Mapping the movements of war

During the pandemic, maps have played a crucial role in communicating a rapidly evolving situation at local, national and global scales to a wider audience. This has raised greater awareness of different cartographic methods of visualising geospatial data and their effectiveness. Similarly, the war in Ukraine has renewed our focus on how we map the movements associated with war, particularly the direction and magnitude of invading forces and the flow of refugees. The most significant ground offensive and humanitarian crisis in Europe since the Second World War has presented new cartographic challenges for data journalists and map users seeking to interpret these dynamic events. This talk will discuss the wider context of these challenges and examine how the symbology used for mapping the conflict in Ukraine has evolved to better articulate conditions on the ground. It will offer some insights into the approaches adopted by mapmakers today and evaluate their contribution within the broader historical and geographical context of mapping the movements of war.
Alex Kent (Canterbury) and James Cheshire (UCL)
BCS Conference 2022 - Talk 2