Participatory Mapping Workshop in Mindo: Training and Upcoming Community Activities

Between September 26 and 28, the DignArte Cimarrona project team met in Mindo to carry out the first participatory training workshop on participatory mapping with 21 peer researchers from different cantons of Esmeraldas. 

We aim to use participatory mapping to critically and creatively explore the knowledge, experiences, and everyday lives of Black/Afro-descendant, racialised women and LGBTQ+ communities in Esmeraldas. From feminist, decolonial, and anti-racist perspectives, this tool is conceived as a collective space to share knowledge, recognise local wisdoms, and question the ‘official’ maps that often omit the experiences of Black, Afro-descendant, and racialised women, and other marginalised groups. 

Over three days of work, the peer researchers engaged in a collaborative process of learning and reflection on how to create maps that not only represent territory, but also express memories, emotions, bodies, and lived experiences connected to inhabited spaces. 

In the coming weeks, the peer researchers will take these learnings back to their own communities, where they will facilitate participatory mapping workshops together with women and LGBTQ+ participants. This marks the beginning of a new stage of the project, in which the knowledge collectively built in Mindo will expand into the communities of Esmeraldas. 

Later on, the maps and reflections will be shared in a forthcoming participatory workshop, where the peer researchers will collectively analyse the results and exchange insights, challenges, and strategies across territories.