Partner – GAIA journal

Repeat photography in transdisciplinary research

By Matthias Bürgi, Elena G. Siegrist and Tamara Estermann.

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1. Matthias Bürgi (biography)
2. Elena G. Siegrist (biography)
3. Tamara Estermann (biography)

How can we visualise changes in landscapes such as melting glaciers, expanding forests, and changes in agriculture and settlement structure? How can such visualisations be incorporated into participatory research processes?

A prime source for documenting landscapes at the local scale and from a human perspective is repeated terrestrial photographs from the same location under similar conditions. Repeat photography is the creation of “then and now” pairs by retaking historical photographs from the same location. This is useful for scientific research, as well as to raise community awareness of landscape changes.

Here we describe how repeat photography can be used, as well as its strengths and weaknesses, highlighting its value for transdisciplinary sustainability science.

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Participatory storytelling

By Marion Jay, Gonzalo Cortés Capano, Laura Kmoch and Tobias Plieninger.

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1. Marion Jay (biography)
2. Gonzalo Cortés Capano (biography)
3. Laura Kmoch (biography)
4. Tobias Plieninger (biography)

How can studies make use of the unique potential of participatory storytelling to explore the complex interrelations between people and places? How can researchers and local communities co-create rich, place-based narratives in dynamic and inclusive ways?

Participatory storytelling is a collaborative approach in which participants are co-creators of both their stories and the research results. As both a research method and a space for dialogue, participatory storytelling helps bridge knowledge and action while supporting more reflexive and transformative practices. By focusing on the lived experiences and voices of diverse actors, it reveals the values, emotions, and power dynamics that shape social-ecological systems.

Here we provide practical guidance for undertaking participatory storytelling. While our focus is on place-based narratives, the guidance is more widely applicable.

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Participatory countermapping

By Moné Vasquez Ladron de Guevara and Pablo Mansilla Quiñones.

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1. Moné Vasquez Ladron de Guevara (biography)
2. Pablo Mansilla Quiñones (biography)

How can Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendant and peasant communities, as well as others, co-create maps that capture their memories, practices, and territorial knowledge, especially in contexts marked by territorial or environmental conflict, and in histories and geographies shaped by coloniality? How can territorial representations and the spatial organization imposed by extractivist processes that dispossess people of their land be challenged? How can the scientific-technical rationality underlying conventional mapmaking―rationality that often erases multiple, subaltern forms of territoriality and knowledge embedded in these territories―be questioned?

Countermapping can also be considered to be a participatory action research process that supports territorial struggles through the production of maps grounded in local knowledge.

There is no universal methodological formula for this tool. Rather, a situated methodology is required that can be adapted to each context and the ways in which people live and connect to their territories. We propose a five-stage process and then discuss ethical considerations, as well as strengths and challenges.

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Three lessons for designing serious games for educational settings

By Alice H. Aubert.

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Alice H. Aubert (biography)

What is Triadic Game Design and what lessons does it provide for designing and analysing serious games in an educational setting?

Triadic Game Design

The Triadic Game Design is a design framework for serious games that defines three essential, interrelated elements—Reality, Meaning, and Play—that need to be integrated and balanced (Harteveld 2011).

Reality ensures the game represents the real world sufficiently (ie., in a valid and reliable way that can be understood by the target players). Subject-matter experts model the Reality in the game focusing on the problem, its influencing factors, and relationships.

Meaning pertains to the game’s purpose and its transference to the real world, to create added value through playing the game.

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Participatory content analysis

By Andréanne Chu Breton-Carbonneau.

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Andréanne Chu Breton-Carbonneau (biography)

How can participatory action research with trusted community-based organizations ensure that communities most impacted take part in interpretating the data, turning findings into deeper insights and more meaningful community-led solutions?

Participatory content analysis is a final step in participatory action research and enables a community research team to analyze data to identify content themes, visually map relationships, and derive actionable insights based on local knowledge and lived expertise. The community research team comprises academic researchers, community-based organization partners, and “resident researchers,” who are community members recruited—with support from the community-based organization partners—from groups most impacted by the research area.

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Actor constellation role plays

By Alexandra Frangenheim.

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Alexandra Frangenheim (biography)

How can transdisciplinary researchers gain a better understanding of systemic and multi-causal problems, including recognising different thought styles, appreciating the complexity of intervening, and anticipating points of conflict?

Actor constellation is a role play for identifying the relevance of various actors involved in specific problems. It is useful for problem framing when a research team is formed, for example to plan empirical inquiries or to identify relevant actors for addressing research questions. It also enables researchers from different disciplines and practitioners to uncover hidden dynamics and possible systemic solutions to the problem of interest, and to unlock the potential of shifting perspectives to ultimately develop new narratives.

When research participants represent relevant actors in a role play, their implicit assumptions about relationships, structures, interaction and actors’ knowledge are made explicit.

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Lessons for transformative research from co-creating a conference without a fixed plan

By Thomas Bruhn.

