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The New NC Equitable Foodshed Map is Amplifying Support for Farmers and Ranchers in North Carolina

Posted on May 6, 2025 by Chigo Ibeh

At Blue Raster, we are passionate about using GIS technology to create solutions that drive positive change. Blue Raster supported the Croatan Institute in their mission to empower underserved farmers and ranchers through the data updates and enhancements to the NC Equitable Foodshed Map.

The Croatan Institute is a nonprofit organization based in North Carolina dedicated to fostering economic and racial equity through research, policy advocacy, and direct engagement with communities. Their work focuses on creating pathways for sustainable development, specifically within underserved and marginalized communities in North Carolina.

This important project is part of the Racial Equity, Economics, Finance, and Sustainability (REEFS) program. The program provides support for farmers and ranchers in North Carolina, particularly those from historically disadvantaged communities, by helping them access critical technical assistance and financial resources. The NC Equitable Foodshed Map, a key tool in this initiative, serves as an essential resource for these farmers and ranchers to navigate the complexities of obtaining support.

Blue Raster’s Role in Supporting the NC Equitable Foodshed Map

Blue Raster was tasked with transitioning and enhancing the NC Equitable Foodshed Map, which was originally built using ArcGIS Web App Builder. The goal was to improve the user experience while preserving the map’s original functionality. A key element of our support for the Croatan Institute was transitioning the legacy application from ArcGIS Web App Builder to ArcGIS Experience Builder. The retirement of ArcGIS Web App Builder highlighted the need for a more advanced and flexible solution, making the transition to ArcGIS Experience Builder essential for enhancing the user experience and ensuring long-term sustainability of the tool. Blue Raster redesigned the map’s layout and functionalities, making it easier for farmers and ranchers to access the resources they need.

To enhance the NC Equitable Foodshed Map further, Blue Raster utilized ArcGIS Survey123 to create a feedback mechanism that allows users to share their experiences and provide valuable input. Blue Raster configured three surveys specifically designed to gather feedback from users about their interactions with USDA facilities and other services offered through the REEFS program. This feedback is essential for ensuring the map remains relevant and effective for its users. By directly collecting input from underserved farmers and ranchers, the Croatan Institute can make informed decisions about how to improve and expand the platform over time.

Additionally, Blue Raster configured ArcGIS Instant Apps with reviewer workflows for the REEFS program staff. This allowed administrators to review and manage survey responses easily. The reviewer application ensures that feedback can be tagged to specific organizations or services and prevents the submission of spam or irrelevant content.

The NC Equitable Foodshed Map and its integrated surveys are available in both English and Spanish, ensuring that language is not a barrier to accessing vital agricultural resources or sharing feedback. By offering bilingual functionality, the platform supports broader participation from diverse communities across North Carolina, helping to foster inclusivity and equity for underserved farmers and ranchers.

Empowering the REEFS Program with GIS Technology

Through this engagement, Blue Raster helped the Croatan Institute enhance the NC Equitable Foodshed Map to better serve underserved farmers and ranchers. This project supports the broader mission of the REEFS program, which works to advance racial equity and sustainability within the agricultural sector. With these tools in hand, the REEFS program staff can maintain and update the map as needed, ensuring that it remains a valuable resource for the communities it serves. By providing farmers and ranchers with the tools they need to access essential resources, the NC Equitable Foodshed Map plays a pivotal role in supporting the long-term success of underserved communities.

Connect with Blue Raster today to advance your GIS capabilities!

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51330

Promoting Tourism Development Strategy in Canada with GIS and Data-Driven Insights

Posted on April 11, 2025 by Chigo Ibeh

Destination Canada is the national marketing organization responsible for promoting Canada as a premier tourist destination. Their mission is to connect global travelers with Canada’s rich cultural experiences, natural beauty, and unique destinations. As a Canadian Crown Corporation, Destination Canada works in partnership with local tourism boards, provincial agencies, and industry stakeholders to drive sustainable growth across the country.

The organization’s focus goes beyond traditional marketing. By leveraging data-driven insights and sophisticated technologies, Destination Canada is continually enhancing the overall tourist experience, ensuring that both visitors and local communities benefit from increased economic activity and sustainable development.

Introducing the TourismScapes Application

At the heart of Destination Canada’s data strategy is TourismScapes, an interactive mapping tool designed to give users deep insights into the tourism landscape across Canada. The application enables stakeholders to search, filter, and profile communities based on various attributes, providing a comprehensive understanding of local business sectors.

