signing the contract should be enough. If the project does not go well, at least you will have to pay only the job done, not the entire quotation.

And if you work with a friend, try to avoid as much as possible the “strange requests” linked to the project. For example : asking to be paid to buy the computer or the software they are going to work on.

And of course, in case of doubt, ask the network, previous mapmakers probably have an answer to your question!

Every member of USE-IT Europe pays a membership fee of 1200€ before publishing the map. Of course, the people working on the map don’t pay this themselves, but include it in the budget for their map project. The membership fees are what keeps USE-IT Europe running, we carry the project together and make it possible that honest, no-nonsense tourist information reaches the people who want to get to know our beautiful cities. Even though the amount could seem a bit of a hurdle at first, remember that for municipalities or cultural organisations, this is not a number that sparks a lot of stress, usually. Below, we give some more information you can use to explain why we ask for this money.

Of course we want to be transparent about what we do with it. So here is an overview. If you have any questions, you can always contact the Editor-in-Chief or the Board.

💁 Pay the Editor-in-Chief to help you make the best map possible

This is the most important task, of course. The Editor-in-Chief is here to help you every step of the way, proofread all the text, give directions and keep up the quality of our publications.

On top of that, the Editor-in-Chief helps to keep the day-to-day of USE-IT running. She talks to other parties who want to work together, helps cities organise the annual meeting, does a lot of copywriting, and many more day-to-day tasks. We do this to keep someone attached to the network for a longer period of time and make sure we will always be able to offer a minimum baseline of quality.

From the fee of new cities, 60% goes to the Editor-in-Chief. For cities that have published a map before, 30% goes to the Editor-in-Chief.

🌐 Pay for the website

We have to pay for hosting, domain names, and other online tools to make sure our maps get the best online presence as possible.

Sometimes, we need to hire people to do a certain, specific tasks for us. For example: roll out the survey and analyse the results. Or write an application for European money. Or, in the future, fix specific parts on the website. With a bit of budget, we can hire people who are qualified and skilled and can get the best results.

We think it is really important that every year, people meet each other, follow workshops and get inspired by other members of the network. We try to save enough money to help a member city to organise a great meeting and maybe even hire some speakers or panel members from outside to give us insight.

Our organisation is based in France and sometimes we need to pay things like changes to the structure of it, or pay taxes, or things like that.

Sometimes, things happen. We need to send post, or we get the chance to send someone from the board to promote us at a tourism meeting and want to pay for a ticket. We save a small bit of money for things like this, so we never get in trouble.

_{Board members}

• Iga from USE-IT Warsaw / Olsztyn (PL) - (co-president)

• Mafalda from USE-IT Viterbo (IT) - co-president

• Hélène from USE-IT Nantes (FR) - co-treasurer

• Marina from USE-IT Lille / Tbilissi (FR/GE) - co-treasurer

• Iris from USE-IT Nijmegen (NL)

• Linnea from USE-IT Oulu (FI)

• Stefan from USE-IT Prague (CZ)

The illustrations of the website were created by Hélène Burel within the framework of the DIG-IT projet. They are the intelletual property of USE-IT Europe and Hélène Burel. You can use those images only for USE-IT related purposes (presentations, funding applications...). They should not be used on your USE-IT map design.

DIG-IT – or how to make USE-IT rock the Internet and app stores (again) – was an Erasmus+ grant landed for the USE-IT European network for 2023-2025. This 3-year-long project aimed at ensuring that the USE-IT network’s cool vibe and good values are not only paper but also (re)accessible digitally.

The DIG-IT project committed our European youth to create an online environment that suits our users, with cool features and 24/7 from everywhere screen access. DIG-IT results enabled us, serial map makers, to get an internal tool and info space with everything needed to create a map, our own local city website, to help interactions within our network and maintain ONLINE with sustainability.

The project was led by a team from Czech Republic, France, the Netherlands and Poland.

You are organising the annual meeting of the network? You are super motivated but don’t know where to start? Here is some concrete input from teams that previously organised the meeting. Joyce, Stefan and Mariette, who organised Esch 2023, Prague 2024 and Nantes 2025, share their learning points and tips. Do not waste energy, learn from their mistakes. 🙂

Team and logistics

• Avoid multiple documents in random folders, be organised from the beginning with one or two meta-documents with EVERYTHING: schedules, participants info, workshops, team responsibilities, to-do, budget etc.

