Community Maps - To Understand our Communities
What are Community Maps?
Community Maps are ways for us to understand what is happening in our communities. Here we will demonstrate the following maps:
- Personal Maps - to understand how we interact with our communities
- Associational Maps - to understand who is doing things in our communities
- Physical Maps - to understand our local landscapes
- Action Maps - to understand how we take action in our local landscapes
- Community Portraits - to understand who holds your local communities together
Community Mapping is a tool which guides us in identifying the strengths, assets and resources within our Local Areas.
For us this means knowing who we are talking to, what is already happening, how to reach people, and how to be as effective as we can
1. Personal Maps
How is your community life?
⭐ Activity ⭐
- Put a dot in the middle of a page, this is you
- Draw a line off it for every group you are part of - write what that group is. (can be vague here if you want)
- Think of all the roles you hold, personal, professional - does this add more lines?
- Think of the hobbies you have - does this add more lines?
- Think of all the interaction you have in a week, are you a regular at a coffee shop? Do you chat to shop assistant ever saturday? can you add more lines?
2. The Life of a Neighborhood
A neighbourhood is made up of many associations, both formal and informal. An association is any group of people who gather to do things. It could be a chess club, a group of friends who go to the pub on a Friday night, or a local Scouts or Guides group.
- What associations exist in your Local Area?
- What brings people together?
- Don't forget the informal associations!
Consider:
- Communities of Interest
- Communities of Place
- Communities of Identity
- Communities of Practice
- Communities of Action
3. Physical Maps
Physical Maps look not at the connections between people but at the geography of the local area. The way communities interact is connected to their place. Some of our towns have lots of potential meeting spaces and promote connection whereas others have a lack of third space where groups of people can meet to talk.
Notice Boards
- Where are they?
- Who looks after them?
- Who is using them and why?
- Are your posters on them?
- Are there any informal boards?
Meeting Places
Where do people actually meet?
- Free Places
- Bumping Spaces
- Third Spaces
- Spaces for specific Communities
How do you interact with these spaces? Do your actions interact with them?
Neighborhood Assets
The assets of your neighbourhood are anything that exists there which enriches the experience of being in that space. They could be as simple as having wildflowers planted on the verge for pollinators or as complex as regular Community Assemblies where the neighbourhood discusses how to spend money.
Consider the following assets:
- Associations
- Places
- People
- Institutions
- Exchanges
- Stories
Below is an example of the Neighbourhood Assest identified by locals on King Street, Norwich.
| Asset | Description | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| Associations | Any group of people coming together to do a thing | - King Street Neighbourhood Association - Wild King Street - Book Club - Save Wensum Lodge Adult Learning Centre Group - Carrow House Artist Studios - Clubs at the Wensum Sport Centre |
| Places | Locations where people can meet | - Skate Park - Wensum Sport Centre - St Julian’s Church - The Last Pub Standing - Butterfly Cafe - St Peter’s Churchyard |
| People | All the gifts people bring to the neighbourhood such as skills, knowledge, talents and experiences | - Creative window displays in houses - The existence of the associations - Whatsapp Group - Litter pickers - People who adopt the planter boxes - Gardeners who plant the planter boxes - Friendly local business owners/employees |
| Institutions | - Organisations that provide services for the neighbourhood | - Kings Centre (Methodist Church) - National Writing Centre - St Julian’s Church - Wensum Sport Centre - St John’s Ambulance Training Centre |
| Exchanges | Any time something is exchanged such as skills, ideas, objects, money or alternative currencies. (Noting that if a monetary exchange is not a local business it becomes extractive rather than a local asset) | - The Last Pub Standing - Yoga Studio - Corner Shop - Butterfly Cafe - Bicycle Links (skills/training) - Book Club - Neighbours making Planters - Whatsapp Group - Noticeboards |
| Stories | Things people say about the neighbourhood | - Blue Plaques - Built Heritage - medieval buildings - Generational stories about Waterfront - St Julien shrine and stories - Marking of old rivers in pavement - Artwork in windows - Noticeboard |
4. Action Maps
Where do local actions happen - why?
- City Centre
- Target
- Seat of Power
Consider:
- How do the locations change with the type of action?
- How have locations changed with time?
- Where might they be in the future?
5. Community Portraits
People are the unit of Community
- What is strong?
- Who connects people?
- Who would you ask for help?
- Who do they know?
- Who tells the best stories?
Are you a part of these networks?
Lets Get Mapping!
- Know your People and be Known
- Know who to ask
- Know where to put a Poster
- Know your Local Place
🔥 Remember 🔥
The Legal System takes our community seriously. So should we!