This application empowers users to explore and assess key factors such as seasonality, employment, accommodation supply, and business mix, enabling a granular look at each community’s unique tourism ecosystem. By examining these key indicators, it offers valuable insights for strategic planning, helping local governments, business owners, and investors make informed decisions.

Additionally, the application provides users the ability to explore a community’s assets, such as arts and cultural facilities, parks, Indigenous businesses, and key investments. This level of detail helps stakeholders assess regional strengths and opportunities, ultimately promoting targeted and sustainable growth within the industry.

Blue Raster’s Strategic Support to Destination Canada

Blue Raster has played a key role in supporting Destination Canada by providing technical assistance and enhancements to its Data Collective team, who serve as the foundation for TourismScapes. Our collaboration has focused on helping refine the platform’s capabilities and ensuring it can scale to accommodate the growing volumes of data from various sources.

One of our primary areas of support have been in data engineering and improving user experience within the application. By assisting with the ongoing maintenance and enhancement of key data ingestion workflows in ArcGIS Data Pipelines, Blue Raster has helped facilitate the smooth ingestion of large datasets from Destination Canada’s Google Cloud Platform (GCP) into ArcGIS Online. This process allows for timely updates to data, ensuring stakeholders have access to the most current information without delays. The data pipeline helps keep the application responsive to the evolving needs of the Destination Canada’s continued data driven initiatives.

Additionally, Blue Raster has contributed to improving the user experience within the application, ensuring that stakeholders can easily visualize and interact with data through ArcGIS Experience Builder. Our expertise in geospatial technology and user-centered design has helped enhance the interface, making it more intuitive and allowing users to identify trends, explore regional insights, and perform scenario-based analyses with greater ease.

The Power of GIS in Advancing Tourism Initiatives

GIS plays a crucial role in driving Destination Canada’s initiatives by providing valuable spatial insights that help identify key assets, optimize resource allocation, and support data-driven decision-making to foster sustainable growth and enhance the visitor experience.

As strategic partners to Destination Canada, Blue Raster has provided ongoing support and enhancements to the application and its data driven backend. Our focus has been on optimizing existing workflows, such as integrating Google Cloud Platform data into ArcGIS Online through ArcGIS Data Pipelines, ensuring seamless and real-time data updates. We’ve also contributed to improving the user experience by enhancing interactive dashboards and maps within ArcGIS Experience Builder, making it easier for stakeholders to explore and analyze data.

The work Destination Canada is doing is vital to the future of Canada’s tourism sector. By collecting and analyzing comprehensive data, Destination Canada is better equipped to inform strategic decisions, drive investment, and support sustainable growth across the country.

Get empowered with GIS. Partner with Blue Raster to unlock the full potential of your data. Contact us today!

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62096

Utilizing Smart GIS Solutions to Drive California Recycling Mandates

Posted on April 7, 2025 by Chigo Ibeh

Smart Tools for California Recycling Reporting and Enforcement

In California, environmental responsibility is more than just a community value—it’s the law. With the passing of AB 341, AB 1826, and SB 1383, the state has implemented some of the most progressive and comprehensive recycling mandates in the nation. These laws require jurisdictions to ramp up recycling, organics diversion, and food waste reduction programs in an effort to combat climate change and reduce landfill waste.

Understanding California Recycling Laws: AB 341, AB 1826, and SB 1383

AB 341 sets the foundation by mandating commercial recycling for businesses and multi-family dwellings.
AB 1826 builds upon this by requiring organics recycling for businesses generating a specified amount of organic waste.
SB 1383, the most ambitious of the three, aims to reduce organic waste disposal by 75% by 2025 and recover at least 20% of edible food that would otherwise be sent to landfills.

To meet these mandates, local governments need more than just policy—they need powerful tools to manage, track, and report compliance across their communities. That’s where Blue Raster stepped in to support the County of San Mateo, California.

Building a Smart California Recycling Compliance System

Blue Raster partnered with the County of San Mateo’s Office of Sustainability to design and implement a customized digital solution that brings together the power of ArcGIS Online, Experience Builder, and Survey123.

