Institute of Cartopology

Institute of Cartopology

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Gemmenicherweg 36
Vaals
To the website
The Institute of Cartopology is a place where you become wiser about-and through-maps. Take part in research, attend a workshop or enjoy a coffee and the map library! The Institute of Cartopology is located in a mountain hut halfway up the Vaalserberg, at 246+NAP.

Why an institute for and about maps? 
Many challenges of the twenty-first century have a spatial dimension. Climate change, housing shortages and migration crises. 

Maps are constantly being used to better understand these spatial challenges and to discover (finally!) that these complex challenges deserve a multifaceted approach. 

Maps cannot be left behind. If they are to remain a window on the outside world and its challenges, they will have to better reflect its complexity.

Why halfway up Mount Vaals?
Mountain peaks attract many people. But not cartologists. They focus on mountain flanks. Where tectonic plates rub against each other. Where experts and enthusiasts meet on the way to the summit. Where the forest meets the tree line. 

Where life takes place in all its diversity. The Institute of Cartopology is located halfway up Mount Vaals, the highest mountain in the Netherlands, at NAP+246.

For the Institute of Cartopology, the mountain is both reality and a metaphor. Like the 'Capanna Regina Margherita' in the Italian Alps, the Institute of Cartopology is a research institute, visitor centre and tourist destination. 

Find out more about expeditions, the refuge, the Marie Paradis workshop and café Aon d'n Hujel.
→ Plan your itinerary

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