ECCAY RESOURCES

The ECCAY resources can help professionals to use in practice the solution focused knowledge they have just acquired.

Exercise nr. 16

TRANSECT WALKS

Minimum number of participants	Average time length	Individual setting	Group setting	Special Equipment	Unit	Online	Challenges/ competition
4	2-3 hours	no	yes	no	2,3,4,5,6	yes	no

This exercise for small groups helps to explore, understand and reflect on possible solutions to problems, issues and challenges, by using a physical space or location to analyse these.

Transect Walks are a type of mapping activity, but they involve actually walking across an area with a group, observing, asking questions and listening as you go.

It is a group exercise that entails walking between two points to intentionally cross or transect a community. The group explores environmental and social resources, conditions and systems by observing, asking, listening and looking. This information is then represented visually in a transect sketch/diagram, which describes and shows a location, the distribution of resources and observed problems/issues.

This could be helpful when mapping a community, area or neighbourhood and even a region, for instance when looking for elements (spaces, locations, groups) that:

are relevant from a historical, narrative or storytelling perspective for the problem, challenge or issue to be addressed;
are useful assets and resources to rely upon when building solutions to the problems/challenge/issue.

In research, they are mainly used in comparative studies (spatial or temporal) or witness and record power asymmetries and collect "situated knowledges”. An interpretation is situated knowledge that is coloured by a person's experience, world view, emotions and motives.

Transect walks are used a lot in activities related to participatory research, and can be powerful vehicles in increasing active citizenship of those belonging to a certain community and/or living or interacting in a specific space. The method is widely used by researchers and civil society organisations to drill into the views and perceptions of a community and/or engage community members in becoming an active player in the finding and implementation of solutions for problems in their neighbourhoods or communities.

The Transect walk can be used as a starting point for other exercises which draw upon or get input from an analysis of the context and physical environment of the participants and the situations they encounter.

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Aim / Benefits

Transect walks are highly participatory and relaxed experiences, by walking around (physical activity) and observing space, locations and/or situations, different views from group members are collected. As everyone takes notes and observes (and highlights their points of attention) they allow for many different views and perspectives to be present and discussed.
A transect walk helps to enhance knowledge locally, i.e. it focuses on a particular space and observes the location and situations related to it, knowledge which is tacit among those living or interacting in the space and which otherwise might not be available. It is also very appropriate for use in low-literacy communities.
It can also be used to validate findings (e.g. outcomes from other activities or exercises which have a direct relation to the physical space in which the participant(s) live or interaction.
Apart from its use in active citizenship, for instance as transect walk can be used to walk around with marginalised youth in their neighbourhoods and analyse locations and situations together.
The transect walks for the purpose of ECCAY concentrate on housing types, infrastructure and amenities, religious and cultural features and behaviours, economic activities, skills and occupations.
Be aware that although there are benefits, the exercise does have some limitations, for instance it is limited to a specific point in time and specific space. It requires mobility, i.e. getting participants to the start of the route and having them walk the route.

UNIT(s) related

The transect walks use non-formal space (i.e. a route along 2 specific points directly related to the participants) to obtain insights into the participants perspective, views, beliefs, feelings, etc.

As such it is related to Unit 2: Solution Focussed Inquiry: as it can be used to define effective questions (based upon the outcome of the transect walk) or to find answers to questions in a more relaxed and “non-formal” setting or space.

Unit 3: Building the relationship: as it can be used for a better common understanding of others, their perspectives and experiences, and views on a particular issue, problem or challenge. The interaction between participants in a more relaxed and less formal setting can increase understanding and relations.

Unit 4: Solution focussed group: as it can be used to gain insights into the situations and interactions the participants encounter in the physical space or location where they live and interact mostly. It can thus help to identify and contextualise the issues and problems they face.

Unit 5: a transect walk can be used as a group self-reflective activity, as the group reflects about what they observe in a specific location or situation.

Unit 6: when interested in extending your network and connections within a specific community, you can ask those interested stakeholders to join you in a transect walk and observe and reflect about the situations and locations on the route. This can help to find a common ground for collaboration.

How to do the exercise

Step 1 / Preparation:
(MANDATORY to explain how to prepare and introduce the exercise to the participant)

The professional introduces the issue which will be the topic or subject of the transect walk. He/she can use additional context material to explain this, e.g. newspaper clipping. The professional explains the exercise to the participants. The participants are then provided with materials which include notebooks and pens. However a professional might opt to use smartphones or tablets for the exercise (provided by the professional or using the participants own devices).

The professional in preparation of the exercise chooses a route between two points through the chosen area. The route chosen should attempt to pass through as many of the different physical areas, land-use zones and social statuses of the community or group, related to the topic or issue, as possible.

