Participatory Mapping

Wondering how, post COVID-19, people around you perceive their environment? Do you know whereabouts in your neighbourhood people might feel anxious? How could aspects of the neighbourhood be changed so they feel safer?

One way to explore these questions is to visually map how people are experiencing the world around them. We call this research method ‘participatory mapping’.

How to do Participatory Mapping

Let’s say you have collected a group of community members from your neighbourhood. You would now ask them to draw a map of all the places that are significant to them. Depending on what you’re researching, this map could be a physical space, such as a neighbourhood, school environment, or a migrant journey, or could even be the human body. Then, you would invite participants to mark this map with symbols, colours or words that reflect their feelings, memories and lived experiences of the chosen location.

Example A: Edinburgh Shoreline Project

The map you can see below was the result of a participatory mapping event. Researchers invited communities who lived by the Edinburgh coast to chart “what … [they] like about the coast, what they might change, as well as their memories and hopes for the future” (Johnson 2018).

Different Types of Participatory Mapping

Spatial Mapping: Participants mark physical locations that evoke emotions or memories. For instance, they might pinpoint places on a map where they feel stressed or safe. As the researcher, you can then see the patterns of emotions that are experienced in certain places.

Example B: Spatial Mapping in Raleigh. Researchers “asked visitors to tag a spot on a map of Raleigh and its surrounding areas with a memory of a space, place or event that had special meaning to them” (Tania 2015).

Body Mapping: Participants use their own body outlines to show where they feel physical or emotional sensations. This is a useful approach if you want to understand more internal and personal lived experiences.

Example C: Body Mapping in a Before-and-After Study

These are the body maps of an adolescent girl (Kozlowska 2017). The left image (a) was drawn before a therapy session and the right image (b) was drawn after.

Other Examples of Participatory Mapping: There are many more types of participatory mapping we can do. To give you a taste, here are three other examples:

• Gendered Mapping: An example of this would be where women map out areas where they feel safe or unsafe at different times of day
• Cultural Mapping: An example of this would be where residents map cultural resources like art centres, community centres and historical sites
• Migration Mapping: An example of this would be where migrants mark their journeys on a map, sharing experiences of border crossings, safe havens and challenges faced

Summary

Participatory mapping is an inclusive, collaborative research method that gives insight into how people perceive and connect with their environment. By working together with participants, you can understand the relationship between spaces, emotions and the body in a way you may not have been able to otherwise.

To learn more about participatory mapping, please see the resources below.

(Author: Julia Mathews)

Videos:

Blogs:

Participatory mapping as a social digital tool by María de los Ángeles Briones (n.d.)

This blog post uses 14 different examples to explore what participatory mapping is. It is a helpful resource if you have questions such as: what are the goals of participatory mapping? What are the different methods used?

(Academic reference: Briones, M. A. (n.d.). Participatory mapping as a social digital tool. Social Life. http://www.social-life.co/blog/post/mapping_social_tool/)

Articles:

A pilot study assessing art therapy as a mental health intervention for subfertile women by Edward G Hughes and Alicia Mann de Silva (2011)

This article introduces you to body mapping by exploring a research project on reproductive health. Particularly insightful are Figure 1 and Figure 4. They show how body mapping can be used in research. Figure 1 is an image created from body mapping, while Figure 4 is an image created from hand mapping.

(Academic reference: Hughes, E. G. & Silva, A. M. (2011). A pilot study assessing art therapy as a mental health intervention for subfertile women. Human Reproduction, 26(3), 611-5. https://doi.org/10.1093/humrep/deq385)

Books:

Handbook of Communication for Development and Social Change by Logan Cochrane and Jon Corbett (2020)

This chapter titled Participatory Mapping explores participatory mapping and its use around the globe. The authors explore its impacts, limits and potential for positive social change.

(Academic reference: Cochrane, L., & Corbett, J. (2020). Participatory Mapping. In Servas, J. (Ed.), Handbook of communication for development and social change (pp.705-713). Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7035-8_6-1)

Manuals and Guides:

Participatory mapping by Deborah Ralls and Laura Pottinger (2011)

This is a useful guide to participatory mapping. It first explains why you might want to choose participatory mapping as a research method. Then, it provides a step-by-step process for doing it. The guide includes an example of this process, explaining the choices made for each step.

(Ralls, D., & Pottinger, L. (2021). Participatory Mapping. In A. Barron, A. L. Browne, U. Ehgartner, S. M. Hall, L. Pottinger, & J. Ritson (Eds.), Methods for Change: Impactful social science methodologies for 21st century problems (pp. 68–76). ASPECT / The University of Manchester. https://aspect.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Deborah-Ralls-A4-Guide-2.pdf)

Good practices in participatory mapping by Jon Corbett (2009)

This is an in-depth guide to participatory mapping. It explains what participatory mapping is and the pros and cons of the different ways it is used, such as maps, 3D models and on the internet. The guide also talks about what makes a participatory mapping project successful.

(Academic reference: Corbett, J. (2009). Good practices in participatory mapping. International Fund for Agricultural Development. https://www.ifad.org/documents/38714170/39144386/PM_web.pdf/7c1eda69-8205-4c31-8912-3c25d6f90055)

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