Participatory Methods

Inspired by the Rapid Rural Appraisal and Participatory learning and Action approaches used in Southern countries as a tool for community intervention, mapping has been used as a visual participatory research method in Northern countries since the 1990s.

Context of use

While several disciplines, such as social geography, anthropology, education and public health, have applied this research method, there is wide variation in its use, which can serve intervention and/or research objectives. Mapping can be used to: capture mobility, representing who goes where, why and how often; describe a territory, its resources, its characteristics; explore a particular social issue, identify power relations (access rules, explicit and implicit boundaries, private and collective property, etc.), and highlight inequalities in freedom, wealth, empowerment, and rights.

Text by Sophie Dupéré, Lucie Gélineau and Julie Richard

Process of the method

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Context of use

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How to proceed

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Derived Benefits

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To find out more

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Context of use

It is used to better capture lived experience or as a visual means to open dialogue and initiate critical discussion and reflection with marginalized individuals or groups. It aims to capture experiences at different levels beyond what can be generated by a verbal discussion. It has been successfully implemented by two research collectives in Quebec that wanted to support stakeholders in developing more appropriate interventions. In a first project, the aim was to deepen understanding, AVEC[1] people living in poverty and socially excluded, of food access strategies (including the [non-]use of food aid services) by highlighting structural factors. The second focused on the perceptions and representations that young people of Charlevoix between the ages of 12 and 17 had about their territory and its recent transformations.

[1] ‘AVEC’ refers to the core concern of thinking, deciding and acting WITH people experiencing poverty in the fight against poverty and social exclusion. The expertise derived from the experience of poverty is merged with that of the practitioners and researchers who are also involved in the fight against poverty and exclusion, not to validate, but to bring a new understanding of the dynamics at work (Dufour and Gélineau, 2012; Gélineau, Dufour, and Bélisle, 2012).

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How to proceed

The maps can be made in several ways. The process of creating the maps can also be done in a participatory way, i.e. each of the steps can be discussed with the participants. Here are the basic steps that can serve as inspiration:

  • Prepare a surface of white paperboard pieces, to either hang on the wall or lay out on a large table;
  • Make sure that each participant has a pencil at their disposal. At this step, you can decide who will be the draftsperson. Make sure that this person will be able to accurately represent the symbolic ideas expressed by each of the participants;
  • Ask the questions to which you want answers and illustrate the participants’ answers while preserving the discussion and exchange. The map can be used to address more sensitive topics;
  • To save time and to reduce hesitation or even frustration during the map-making process, it is possible to decide on certain symbols in advance and to propose tools. This will also encourage participants to speak out and respect each other’s views;
  • At the end of the process, ensure that all the elements important to the participants are on the map and verify with them that nothing is missing that should have been expressed.
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Derived Benefits

By creating visual and narrative data and exploring social problems and solutions based on participants’ own questions, the maps tell stories that are inseparable from the political and cultural contexts in which they are created. Researchers who have used this method in qualitative interviews have reported that it allows people to express themselves on sensitive subjects that are difficult to translate into words. Collective interviews make it possible to gather experiences and raise awareness that will mobilize change. In the same way, this method can serve the process of knowledge production by creating meaningful spaces to counter inequities in identity (words and experiences not recognized as a result of belonging to a given marginalized group) and hermeneutics (marginalized groups that are denied access to conceptualization tools that allow them to understand their reality). More than just enabling the description of sociospatial practices and experiences, it also enables theorizing.

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To find out more

Aronson, R. E., Wallis, A. B., O’Campo, P. J., & Schafer, P. (2007). Neighborhood mapping and evaluation: a methodology for participatory community health initiatives. Maternal and child health journal11(4), 373-383.

Brown MP. Risk mapping as a tool for community based participatory research and organizing. In: Minkler M, Wallerstein N, editors. Community-based participatory research for health. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass; 2003, p. 446–450.

Cartographie participative et bonne spratiques de la FIDA http://www.iapad.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/ifad_cartographie_participative_et_bonnes_pratiques.pdf

Chambers, R. (2006). Overview: Mapping for Change: The emergence of a new practice.

Chambers, R. (2006). Participatory mapping and geographic information systems: whose map? Who is empowered and who disempowered? Who gains and who loses?. The Electronic Journal of Information Systems in Developing Countries25(1), 1-11.

Collectif CADJ (2015). Richard, J., Lessard, C., Tremblay, L.-F., Dufour, É., Kègle, R., Viel-Patry, M., Latulippe, K., Tremblay, N., Cloutier, J., Fortin, C., Thibault, M.-N., Boilard, A., Horvath, K., Gélineau, L., Hyppolite, S.-R. and Dupéré, S. Quand les jeunes prennent la parole : Recherche-action participative avec des jeunes de Charlevoix âgés entre 12 et 17 ans [When young people speak out: Participatory research action with Charlevoix youth aged 12-17]

Corbett, J. (2009). Good practices in participatory mapping. International Fund for Agricultural Development, Rome.

Dupéré, S., Gélineau, L., Adam, G., Côté, M., Dufour, É., Dumas, A., et Bélisle, M. (2014). Vers une autonomie alimentaire pour toutes: Agir et Vivre Ensemble le Changement (AVEC). Rapport scientifique.

Emmel, N. (2008). Participatory Mapping: An innovative sociological method. Retrieved from http://eprints.ncrm.ac.uk/540/2/2008-07-toolkit-participatory-map.pdf

Fonds international de développement agricole (FIDA). (2010). Cartographie participative: l’approche évolutive du FIDA. Conception et exécution des projets de cartographie participative. Rome, Italy: FIDA

Gélineau, L., Dupéré, S., Dufour, É. et Richard, J. (2018). Le recours à des cartographies participatives pour mieux comprendre les réalités de vulnérabilité sociale : réflexions sur la coconstruction d’approches et de saviors [The use of participatory mapping to better understand the realities of social vulnerability: reflections on the co-construction of approaches and knowledge]. Conférence annuelle de l’association de recherche qualitative. ACFAS. 8 May 2018

Landry, É. (2015). Approvisionnement et accès alimentaire de mères de famille monoparentale à faible revenu d’un quartier urbain de Québec [Food supply and access for low-income single mothers in an urban neighbourhood of Québec City] (Master’s thesis in community health, Université Laval, Québec, Canada).

Ravn, S., & Duff, C. (2015). Putting the party down on paper: A novel method for mapping youth drug use in private settings. Health & place31, 124-132.

Rambaldi, G., “Who owns the map legend?” URISA Journal, 17: 5-13, 2005. Rambaldi, G., et J. Callosa-Tarr, Participatory 3-dimensional modelling: Guiding principles and application, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines, ASEAN Regional Centre for Biodiversity Conservation (ARCBC), 2002.

Rawson, Brooke. (2011). Mapping for Healthier Communities: Using GIS Technology as a Tool for Addressing Food Security. (Master of Arts), Arizona State University.