Alexandra Bass has joined the MM team as a research assistant, as part of a summer paid internship programme funded by Canterbury Christ Church University. Alex has just completed her first year of a degree in Geography. She is bringing her enthusiasm for family history (which requires similar archival skills), as well as her background in geography, to the project.
Alex’s internship provides an opportunity to develop the Meaningful Maps project launched in 2018. It has generated over 500 maps from c.15 schools across the UK. This is a significant data set, which needs to be formally archived, managed and analysed. The data set represents a significant and rich research resource, which will also form the basis of an archive of children’s mapping.
Several articles and a paper have been produced from the early submission of maps and it is envisaged that the internship will provide the research work necessary for significant publications and development of links with other key organisations.

Alex is currently recording and classifying the maps and will help to develop a typology of key themes (e.g. nature elements). As a research assistant to the MM Project, the work will provide Alex with the opportunity to develop some aspect of children’s mapping as a research theme of her own.