International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, Vol XXXV, Part B6. Istanbul 2004
The Tomorrow’s World Roadshow reached a combined public
audience of over 140 000 people in Birmingham, Cardiff, Lon-
don and Glasgow. Other exhibitions have included the 2002-
2004 Geographical Association Conferences, the 2001 BA Fes-
tival of Science and the 2004 Mathematical Association Con-
ference.
2.3.0 Geomatics sector
The project would not have been possible without the generous
support of the UK geomatics sector. Over 40 organisations
from industry and academia have pulled together to support
and promote the profession. To encourage support, articles
have been published (e.g. Waddicor and Mills, 2002) and
presentations have been made (e.g. to the RICS, Annual Meet-
ing's of Teachers of Surveying, Hydrographic Society in Scot-
land, EPSRC, Comité de Liaison des Géométres Européens);.
The project was also exhibited at World of Geomatics in 2002,
2003 and 2004. This high level of promotion has resulted in
over 150 geomatics professionals becoming members of the
supporter's website; the acquisition of over £34 000 of funding
from the geomatics sector over the duration of the project; un-
quantifiable “in-kind” contributions, including the donation of
professional geomatics equipment from Leica Geosystems, and
free advertising and article space in school newsletters from
Ordnance Survey.
3. TEACHER AND PUPIL FEEDBACK
3.1 Statistical feedback
Feedback on the project has been received through a question-
naire, sent to all teachers who have borrowed equipment. This
has helped shape the project and aided decisions on where
funds were best spent. Example response rates to questions in-
cluded:
100% would borrow equipment from geomatics.org.uk again
and would recommend an equipment loan to a colleague.
91% felt the equipment borrowed had enhanced their field
work.
84% thought it was “less important” that all courier costs were
covered by geomatics.org.uk.
71% thought it was “important” that more equipment should
be purchased in order to increase availability.
3.2 Teacher feedback
As well as statistical feedback, the questionnaire includes
space for comments from the teachers. Reponses have in-
cluded:
“The students benefited greatly from this experience.”
“(We had) the best day’s fieldwork of the course. The students
thoroughly enjoyed it, produced some good results and learnt a
lot.”
“Thought this whole project was inspiring and service superb!”
“Many thanks for arranging the loan - our students have bene-
fited greatly from this opportunity.”
Teachers are also questioned following attendance at an
INSET event, with numerous comments received, including:
“A very enjoyable day with never a dull moment!”
“Excellent hands-on training, very well organised. What a re-
markably valuable service.”
“Really useful and very enjoyable, head and shoulders above
similar courses.”
“It’s been fantastic! I am completely sold on the whole pro-
ject.”
3.3 School pupil feedback
Finally, school pupils’ comments on attending the “Mapping
the World” Summer School have included:
“Geomatics is a combination of all my favourite subjects!”
“Very informative, practical topics are helpful and the people
are friendly”
“Informative and enjoyable - the way we were treated was ex-
ceptional!”
“Everybody has been really friendly and we have had an excel-
lent time. Hope to see you on the course in the future.”
4. CONCLUDING REMARKS
4.4 Summary
This paper has summarised the activity of an ongoing UK pro-
ject to raise the profile of geomatics. The project's overarching
aim is to provide all the information people need to learn about
geomatics and to promote the profession through raising
awareness. A key element of the site is the provision of exten-
sive teaching resources and equipment to help bring geomatics
into the classroom. It is anticipated that through raising aware-
ness of geomatics amongst teachers of geography, mathemat-
ics, physics and ICT, more school pupils will become aware of
geomatics and apply to study degree programmes at UK uni-
versities.
4.2 Future prospects
The future of the geomatics.org.uk project is secured until June
2006 following an award from the 2004 EPSRC Promoting
Public Awareness (PPA) scheme (see Mills et al., 2004). The
funding commenced in June 2004 and provides two years of
funds for a Junior Research Associate to run the project from
its base in Newcastle. Further funds and equipment have been
made available by collaborators on the new project. The new
phase of the project will focus on teachers and pupils of
mathematics, in addition to continuing the promotion of geo-
matics within geography.
4.3 Supporting the campaign
If you would like to support the geomatics.org.uk project, in
any way, please contact any of the authors of this paper. If you
are experiencing recruitment problems in your own country
why not point people in the direction of geomatics.org.uk, or
better still, setup a mirror site! Further details and up-to-date
news on this continuing project can be found in the member's
area of www.geomatics.org.uk. Register, it's free after all!
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The geomatics.org.uk programme has been funded by two En-
gineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC)
