Like other uses of Maptionnaire, this is a story of engaging with citizens to map values of the physical landscape — by engaging them in biodiversity mapping techniques. The focus of this particular application was community visioning of experiences with biodiversity in a currently degraded urban waterway, a task that is relevant to reviving urban waterways across the globe.
Erin Hauer created a Maptionnaire survey for residents and hosted a field activity with local schoolchildren to share their perspectives on the future everyday life of Harrestrup Stream, running through the suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. She tells the story behind this project and its outcomes below.
Utilizing Participatory Techniques around Biodiversity
By using participatory mapping techniques, we enable a human perspective of the local ecology to complement the traditional biodiversity assessment. But these processes are hard to quantify.
In this case, biodiversity mapping allowed the locals to pinpoint cultural values to physical features that are common ecological design techniques. Using a sample masterplan that proposes a revived stream scenario, I asked residents and children for their opinions on uses and experiences that various features might offer, i.e. vegetated space along its banks, in-stream elements, and free flowing water. This insight is a starting point for the creative process as well as feedback to a design.
Combining Digital and In-person Participatory Techniques in Biodiversity Mapping
The ability to sequence the survey from spatial markings on the map, to multiple choice responses and personal comments, allowed for a line to be drawn to personal attachments, a building block for stewardship.
The residents could identify particular native species as a personal incentive for engaging in different ways of stewarding the waterway. A design team can find this to be helpful when organizing meaningful citizen engagement in production and ongoing management.
In retrospect, the children’s involvement could have also been conducted with Maptionnaire, but the field activity allowed them to physically explore the focal area with species and their habitats in mind.
Including both methods gave me experience in combining digital and in-person versions of participatory research. Here you can explore more ideas for combining community workshops with digital participation tools.
This post was written by Erin Hauer, MSc in Landscape Architecture Candidate, University of Copenhagen, on her application of Maptionnaire for researching biocultural diversity in urban waterway settings.
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