Lesson 1
Recruiting Participants
The attendees of the participatory mapping process can vary depending on the context and purpose. In the PLANET4B project, the participatory mapping workshop was held with a closed group, the Graz (Austria) Learning Community which was made up of women with diverse ages and experiences. In other settings, workshops may be open to anyone with a connection to the mapping focus, such as residents, community organisations, businesses, local authorities, school groups, faith groups etc.. In such situations, including a broad and diverse range of voices is essential for making the mapping process inclusive, relevant, and impactful. Before embarking on a Community Mapping project, facilitators should reflect on the following:
- Communication and Purpose
Before beginning, carefully consider the realistic outcomes of a Community Mapping exercise. Do you have access of rights to the space being mapped? Is there a specific planning regulation you want to target? If the map can be routed to a practical task it will have a clearer purpose. Clear communication about the purpose, potential impact, and limitations of the project is essential to sustaining ethical, respectful, and effective collaboration. Transparency in realistic influence and outcomes of the method builds trust and helps to prevent disillusionment later in the process. - Checklist
Do you have the skills, resources and time to dedicate to this method – if not it might be worth considering a different method instead. Alternatively, if resources allow, consider partnering with a trained Participatory Mapping facilitator when running the method for the first time.
Recruiting Participants:
- Be present - Hold the mapping method in a location that people already visit and that relates to the project. For example, if the mapping relates to the future of a local park, promote the event with posters placed around the park and host the workshop there.
- Show Appreciation – If budget allows, cover participant expenses and offer refreshments. If permitted within your project’s ethical framework, offer financial payments or token in-kind gifts to participants by way of acknowledgement of their voluntary time and expertise contribution. Where direct payments are not feasible, offer alternative forms of recognition, such as free access to training, workshops, or events.
- Be part of a community - Explore opportunities to work with existing groups or networks. Engaging with an established community can increase trust, support continuity, and enhance the long-term impact of the process.
- Make it accessible - Provide support for different language needs, addressing digital literacy and access barriers, and offering technical assistance where needed. Provide childcare or family-friendly workshop options.
- Be creative - Use proactive and imaginative strategies to reach potential participants. This might include creating visually engaging, map-based posters, and social media campaigns.
In this video Sandra Karner explains explains what participants can gain from being part of a Community Mapping projects:
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Lesson 2
Roles and Responsibilities
The Role of Facilitators:
If you are facilitating the mapping ‘in house’ consider how the following are going to be covered; if this is something you are going to be contracting –in, then make sure the facilitator has the following skills:
- Creating an inclusive space: As mapping is a collective process, facilitators must ensure everyone can contribute and that differences are negotiated fairly. This involves setting clear ground rules, being alert to group dynamics, and using tools to manage conflict and support dialogue.
- Providing logistical and practical support: Facilitators are responsible for organising the practical aspects of the workshop: securing accessible venues, preparing materials (such as printed or hand-drawn maps, icons, and visual tools), and coordinating scheduling, refreshments, and transport if required.
- Sustaining engagement and supporting momentum: Mapping workshops are often just one part of a longer process of community engagement. Clarify what follow-up actions are planned, how participants will remain involved.
- Questioning and encouraging reflexivity: Facilitators can support participants in going beyond describing space and begin to interrogate the deeper social, political, and ecological dynamics at play. This means asking open-ended, reflective, and potentially justice-oriented questions, such as: Who decides what goes where? Whose history is visible or erased? What does biodiversity mean in this place? Through these questions participants link everyday experience to broader systems and possibilities for change.
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The Role of the Participants:
- Knowledge holders: Participants bring grounded knowledge of local environments, histories, and socioecological relationships. Their insights often reveal ecological, cultural, or social dimensions of place.
- Planners: Participants help imagine alternative futures. Through mapping, they articulate shared values, develop place-based visions, and explore possibilities for collective action and transformation.
- Advocates: Through the mapping process, participants may become enabled and inspired to continue to make change. They can use maps to assert rights, challenge dominant narratives, and influence decisions, particularly in contexts of land dispossession, environmental harm, or contested governance.
