The Future is Collective Case Studies of Collective Social Innovation 2025

Collective action activities Capability Activities Building movementsCreating a shared narrative: MapBiomas creates a shared narrative that precise, timely and high- quality land use maps are feasible and freely available and should be done at a local level in each tropical country. This narrative creates passionate collaboration among co-creators and partners and high user satisfaction among the user base. Expanding the stakeholder base: MapBiomas expands the stakeholder base in two ways: 1) assembling a wide range of co-creators (scientists, civil society and tech start-ups) to produce land use maps; and 2) growing a wide user base (governments, public prosecutors, businesses, banks, scientists and media) who are able to freely access and use the maps. Organizing field-level convenings: MapBiomas organizes virtual and in-person releases of their annual maps, building a sense of anticipation and excitement about the data and the technology used to produce it. Celebrating impact: The MapBiomas Awards are given annually to recognize and promote projects that use MapBiomas data to bring innovative solutions to conservation, sustainable management and the fight against climate change. It is open to students, researchers, teachers, consultants, NGOs, professionals from private companies and public managers. Engaging media and journalists: The MapBiomas user base includes media outlets and journalists who are reporting on sustainable land management, conservation and climate change. Strengthening data systemsCreating shared definitions: MapBiomas co-creators have assembled over 30 categories of land cover and use, which is instrumental in creating time series land-use maps. These categories enable granular analysis and AI ML for categorization of satellite images over time. Developing shared metrics: MapBiomas is in the process of developing a robust monitoring and evaluation system which will assess the strength of the network and identify opportunities for improvement. Collecting, analysing and sharing data: MapBiomas’ platform uses publicly-available satellite imagery to collect high-resolution images of land cover and use over time. With AI tools, co- creators assemble and categorize these images. The result is highly detailed maps showing historical land use and changes over decades, covering every 30 by 30 metre area of the country. This makes it possible to produce several decades of maps in a single process. Influencing institutionsSupporting government data systems: The MapBiomas team trains government teams to use MapBiomas’ techniques and methods to improve government systems. In Bolivia, it leads to developing a government initiative for land cover and land use change monitoring. In Brazil, state governments are implementing systems to report environmental law enforcement. Augmenting government actions and effectiveness: A recent evaluation revealed that 43% of MapBiomas users are within government departments and agencies. A total of 21% of users also reported that their primary use of MapBiomas was for public sector policies. The level of action to fight illegal deforestation grew in government agencies from 5% to 42% of deforested area between 2019 and 2023 (2019 started the operation of MapBiomas Deforestation Alert System). Shifting standards and expectations: MapBiomas shows that it is possible to establish ambitious and continuous monitoring of land use with great detail and has helped to raise the bar on what is monitored and published by government institutions. The Future is Collective: Case Studies of Collective Social Innovation 29