To help San Mateo County track compliance across its unincorporated areas, Blue Raster developed a powerful, centralized GIS application using ArcGIS Experience Builder. Designed in collaboration with County staff, the solution connects directly to the County’s parcel data and organizes information on approximately 250 businesses and multi-family complexes, along with 2,500 residential accounts and five different haulers.

The application gives County staff the ability to visualize inspection data on interactive maps, monitor enforcement activities, and understand service coverage at a glance. The user-friendly dashboard allows staff to visualize inspections, track enforcement actions, and map hauler service routes bringing together all the moving pieces of the County’s compliance program in one intuitive platform.

Integrating Smart Forms and Streamlined Reporting

To manage the intake of waivers and exemption requests, Blue Raster implemented ArcGIS Survey123 forms that are easy to use in the field and on the web. These digital forms ensure that data is submitted in a consistent format and feeds directly into the main application for review, helping staff stay on top of updates without relying on disconnected spreadsheets or manual entry.

Behind the scenes, we created a cleaned and standardized dataset hosted in ArcGIS Online, supported by a carefully designed database schema. This structure allows the County to maintain and update its data efficiently, while also supporting calendar-year reporting requirements to CalRecycle. By aligning the system with California recycling reporting timelines, the County is now well-positioned to submit complete and accurate compliance reports each year.

How San Mateo County Tracks California Recycling Compliance with GIS

This solution is already making a difference. The County can now track and visualize inspections in real time, quickly identify non-compliant accounts, and make better decisions with integrated data and mapping tools. Staff have access to up-to-date information across all haulers and property types, enabling more proactive outreach and enforcement.

By reducing manual processes and centralizing compliance data, the County has improved both operational efficiency and data reliability—critical steps toward achieving California’s ambitious recycling goals.

Our Commitment to Using GIS for Good

Blue Raster uses the power of GIS to drive positive change, supporting sustainability initiatives and environmental compliance efforts across the country. We partner with government agencies, nonprofits, and private organizations to build innovative, data-driven solutions that address challenges like waste reduction, climate resilience, conservation, and resource management. Whether it’s tracking compliance with recycling mandates or mapping the impacts of climate change, our geospatial tools help clients make smarter decisions, meet regulatory goals, and create lasting impact for communities and the planet. At Blue Raster, we believe in using GIS for good—to inform, inspire, and advance a more sustainable future

Get empowered with GIS. Partner with Blue Raster to unlock the full potential of your data. Contact us today!

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36686

Supporting the 2024 AANHPI National Unity Summit

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Diane Trif

Blue Raster supported our client, the Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) during the 2024 AANHPI Unity Summit in Washington, D.C., focused on "Lifting Our Community Voices in Building Unity and Affecting Change." This event provided a vital platform for AANHPI (Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander) organizations to engage with policymakers and address pressing community issues such as immigration, civil rights, and racial discrimination.

Blue Raster's Commitment to Civic Engagement

During the summit, our colleague Mary Bracho presented on behalf of Blue Raster at both the White House and the U.S. Capitol, where she collaborated with community leaders and government officials to amplify AAPI voices. The two-day event brought together key figures, including Krystal Kaai from the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders, and Kota Mizutani, Senior Advisor at the White House, further highlighting the significance of unity in affecting change.

As part of the summit, Blue Raster collaborated with the Asian American Unity Coalition (AAUC) to support the launch and demonstration of the AAPI Partner Network application and the AAUC Hub site. Developed using ArcGIS Experience Builder, with key components built in ArcGIS Dashboards and Survey123, the AAPI Partner Network now boasts the most comprehensive and robust database of AAPI organizations. The platform empowers users to explore data, identify gaps in services and support, make informed decisions, and foster collaboration within the AAPI community.

The event featured panels addressing key community issues such as immigration, civil rights, and racial discrimination, with a focus on building unity across diverse ethnic groups. As our partners noted,

“Blue Raster's unwavering support and contribution played a pivotal role in the successful execution of our 2024 National AANHPI Unity Summit… expanding the reach of AAUC and furthering our mission to promote civic engagement among Asian Americans.”

Blue Raster’s partnership with AAUC extends beyond our support at the summit. We’ve been instrumental in the development of the AAPI Community Hub Project, which leverages our expertise in ArcGIS to provide community organizations with powerful tools to advocate for change and engage with lawmakers.

