Inspired by mutual aid, this crowdsourced digital map of Halifax shows which vacant properties could be turned into housing. How useful is that data?
Why It Matters
Crowdsourcing data from the community can take the onus away from local social purpose organizations to gather their own data. However, it also raises concerns about the quality and reliability of the data, and members of the community may not understand ethical issues that surround data collection, such as privacy, ownership and sensitivity.
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As of September 2022, nearly 700 people in Halifax โ the traditional lands of the Miโkmaq people โ were experiencing homelessness, according to the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia. That number has more than doubled since the year before. This was the context in which journalist Lorax B. Horne created
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