CS No. 36 · 2022

Ecopolitical mapping: a multispecies research methodology for environmental communication.

Resumen

Ecopolitical Mapping is a methodology which seeks to map encounters of love and di-saster between humans and their more-than-human surroundings. This methodology, first coined by a transdisciplinary group of artists and researchers in South Chile, unfolds through collective mapping sessions using an ecopolitical approach to trace the power relationships between different species-beings. In this research document, we unpack our engagements with this methodology in three different scales and territories: the Biobío Watershed (Chile), Berlin City (Germany) and Europe (Continent). Each case presented a strong environmental communication component, which ended up with the translation of the stories of the encounters into illustrated maps. The methodological approach pro-posed here is intimate, political and situated. The map evolves from a supposed politically neutral artifact into a tool for environmental education, communication, and activism. We offer the notion and approach, hoping that this methodology can be practiced and refined by other humans, allies of the tentacle kinship.