{"id":2953909,"date":"2026-02-10T03:00:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T11:00:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&p=2953909"},"modified":"2026-03-10T17:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T00:45:17","slug":"vote-for-your-favorite-2025-arcgis-storymaps-competition-finalist","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/announcements\/vote-for-your-favorite-2025-arcgis-storymaps-competition-finalist","title":{"rendered":"Our picks for the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition finalists are in. Vote for your favorite story!"},"author":9422,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[37101],"tags":[398132,40161,27881],"industry":[],"product":[36581,380802,36611],"class_list":["post-2953909","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-announcements","tag-arcgis-storymaps","tag-living-atlas-of-the-world","tag-storytelling","product-arcgis-living-atlas","product-arcgis-storymaps","product-story-maps"],"acf":{"short_description":"Meet the finalists of Esri's 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition.\u00a0 Then cast a vote for your favorite story.","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

From lunch programs to green cities to biodiversity, individuals and organizations worldwide tell place-based stories about local communities, challenges, and innovative solutions\u2014with common threads across <\/span>our people<\/em><\/span>, <\/span>the infrastructure we build<\/em><\/span>, and <\/span>the impacts on the natural world and environment.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

From September 10 to December 12, 2025, we challenged you and storytellers globally to to elevate the challenges, and solutions, that mean the most.<\/p>\n

And you delivered!<\/p>\n

Over 450 storytellers<\/strong> from 55 countries<\/strong> submitted stories in 14 languages<\/strong> to the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition<\/a>.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","author_name":"Ross Donihue","author_profession_organization":"ArcGIS Storytelling Team Lead","image":{"ID":382132,"id":382132,"title":"Ross Donihue","filename":"Ross-Donihue.jpg","filesize":82224,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/announcements\/vote-for-your-favorite-2024-arcgis-storymaps-competition-finalist\/ross-donihue","alt":"","author":"8672","description":"","caption":"","name":"ross-donihue","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2564552,"date":"2018-12-14 20:56:49","modified":"2025-02-12 13:45:27","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":900,"height":1200,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-225x300.jpg","medium-width":196,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-768x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-768x1024.jpg","large-width":768,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue.jpg","1536x1536-width":900,"1536x1536-height":1200,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue.jpg","2048x2048-width":900,"2048x2048-height":1200,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-349x465.jpg","card_image-width":349,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Ross-Donihue-810x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":810,"wide_image-height":1080}},"text":"We are thrilled by the submissions we received for the 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition. These selected finalists represent an outstanding subset of our global community\u2019s work, celebrating the power of geospatial storytelling. Together, they inspire, educate, and inform by highlighting meaningful work underway in communities around the world."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2955680,"id":2955680,"title":"Animated-Social-Finalists","filename":"Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","filesize":14760291,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/announcements\/vote-for-your-favorite-2025-arcgis-storymaps-competition-finalist\/animated-social-finalists","alt":"An animated collage with the title 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition and rotating photos from the competition finalist stories","author":"9422","description":"","caption":"Access our shareable collection of finalist stories.","name":"animated-social-finalists","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2953909,"date":"2026-02-09 04:11:34","modified":"2026-02-09 04:16:41","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":720,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","medium-width":261,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","medium_large-width":720,"medium_large-height":720,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","large-width":720,"large-height":720,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","1536x1536-width":720,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","2048x2048-width":720,"2048x2048-height":720,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists-465x465.gif","card_image-width":465,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Animated-Social-Finalists.gif","wide_image-width":720,"wide_image-height":720}},"image_position":"right","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/collections\/b28f6c8ee03142d482a0343c7f239eed"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Thank you to our many competition entrants, whether you\u2019re recognized as a finalist here or not. We appreciate you and your good work.<\/span><\/p>\n

Composing a geospatial story is no small feat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The art of bringing together a narrative, maps, and multimedia to\u00a0create a dynamic\u2014and digestible\u2014reading\u00a0experience requires\u00a0significant effort. And\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0why, each year, we continue to\u00a0be blown away by\u00a0our\u00a0community and your growing skills in the art of geospatial storytelling.<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2025 ArcGIS StoryMaps Competition strove to further magnify the\u00a0<\/span>geographic approach<\/em><\/span>\u00a0by partnering with ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World, deepening\u00a0the challenge to\u00a0tell a story with the\u00a0<\/span>science of where<\/em><\/span> at its core.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Read the stories that stood out among the three competition categories: Environment<\/strong>, People<\/strong>, and Infrastructure<\/strong>. Then\u00a0cast a vote for your favorite<\/a>. (The public voting period is now closed.)<\/span><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":2937432,"id":2937432,"title":"separator-opening-2025","filename":"separator-opening-2025.png","filesize":88738,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025.png","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-storymaps\/announcements\/show-us-your-geospatial-storytelling-skills\/separator-opening-2025","alt":"Three hexbins in a horizontal row filled with Living Atlas map images","author":"9422","description":"","caption":"","name":"separator-opening-2025","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":2922302,"date":"2025-08-27 09:04:35","modified":"2025-08-27 09:05:02","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/png","type":"image","subtype":"png","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1952,"height":237,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025-213x200.png","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025.png","medium-width":464,"medium-height":56,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025.png","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":93,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025.png","large-width":1920,"large-height":233,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025-1536x186.png","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":186,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025.png","2048x2048-width":1952,"2048x2048-height":237,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025-826x100.png","card_image-width":826,"card_image-height":100,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/08\/separator-opening-2025-1920x233.png","wide_image-width":1920,"wide_image-height":233}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"blockquote","content":"

Research has the greatest impact when it is communicated clearly and thoughtfully, especially across platforms and communities that reach people of all ages, backgrounds, and levels of scientific familiarity. Using Esri\u2019s storytelling tools, we are excited to present a shark narrative that is accessible, engaging, and rooted in real research, inviting audiences to learn how shark science is conducted and why it matters.<\/p>\n

\u2014From the authors of Sharks in the Graveyard, Environment finalist<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

ENVIRONMENT<\/strong><\/h5>\n

Professional track<\/em><\/p>\n