“When your participants cannot speak”: Exploring the potential for participatory mapping to represent the geographies of more-than-human actors

Abstract

This study examines the use of participatory mapping as a method to represent the values of non-human entities (more-than-humans) in socio-ecological landscapes. This research seeks to bridge the gap between theoretical developments in more-than-human geographies and their practical landscape-level applications. Through a combination of literature review, as well as participatory mapping interviews and focus groups conducted with 28 participants along Mission Creek in British Columbia, this research explores if and how human proxies can represent the interests of non-human beings through space. The findings reveal several difficulties in translating more-than-human values into mappable spatial data, as well as ethical tensions in balancing human and more-than-human priorities for landscapes. We find that there is value in integrating diverse perspectives, such as Indigenous knowledge, citizen science, and children's observations, which contribute nuanced insights into species’ needs, habitat relationships, and ecological processes. Lastly, we also find that participatory mapping may encourage reflexive and relational socio-ecological thinking, which may promote more inclusive and sustainable environmental decision making. This research contributes to the development of more-than-human geography by providing practical insights into the methodological and ethical complexities of representing more-than-humans and may also advance efforts toward identifying methods to encourage sustainable and equitable landscape management.