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Participatory mapping is one of the most versatile and powerful tools in generating pictures on any aspect of the physical reality. The technique is pictorial or symbolic representation of information. It is a visual representation of what the community perceives as their community space. This involves construction of maps on the sand, ground or on paper using locally available materials such as sticks, stones, flowers, grass and others. Also it is used for providing distribution information eg. population distribution, demographic data, infrastructure, natural resources etc. These maps cannot be compared with the geographical maps, exactly reduced representations of geophysical structures.
- Maps can be produced for big regions (movement of animal herds of pastoralists), villages, and farms or even of a single plot, depending on questions people are interested in.
- The products of participatory mappings are documentation of mental maps and can be different for different groups of people of the same village (e.g. men, women, and children).
- Usually mapping is used to depict infrastructures, natural resources, land ownership, settlement pattern, soil types, cropping pattern, vegetation, water availability, road, schools, health facilities etc.
- It is preferable to draw the map from a high vantage point so that the PRA team can relate the map with direct observations. The location of the mapping session should be freely accessible to all groups of the community i.e. different castes, men and women, rich and poor.
- Maps can also be used according to a timeline like the village 30 years back and now. A future model can be drawn to discuss people’s vision of the future how it will be or how they want it should be. Such historical maps help to discuss the roots of present situation and possible future developments.
Different types of maps used are social maps and resource maps.
- Social maps
- Resource Map
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