The article on the OpenStreetMap Wiki describes it well and in-depth, but effectively, HOT’s goal is to use OpenStreetMap to map underserved, developing areas that are most vulnerable to disasters, climate change, public health crises, displacement, and gender inequality (the “five core impact areas” they work in). They coordinate with organizations like the UN FAO to not only rapidly respond to crises but to map for them in advance.

They were launched after OpenStreetMap data famously helped with humanitarian relief during the 2010 Haiti earthquake. And they set out a list of ongoing projects that anyone can help with. For each one, they provide a difficulty level, a priority, what imagery is available, and how many total contributors there are. For more details, each one has a description and then a list of instructions if you decide to engage.

This is not, to be clear, a formal thing you have to sign up with separately from OSM.* The idea is to log in with an OpenStreetMap account, read the instructions for the project (which is reasonable; they’re succinct and critical to not polluting the dataset), and contribute. (There’s a prompt asking you to update your email, but you can just click ‘Update’ on the blank field. lol)

If you want more freeform editing (i.e. not being restricted to a specific task), it’s still possible to use an OpenStreetMap editor like iD (or JOSM for the power user) and contribute what you can in that area.

If you’re new to OpenStreetMap and think this could be a jumping-off point, a crucial bit of pregaming is to read the article on good practice, especially if you’re mapping an area you’ve never physically been to and can’t visit. It takes about five minutes and will save you a bunch of time pacing back through a swamp of your own initial mistakes if you find it satisfying enough to start contributing regularly. (Source: learned the hard way that two hours of fucking around can save you five minutes of reading the manual).

Why YSK: OpenStreetMap is used all the time for humanitarian work. You’re doing a small but genuinely meaningful form of activism when you help that mission, and this provides scaffolding around that. For a bit more information on OSM’s role in humanitarian aid, this open-access book chapter has a short section going over some examples from 2010 to c. 2017.

You might think “eh, well proprietary maps already have it figured out”, but a) that doesn’t help much when you need offline maps for humanitarian relief, and b) that isn’t necessarily true. Proprietary commercial apps generally rely heavily on automation, and they’re therefore often neglected in developing regions. As an illustrative example of how bad this can be, earlier this year as Israel was invading Lebanon, a conspiracy theory cropped up stating that Apple had gone through and mass-deleted cities, POIs, etc. from Lebanon in order to facilitate cultural erasure for Israel’s invasion. In reality, the city of Tyre (in the south, absolutely devastated by Israel’s invasion by this point) was still present on the map and was misspelled as “Tyr”, and Reddit posts going back years before Israel invaded complained of being unable to use Apple Maps for even basic vehicle navigation around Beirut. That is, Apple Maps’ baseline coverage of Lebanon in 2026 was so impossibly shitty that people could believe Apple forged a backroom deal with Israel to literally wipe Lebanon off the map. That’s how bad it can get.

I also think OSM is very fulfilling, encouraging you to explore new places and see infrastructure in a more mindful, attentive way. If you have that same kind of Cities: Skylines and RollerCoaster Tycoon autism that I have or enjoy watching people like Practical Engineering, this scratches that itch pretty closely.

* In order to verify data for HOT, you do have to apply to be a verifier, so you will be initially gatekept from some tasks.