In our last newsletter (September 2011) Com. Chair and Vice Chair asked all the members and interested colleagues to send their opinions, remarks, proposals about the competition and in special to send their proposals for the new theme of the competitions in 2013 and 2015. During the last three months we have received some emails containing interesting opinions related to specific aspects of the Competition rules and proposals to be considered during the selection of the new theme. Please, if somebody has any kind of proposal, send it to our emails address before December 23, 2011. In January 2012 we will analyze all the proposals and to send the new proposal for changes in the rules and the new theme of the competition as fast as it can be done. We are considering the participation of all the Commission members on the voting to select the new theme for 2013 and 2015. The idea is to organize, annunciate and finish the voting in January 2012. Beginning 2012 we will send an email with more information.

2. ICA Commission Chairs Meeting (Technical University Vienna, November 24-25, 2011)

Between November 24 and 25 was organized the first ICA Executive Committee - Commission Chairs meeting of this period at the Technical University of Vienna. The Commission on Cartography and Children was represented by the Commission Chair, Jesús Reyes (Hungary) and Vice President Sukendra Martha (Indonesia), Liaison of our Commission with the Executive Committee. During these two days all the participants had the opportunity to exchange opinions about tasks related to Commissions and to contact personally representatives from other Commissions in interest of developing closer relations during this period. Representatives of ICA Executive Committee had presentations about the Research Agenda, operational issues, publications, ICA website and plans for the period. A printed ICA Directory 2011-2015 was presented and distributed for all the participants in the meeting, containing information about ICA Statutes, Strategic Plan, Research Agenda, Operational Guidelines and a Reference Chapter containing updated data about Members, Commission Chairs, Terms of Reference, etc. This document can be downloaded (in pdf format) by all the interested colleagues from the ICA website .

3. 7th National Workshop on Cartography for Children and Pupils (Vitoria, Brazil, 26-28 October, 2011)

Finishing October, the Federal University of Espirito Santo in Vitoria (Brazil) was the venue of the VII National Workshop on Cartography for Children and Pupils, this year organized under the theme "Imagination and Innovation: Challenges for School Cartography". This is a biannual event and the first one was organized in 1995, as an initiative of the Brazilian Research Group on Geography and School Cartography (member of the National Council of Technological and Scientific Development of Brazil). Brazilian researchers and teachers are one of the largest and most active national communities working on the topic of Geography, School Cartography and Cartography for Children. This 7th Workshop counted with the participation of about 200 colleagues, who arrived from the more distant regions of the country, from Roraima to Rio Grande do Sul.

The purpose of this seventh edition of the Workshop was to promote reflection and discussion about the advances in the different lines of research in School Cartography in Brazil and to discuss strategic research plans for coming years. The event also provided exchange of results and experiences between researchers, representatives from Universities, Secondary and Elementary Schools, and the future colleagues represented by Bachelor, Master and PhD students.

ICA Commission on Cartography and Children was represented by Brazilian members and Commission Chair, who had the opportunity to convey the greetings from Commission members and to read the Letter of Salutation sent by Prof. Georg Gartner, President of ICA, during the Opening Ceremony.

The whole second day and the morning of the third day were dedicated to four parallel sessions with presentations and discussions on four main themes according to the tasks of specific Working Groups:

- Regional School Atlases
- Cartography for Pupils
- Technologies of Information and Communication in School Cartography
- Geography, Cartography and Education

Colleagues also participated in practical workshops organized at the end of the sessions, presenting projects developed by BSc, MSc and PhD students from different Brazilian universities. During the event participants had also the opportunity to visit the Exhibition dedicated to the Brazilian Competition on World Maps made by Children and to vote the best entries in each of the three age groups of the competition.

In the last afternoon of the event was organized a Final Debate, with the participation of Prof. Rosangela Doin de Almeida (Chair of Brazilian Research Group on Geography and School Cartography) and Prof. Jose Jesus Reyes Nunez (Chair of ICA Commission on Cartography and Children). The theme of this debate was "Cartography for Children and Pupils in Brazil: Panorama and Perspectives of Innovation", being presented the activities developed by our Commission during the last years and our plans for the next future, as well as the state of the art of Cartography for Children and Pupils in other countries today, remarking the contributions and challenges of the Brazilian scientific and teaching community on this field.

4. Invitation to participate in the 9th International Geography Olympiad (IGEO)

Following and widening the development of stronger links between our Commission and the IGU Commission on Geographical Education, all the visitors to our website can find and download the Official Letter of Invitation for the 9th International Geography Olympiad (iGeo), to be held in Cologne, Germany, from 21 August to 26 August 2012.

Applications to participate in this Olympiad can be sent by 21 January 2012. If you are interested or have questions, please visit the website of the event (www.geoolympiad.org) or contact the organizers: Dr. Dorothea Wiktorin (iGeo 2012 Organising Committee, d.wiktorin@uni-koeln.de) or Ms Kathryn Berg (Secretariat, International Geographical Union Olympiad Task Force, admin@rgsq.org.au)

5. Upcoming Conferences and meetings

- 4th International Conference On Cartography & GIS (18-22 June, 2012, Albena, Bulgaria)
The event includes the next topics: GIS Technologies and Related Disciplines, Cartography and GIS in Education, Internet Cartography and Digital Atlases, Planetary Cartography, Map Design and Production, Cartographic Visualization, Virtual Geographic Environment. GIS for City Traffic, GPS and Remote Sensing Technologies. During the event will be organized a Seminar on Early Warning and Disaster/Crisis Management too.
Commission on Cartography and Children plans to organize a Commission Meeting during this conference.
Deadline for Abstract Submission: 10 January, 2012
Website: http://www.cartography-gis.com/

- 7th ICA Workshop on Digital Approaches to Cartographic Heritage (19-20 April 2012, Barcelona, Spain)
Website: http://xeee.web.auth.gr/ICA-Heritage/2011_2015/BARCELONA_2012/index.htm

- Geospatial World Forum (23-27 April, 2012, Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
Website: http://www.geospatialworldforum.org/

- "Mercator Revisited - Cartography in the Age of Discovery" International Conference (25-28 April, 2012, Sint-Niklaas, Belgium)
Website: http://www.mercatorconference2012.be/

- 2nd ICA Regional Symposium on Cartography for Australasia and Oceania / GeoCart '2012 (29-31 August, 2012, Auckland, New Zealand)
Website: http://web.env.auckland.ac.nz/public/geocart2012/index.htm

6. Possible date for our next newsletter:

March 2012

José Jesús REYES NUÑEZ Chair Associate Professor Department of Cartography and Geoinformatics Eötvös Loránd University Pázmány Péter sétány 1/A, Budapest H-1117 Tel: +36 1 372 2975 Fax: +36 1 372 2951 jesus@ludens.elte.hu HUNGARY

Diah K. KRESNAWATI Vice Chair Cartographer,retired from: Center for Information and Services National Coordinating Agency for Surveys and Mapping (BAKOSURTANAL) Jl. Raya Jakarta - Bogor Km.46 Cibinong 16911 dkirana@bakosurtanal.go.id INDONESIA