Over two years ago, I was asked by Christine Capra of fellow participatory mapping consultancy company Greater than the Sum to be interviewed by her on my ideas on participatory community network mapping. This interview turned out to be something much more than that. Of course, over the years, I have already published many (academic) research publications on the development and application of the CommunitySensor methodology. However, I have never been able to put the grand essence of my mapping philosophy into words as artfully as Christine has, adding her own refreshing perspective as an “outsider to my inner thoughts”. In all, that first conversation became a whole series of reflective blog posts. In Christine’s own words:
“It’s been over two years since my original interview with Aldo. That one interview was so rich, it generated six blog posts and an abiding friendship. We’ve met online semi-monthly ever since that first great conversation, to talk about our projects, challenges, ideas & dreams. While the Covid 19 pandemic has made dramatic changes to our collective daily lives since that first interview, what we observe and believe about mapping feels more relevant than ever. What holds our friendship together, through all the changes, is our nearly identical professional response to this question, whose urgency is only increased due to the pandemic:
What helps us become ‘Greater Than the Sum of our Parts?’
Recently, the last interview in the series was published. Here, you find an overview of all six blog posts:
- Participatory Community Network Mapping as Collective Sensemaking
- What Participatory Community Network Mapping Makes Possible
- Power in Participatory Community Network Mapping
- Using Language and Stories in Participatory Community Network Mapping
- The Process of Participatory Community Network Mapping
- Reflecting On Our Discussions
We hope that in reading the posts you share in our sense of wonder and curiosity, and may get inspired yourself about what participatory mapping might mean for your own community or network.
