Building dialogue through maps

Abstract

This paper seeks to show how the creative use of maps can be key to unlocking problems of dialogue and coordination amongst different public action agencies, organizations and the communities they serve. It is composed of eight sections, including this introduction. Section 2 discusses the methodological approach, which draws on the experience of interactive field stations and the action research tradition and in section 3, the general territorial conditions are presented. Section 4 discusses the dynamics of maps and mapping and in section 5 the themes of positioning and public action languages are introduced. The 6th section discusses some early results and shows some of the maps, whilst the 7th section brings in the focal plane perspective, which has served as an important device for discussing the results in local settings. Finally in the 8th part we discuss the challenges for multi-level democracies of hybrid arenas.