CML Mission statement
The Community Mapping Lab is comprised of faculty, students, and community members who draw from geographic theories and methods to work for the empowerment of marginalized groups, shape understanding of important issues, and develop new tools for community based research. Our research projects rely on collaborative research partnerships, develop innovative approaches to engaged research, and foster public dialogue about community development, community engagement, cartography, and spatial analysis.
Guiding values
- Community driven research: We pursue collaborative partnerships that include participants from inside and outside the university, and this should extend through all phases of our projects.
- Mutual benefit: All partners should agree to mutually defined benefits from our shared research/learning, and we strive to avoid extractive models of research.
- Transparency: We use open source software where possible and make data and research methods publicly available unless doing so is harmful to our partners. We share reflections on our work through the lab blog, social media, white papers, and elsewhere.
- Methodological flexibility: While maps and GIS are our primary interest, we use methodologies (including qualitative methods) appropriate to each collaboration.
- Solidarity and social action: The lab prioritizes partnerships with socially marginalized and historically excluded groups. We pursue research that directly promotes empowerment, equity, and social justice.
Our process
While all projects are unique, we generally try to follow the process outlined below. This draws heavily from past work in participatory action research and public participatory GIS.
1. Identifying the issue
2. Planning the project
3. Research and action
4. Analyze, reflect, and share
1. Identifying the issue
- Convene the research group. Are all relevant stakeholders involved, especially those most affected by or invested in the issue at hand?
- Establish relationships with collaborators. This includes sharing background and motivations for collaborating.
- Define the problem(s) or issue(s) this project will be focused on.
- Identify expertise and resources. What does each partner in the collaborative have to offer?
- Brainstorm desired outcomes. This can include new understanding and knowledge, tangible artifacts (maps, white papers, academic articles, websites, etc.), or social action (use of maps/data/reports for policy and/or activism). Be clear about how partners benefit from each outcome.
2. Planning the project
- Develop a research plan that includes the following:
- Research focus/questions and goals
- Specific tasks to be accomplished
- Clearly defined outcomes (data, reports, analysis)
- Locations (online/physical) where data and other research materials will be stored during and after the project
- A timeline for research
- Insure that each research partner feels equally included in this project and will be benefited directly through their participation
- What are the responsibilities of research partners? Assign tasks to partners based on their identified expertise and resources
- Collect existing data (where relevant)
3. Research and action
- Implement the research plan
- Enlist additional partners if warranted
- Communicate regularly about progress--updates and check ins at least once **every two weeks.**
- Adapt the the plan as need be with consent of the whole collaborative
4. Analyze, reflect, and share
- Identify the most important outcomes of the research project, reflecting on the original problem and goals
- Publicize the results of the research via identified outlets (local community, via web, academic publication)
- Collect input from all collaborators on how well the project met its goals. This can be done through conversation or more formal methods such as a survey form.
- Archive data and create documentation that provides metadata or other contextual information
- Outline potential next steps for future research.