• Define a reverse schedule for every single task related to the event. Give each task a deadline and someone responsible for it.

• Brainstorm ideas with your wider team to involve everyone and make them responsible. (Strolls, discovery activities, welcome pack surprises…)

• During the event, define clear responsibilities in your team: logistics leader, workshop tools, venues opening and closing etc. Spread mental load, you are not Shiva! And manage everyone’s energy to get enough rest.

• Book restaurants and catering ASAP. You’ll confirm the exact number of people and specific diets a week before.

• Define one or two safety persons: in best cases, they will be an emotional support. Their role is to make sure everybody feels safe in the big group or help with big interpersonal disagreements. In the worst cases, they can deal with violence cases, sexual assault or racist and LGBT+ aggression. No serious cases of violence happened in the network before, but it’s always better to know how to deal with this, so we highly recommend to take part in a training about these topics. The USE-IT board and Editor-in-Chief are also responsible to help and support in case of a problem.

• When building the schedule, remember a big group needs more time to move, pack, focus etc. Take it into account: announce a 15-minute break but consider 30 minutes, plan slow for group commuting etc. Have an official schedule, and an unofficial one with delays.

• Organise speed meetings and team building warm-up to build community feeling from the beginning.

• Include free time in the programme and enough breaks, and keep it a bit flexible for last-minute adjustments.

• Test your games! On paper it looks like 10 min, but in reality it often ends up taking half an hour.

• Be SUPER CLEAR about instructions on travel costs and reimbursement. Announce a lower amount than what the budget you really have, keep it secure. Try to make the travel budget fit the participants' needs: lower amounts for national travels, a bit more for those who come from the other side of Europe, and a better rate for those choosing green travel.

• Think well about what info you ask your guests, to avoid 1-to-1 emails with 50 people.

• Insist on professionalism: be on time, respect, it’s not only fun, but also work (especially if you have Erasmus+ funding).

• Do not take for granted that one icebreaker makes everybody know each other and is at ease with the others. Plan several team building activities and ice-breakers through the event.

• Everything is in good communication and little details to make people enjoy their stay.

• Put labels on food (what it is, allergies…), especially if you organise a catering buffet.

Organizing a meeting is really not an easy task, so do things within the energy you have: it’s okay to keep things simple ! :)

It may be stressful, but don’t forget to enjoy your time. Good luck with your preparation, and do not hesitate to contact the network and former organizers for more advice.

PEER-IT is an experimental program aiming at implementing a buddy-program to support the USE-IT youth initiatives in their map-making journey. We want to give everyone better access to the existing resources built during 20 years of experience, and facilitate peer-to-peer transmission between experienced map-makers and newcomers, to increase and strengthen the USE-IT community.

The project is supported by an Erasmus+ KA2 grant and lead by a team of 5 people from France, Finland and the Netherlands.

Projet in progress.

Those cappuccino-and-laptop places literally look the same all over the planet. Nobody needs a USE-IT map to recognise a hipster bagel store chain either, or a hamburger restaurant or frozen yogurt. Or the Eiffel Tower.

But what about the soul of your city?

What makes you different? What are the local habits and jokes? Which is the rich people’s football team and which is the other? What are the different neighbourhoods and how did they change over the years?

That’s what you never read in a tourist guide and that’s what travellers need us for.

Prague

Tilburg

Amsterdam

Local habits

Act Like a Local has become a trademark on every USE-IT map.

Some questions to inspire you:

• What are the stereotypes about your city? Are they true?

• What’s the one local dialect word I have to learn?

• How is your football team doing?

• How do I recognise if a restaurant is a tourist trap?

Some maps also include Eat Like a Local, Speak Like a Local, Drink Like a Local, How to Pick Up a Local because it summarizes our philosophy so well.

Modena

Ghent

Tilburg

Imagine: you’re walking through your city with a friend who’s visiting for the first time. You would probably explain how this neighbourhood used to be totally different when you were a kid, how this controversial new building got a funny nickname, how that clock has always been on the wrong hour, and how trams always try to kill you. Please find a way to include all of these stories on the USE-IT map! Just a few examples:

• Where are the road works this year and what are they for?