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Thomas Bruhn (biography)

In developing a conference, what does it take for people to leave their comfort zones to co-design something new? What possibilities does this open up for more meaningful conference designs? What are the broader lessons for transformative research?

In 2023–2024, I worked with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research to develop a conference format for the German sustainability research community – something to help re-establish connection after the isolating COVID pandemic years, and to strengthen interdisciplinary exchange. The Ministry wanted something new and innovative.

Early in the conversation, I sensed hesitation when unconventional, interactive conference formats were suggested.

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Designing serious games to address transdisciplinary problems

By Katharina Gugerell.

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Katharina Gugerell (biography) (photo credit: BOKU University)

What are serious games? What are their benefits? What is involved in developing serious games?

Serious games are digital, analogue or hybrid games designed in a way that goes beyond pure entertainment. They aim to educate or inform players or evoke discussions and conversations and provide an environment for futuring processes – in various fields, such as land-use, healthcare, water management, commons or natural hazards.

By integrating engaging gameplay elements with real-world scenarios or real-world contexts, serious games are expected to facilitate (different forms of) learning, interaction, world-building and scenario-building, as well as critical reflection on social, cultural, consumption and production practice. These games can incorporate real-time simulations, joint problem solving, and interactive storytelling to immerse participants into the topic. Serious games are celebrated for their motivational, emotional and entertaining aspects, that allow players to become familiar with different perspectives of complex problems or engage in futuring processes in a very intuitive and emotional way.

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Photovoice as a participatory research method

By Jule Marie Huber, Claudia Bieling, María García-Martín, Tobias Plieninger and Mario Torralba

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1. Jule Marie Huber; 2. Claudia Bieling; 3. María García-Martín; 4. Tobias Plieninger; 5. Mario Torralba (biographies)

How can research effectively engage vulnerable and marginalised groups on issues that affect their lives? How can local knowledge, opinions, and experiences be captured in a way that identifies their concerns and priorities?

Photovoice is a research method that uses photographs taken by participants to encourage dialogue within the community. It was developed to empower marginalised groups and promote community action, and is also more widely useful as a participatory method. It has been used for issues in public health, immigration, homelessness, disability, youth and sustainability.

In this i2Insights contribution we describe a 7-step procedure for using photovoice, noting that considerable flexibility is possible.

Step 1: Development of a research design

Researchers (ideally with involvement of participants) define the objectives of the study along with the timeframe and spatial dimensions, and interview or discussion and analytical protocols.

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Participatory video

By Pamela Richardson

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Pamela Richardson (biography)

What is participatory video? How can it enhance participatory research? What’s required to make participatory video work well?

Participatory video involves the co-production of videos in a group setting and can be used for community development, research and advocacy. The focus here is on research and, as a tool for communication and reflection, participatory video can support many different steps along a research journey, including:

  • co-creation of video-based funding proposals or the development of group plans,
  • project documentation and reflection,
  • participatory monitoring and evaluation,
  • dissemination of “best practices” or communication of results and lessons learned.

In these ways, video-making by participants can support both internal and external communication processes within a research project.

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Public participation geographical information systems

By Nora Fagerholm, María García-Martín, Mario Torralba, Claudia Bieling and Tobias Plieninger

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1. Nora Fagerholm; 2. María García-Martín; 3. Mario Torralba; 4. Claudia Bieling; 5. Tobias Plieninger (biographies)

What is encompassed by public participation geographical information systems? What resources are required? What are the strengths and weaknesses of involving stakeholders?

Participatory mapping combines cartography with participatory approaches to put the knowledge, experiences, and aspirations of people on a map. Under this umbrella term, public participation geographical information systems refers to the use of geographical information systems (GIS) and modern communication technologies to engage the general public and stakeholders in participatory planning and decision-making.

In practice, the terms public participation GIS and participatory GIS are often used interchangeably to:

  1. identify place-based values, perceptions, or attitudes, such as landscape values, ecosystem services, environmental quality factors, perceived problems or unpleasant experiences;
  2. analyse spatial behaviour of people, most notably everyday practices and activities, such as mobility patterns, routes travelled, or places visited;
  3. communicate preferences or visions about future land use;
  4. gather place-based observations through so-called geographic citizen science, such as trail networks or wildlife observations.

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Participatory scenario planning

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1. Maike Hamann (biography)
2. Tanja Hichert (biography)
3. Nadia Sitas (biography)

By Maike Hamann, Tanja Hichert and Nadia Sitas

Within the many different ways of developing scenarios, what are useful general procedures for participatory processes? What resources are required? What are the strengths and weaknesses of involving stakeholders?

Scenarios are vignettes or narratives of possible futures, and when used in a set, usually depict purposefully divergent visions of what the future may hold. The point of scenario planning is not to predict the future, but to explore its uncertainties. Scenario development has a long history in corporate and military strategic planning, and is also commonly used in global environmental assessments to link current decision-making to future impacts. Participatory scenario planning extends scenario development into the realm of stakeholder-engaged research.

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