Mapathon at FLCM: Students Helped Map Areas in Chad
24. October 2025On October 20, 2025, the Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management hosted the second Mapathon of the academic year, organized in collaboration with Doctors Without Borders. Under the guidance of RNDr. Jakub Trojan, MSc, Ph.D., and Bc. Tereza Srnečková, students engaged in a volunteer activity with a real-world impact — helping people on the other side of the world.
This time, participants focused on mapping the Twic County region in Chad. Using satellite imagery, they identified residential areas and determined whether they were villages or settlements. The resulting data are crucial for humanitarian organizations, enabling them to plan their field operations more effectively.
Chad is among the poorest countries in the world, struggling with internal conflicts, food shortages, and recurring diseases. In 2024 alone, Doctors Without Borders provided assistance to over 700,000 refugees from neighboring Sudan. Climate change further worsens the situation — reduced agricultural productivity and humid conditions create ideal environments for malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Accurate mapping is therefore vital for planning humanitarian interventions.
During the two-hour mapathon, 20 participants from FLCM managed to cover 85% of the target area, successfully mapping 44.51 km² of residential zones. The data will now undergo validation and will subsequently be used for planning and coordinating humanitarian operations in Chad.
The event received very positive feedback. Students not only gained new insights into humanitarian cartography but also experienced how modern technology and volunteer efforts can help save lives — even from the comfort of their own faculty.