Activity: Making mental maps of the neighborhood

Objectives:

• To give young activists the opportunity to represent their perception of their neighborhood
• To make them aware that different participants have different perspectives even though they all live in the same community

Materials: Pen and paper

Duration: 1 – 2 hours

Procedure:

• Ask participants to think about where they live and then draw their neighborhood. They should include major landmarks, like schools, shopping centers, playgrounds, their homes, friends’ homes, things that they like and don’t like about the neighborhood etc.
• After 5 minutes, stop the drawing and discuss what happened
• Ask for all maps to be exhibited on the wall, so that all can observe the different styles and symbols

Comments: This is a very short exercise that can be used as a very first introduction for a session on mapping. It brings across some very essential issues in a short time.

You can use the following questions to help in debriefing:

• Where did you put your house? (in the middle, at the edge?)
• What are the similarities and dissimilarities in the different maps of the participants?
• Are there any parts of the community that have not been represented?

The mapping of the neighborhood by one’s memory is an activity based on personal experiences, which is then discussed within the group. The activity can be enriched even further by contrasting the group’s perspective with the one brought by other community residents, official maps of the region, etc.

Depending on technology availability, maps can be enhanced with digital images or compared with other digital representations of the area.

Notes from the Field: In the summer of 2004, the Community Mapping track of the Computer Clubhouse Teen Summit had a group of 10 young people creating a youth guide to Harvard Square, a very famous place in Cambridge, MA. That was really fun!