Our Commitment to GIS for Good

At Blue Raster, we believe in the power of GIS to drive positive social change. Our partnership with AAUC and our involvement in the 2024 AANHPI National Unity Summit are examples of how we utilize ArcGIS technology to help amplify voices that often go unheard. By providing the tools and resources necessary to elevate community concerns, we are proud to play a role in fostering unity and advocating for meaningful change.

As we look forward to future collaborations, we remain committed to leveraging our expertise for the greater good, working alongside organizations like AAUC to build a more inclusive and just society.

Stay connected with us for future updates on how we're partnering with organizations like AAUC to amplify voices and foster unity. Interested in learning how GIS can empower your organization? Contact us today to explore how we can help you make an impact!

Navigating the Future of Transportation with SEMCOG’s Multimodal Tool

Posted on July 23, 2024 by Diane Trif

In a world where transportation demands are continuously evolving, the competition for space on our roads has never been fiercer. Urban planners and transportation professionals face the challenge of accommodating diverse travel modes within limited right-of-way areas. Enter SEMCOG's Multimodal Tool, developed by Blue Raster in partnership with Fehr & Peers and the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments (SEMCOG). This innovative digital planning tool is transforming how communities plan, design, and evaluate complete streets for autos, freight, pedestrians, bikes, and transit.

Understanding the Multimodal Tool

The Multimodal Tool was designed with clear objectives in mind:

Address Growing Competition: It helps local communities manage the increasing competition between different travel modes for the limited space within the right-of-way.
Clarify Project Limitations: The tool assists users in understanding what is allowed for each project within different road jurisdictions.
Prioritize Modes Efficiently: It provides a framework for communities to collaborate with SEMCOG and the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) to prioritize travel modes on specific corridors or districts while adhering to operational standards.

With these goals, the tool supports county and local jurisdictions in Southeast Michigan, various stakeholders, community organizations, and staff from SEMCOG and MDOT. It can be used for state, county, and local roads within Southeast Michigan, promoting a balanced and inclusive approach to transportation planning.

The Four Steps of Using the Multimodal Tool

Step 1: Modal Network Viewer

The first step involves using the Modal Network Viewer. This feature allows users to:

View geospatial modal networks and tiers
Identify project corridors
Review modal priorities
Determine land use contexts

This comprehensive map view helps planners understand the existing transportation landscape and plan accordingly.

SEMCOG Multimodal Transportation Planning Tool

Map-centric landing page starts the project set up process

Step 2: Project Setup and Street Builder

Once a street segment is selected from the map, information stored in the GIS features is imported into the project set up panel. This information informs project set up and cross-section design to best accommodate the prioritized travel modes. The tool integrates Streetmix, an open-source technology that allows users to design their street cross-sections with ease. This step ensures that the design aligns with the specific land use context and serves all users effectively.

Project set up panel is populated with modal network information

Drag and Drop Components to Design a Complete Streets Cross Section

Step 3: Project Scoring

After designing the street cross-sections, the tool provides a level of service by mode, enabling users to evaluate how well the design meets the needs of all travelers. This scoring system is crucial for ensuring that the final design is not only functional but also equitable and efficient.

User's Inputs are Reflected in the Scoring and Cross Section Design Sections

Step 4: Share Your Project

The final step is sharing the constructed street segments with the wider team. Users can export their designs as printable PDFs or share them via a link. This feature fosters collaboration and ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page.

PDF Report of Scoring Summary based on User Input

Why This Tool Matters

The Multimodal Tool aids analysis and decision making around larger discussions covering economic development, livability, environmental sustainability, safety, and equity in local communities. By providing a structured approach to multimodal planning, the tool supports these broader goals and helps communities thrive.

Behind the Technology

The Multimodal Tool was built using cutting-edge technologies to ensure robust performance and usability:

ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript: An application development framework used to develop rich mapping and spatial analysis applications for web.
React and NodeJS: These technologies provide a seamless user interface and efficient back-end processing.
Streetmix: This open-source software allows users to construct detailed street segments.
PostgreSQL: Databases handle the complex data management required for GIS analysis and transportation planning.

Join the Future of Multimodal Planning

The demands on our roads are evolving, and so must our approach to transportation planning. By leveraging advanced technologies, GIS, and a collaborative framework, SEMCOG's Multimodal Tool offers a promising solution for the challenges facing today's transportation professionals.

Learn more about how the Multimodal Tool can transform your transportation planning efforts and sign up for a demo today!

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