• Which statue is featured in a children’s song?

• Where is the most beautiful tree in town?

• Who are the most visible local graffiti artists?

USE-IT is different from tourist brochures that only speak about sightseeing. USE-IT is also different from trendy guides that only speak about eating, drinking and clubbing. We cannot repeat it enough: think about what makes your city unique.

USE-IT publications are made by young people for young people from 18-30. Travellers like advice from people like themselves, so USE-IT publications include portraits of young locals with a picture and their name and age. These people can give their very personal tip, and you can quote them quite literally. You can go as weird as you like in this category, because it’s them saying it anyway! Make sure they are mostly under 30 years old, unless there is a very good reason to include an old bugger. Also, try to make them speak as naturally as possible and look for a mix of characters. Not everybody should be a DJ or an architect.

Angers

Arhnem

Nijmegen

Yes

Just write about them from YOUR young and local point of view.

• How often do YOU (from Paris) visit the Notre Dame?

• Do YOU (from Brussels) make fun of Manneken Pis or do you really like him?

• How many times do YOU (from Berlin) visit Checkpoint Charlie in your lifetime?

• And do you visit it at school, with your boyfriend, or with your grandparents?

Brussels

No

This is impossible and people prefer a good selection instead of an encyclopedia.

50 spots is too little, 100 is too much. But how do you decide when there are so many great places in town? How can you kill your darlings? Some questions that you should ask yourself:

• Is it unique?

• Is it a national symbol?

• Does every local know it?

• Is it cheap and central?

If the answer to one or (preferably) more of these questions is yes, then you should probably pick it.

Oslo

Prague

Tilburg

USE-IT maps also include practical tourist info. Always keep a person in mind who has never been in your city before: will they really know the essential stuff? Think about your travels and the typical problems you encountered.

Don’t write whole stories here, just give the most important info. For example:

• How do I get from the airport(s) to the city centre?

• How much for a metro / bus / tram ticket and where can I buy it?

• What about late at night? Are there late metros and are taxis affordable?

• Can I easily walk everywhere or should I rent a bike?

Ghent

Tromso

Ostrava

• USE-IT always in capital letters

• Name of city with only one capital letter, in English (eg: USE-IT Florence, not USE-IT Firenze)

• As a website, you can mention cities/yourcity

• We work independently, and it’s usually better to stay “invisible”: keep personal credits to a minimum, so you don’t get too many personal mails from disappointed barkeepers

IN CASE OF DOUBT, ASK USE-IT EUROPE!

FOR MORE DESIGN GUIDELINES, READ :

USE-IT organised 3 surveys within the last 10 years to evaluate its impact at the European level. It also helps teams to get fundings.

Here is a selection of key insights and conclusions from the 2023-2024 survey. During 14 months of collecting data (june 23 - sept 2024), we collected 685 answers, and among them analysed the answer from 485 respondents aged under 35 years old.

Interesting data

• Did you find out new information thanks to the USE-IT map? — 98% answered YES!

• 75% of respondents associate USE-IT with authenticity, 67% with fun, 56% with community and 50% with honest.

• 38% found the maps in info centers, 38% at universities and in dormitories, 11% in centers for international students.

• Why paper maps over digital? — 61% answered better overview of the city structure and context, 47% answered it’s an art piece, 45% said I keep it as a souvenir and 43% answered I like text to be printed (more comfortable for the eyes).

YES!

• 23% stayed longer or are planning to stay longer in the city thanks to the USE-IT map, and 29% also visited other USE-IT cities.

• USE-IT maps can promote deeper local immersion: This directly addresses the promotional impact by showing that the maps encourage travelers to go beyond typical touristic zones. This leads to them spending more time and money in local, less crowded areas, benefiting those businesses.

• USE-IT can increase exploration: They inspire travelers to visit more cities within the USE-IT network, promoting those locations.

YES!

• 23% of travelers associated the maps with the words sustainability and 57% with community.

• USE-IT map can influence travellers’ choices: they view the map as a “friend” that encourages exploration beyond the city center, dispersing visitors and reducing overcrowding.

• USE-IT maps can promote confident walking: promoting walking reduces reliance on motorized transports, contributing to environmental sustainability.