Introducing the JCOIN Geospatial Consortium & Community of Practice (GCCP)

The new Geospatial Consortium & Community of Practice (GCCP) across the JCOIN Network is starting up and wants to connect with you! Learn more at https://gccp.healthyregions.org/.

What’s the GCCP?

The GCCP is a collaboration of researchers and practitioners that will meet regularly to share, discuss, and learn how geospatial methods, tools, and models can be used to build understanding and develop resources for the opioid epidemic. 

As part of the JCOIN Community, we will have a focus on justice populations, though we’ll be seeking how to measure and model communities across the U.S. To do that, we’ll be linking fields across epidemiology, medicine, criminology and criminal justice, law, GIScience, geography, data and information science, and more.

What can I expect in the GCCP?

We’ll have regular, virtual meetings to present and discuss the latest research and engage in technical workshops. At roundtable sessions, members can share resources, ask questions on their own research, and pose discussion topics for the wider community. Members will be able to add their project ideas and questions to the agenda prior to each roundtable, with sessions split between collaborative discussions and interactive sharing. 

We’re excited to launch this year with the following sessions:

  • October 2025. Technical Workshop on Intro to Spatial Data in R including basics of mapping, geocoding, and linking community data. (10/23 @9:30 CST, Register)
  • January 2025. Expert Panel on Conceptualizing Opioid Geographies, with a Roundtable Session to Follow.  
  • March 2026. Technical Workshop on Mastering Data Access in R including Census data wrangling, cross-walking data, and accessing the OEPS database. 
  • May 2026. Expert Panel on Geospatial Environments with Simulations & Agent-Based Modeling, with a Roundtable Session to Follow.  

The Geospatial Consortium & Community of Practice is open to the public. 

How to Sign Up

Learn more and sign up here: https://go.illinois.edu/JCOIN-GCCP.  Join the listserv and be the first to register for sessions when they go live! You can also promote discussions of your own data questions and issues. Sign up to learn more information on upcoming meetings; recommend a speaker, resource, or workshop (including your own); and suggest what you’d like to see at the GCCP.