Step 2
The duration of the exercise depends on the distance to be covered, and although it can take between 1 to 3 hours, the average duration for most of the walks is around 2 hours. The professional should find a balance between the distance to be covered and the characteristics of the group (e.g. take into account physical issues, attention span, etc.).

The role of the professional during the activity is to focus participants´ observations and conversations on a
particular aspect of the community, related to the issue, problem or challenge which is the main purpose of the exercise (e.g., safety, social activities, etc.). He/she should also remind participants that their role is to make notes of what they see and hear along the walk.

Step 3
While walking along the route, the professional stops the group from time to time (as features change and a space, object or situation relevant to the issue, problem or challenges addressed emerges). At these points He/she prompts the group to take notes on what they are observing. Questions that could be used in this perspective are:

●      What do you see?
●      Who do you see and what are they doing?
●      What assets are being used on different levels (e.g., natural, physical, intellectual, economic, social, temporal, spiritual)?
●      What assets do you think are not being used?
●      Identify and talk to people along the way to ask:

o What is this (a structure, landscape, situation) or what is going on (activity)?

o What else typically happens?

The professional needs to ensure that some group members are keeping a record of all vital information, and that others are drawing a map and sketching key features/land markers/assets/situations as they are encountered. This could also be assigned to an assistant supporting the activity, in case the characteristics of the group make it complicated to assign to one of the members. However, the record keeping and drawing is ideally assigned to a group member to ensure the perspective and views from their context are properly reflected.

Final step / Conclusion:
(MANDATORY to explain what to do in order to conclude the exercise)

After the walk, the group sits down and the professional facilitates the group to compile a diagram or table of the main features observed (see sample images below). He/she should make sure to encourage contributions from all group members. The sketch/diagram and the list of vital information (as done by the assigned members of the group) is used as a starting point to spark the discussion.

The discussion also aims to determine distinct zones and their specific assets (e.g. vulnerabilities, hazards, etc.) within the route that was taken.

The sketch/diagram is the basis for a discussion and aims to find answers to questions such as:
●      What did you discover that was new?
●      What surprised you?
●      What types of resources appear to be most valued? Most used? Least used? Why?
●      What patterns do you see?
●      What opportunities has your Transect Walk revealed? How do they relate to your program or
aspirations for yourself and/or your community?

Debrief

At the end of the exercise, the professional summarises the outcomes of the activity, by focussing on

1. What happened during the exercise (incidences, unexpected events, unexpected stops);
2. Asking the each participant to give feedback on the activity (how did they feel before, and after about the space(s) along the route, about their fellow group members, etc), and ask them highlight one “take-away” or lesson learned
3. Summarising the main conclusions and “take-aways” based upon the sketch/diagram.

If the transect walk is the starting point for more activities or exercises (explained before) the professional should explain how the results will be used and fed into these activities.

After the exercise, and based upon the discussion, the professional can focus on finding what kind of solutions or recommendations for solving the issue, problem or challenge the participants would prefer. Based upon the answers to questions of the final step of the exercise and the discussion, the professional can ask the participants to think about what kind of recommendations they would give to those stakeholders or actors that are in charge of or responsible for the specific issue, problem or challenge.

Specific materials

You will need to have
-        Notebooks (or similar)
-        Pencil/pen
-        Whiteboard/large paper

In the case of the use of devices, a monitor or intelligent screen is to be used so as to be able to share the notes or images from participants.

Tips and Tricks

Be clear about the purpose of the walk to focus participants´ attention on the features pertinent to the issue, problem or challenge at hand.
Act as a guide drawing the attention to specific points during the route which you consider of relevance, however do not explain what you see or observe, merely draw the participants attention to the space, location, situation etc., but they are the ones that observe and take notes.
Be flexible and spontaneous when opportunities arise to gather rich and varied data which you had not anticipated, for instance, if a participant indicates a specific point they feel should be observed in more detail (and was not on your initial list of stops).
Consider varying the route and time of the walk (day vs. night) to capture contextual information.
If appropriate, consider taking a camera and/or video-recorder to capture observations and interviews along the route.

Sample images transect diagrams

Source: Worldbank

Source: Raising Strong and Resilient Communities

On-line version

The exercise can be done online, and in essence follows the same steps as indicated for the offline version. In this case, there are 2 options.
1. Use street mapping tools, e.g. Google Maps.
2. Video record the route and present it to the participants.

This option can be used in a hybrid manner, for instance when participants have difficulties related to mobility or other impediments which do not allow them to physically take the route. In this case the tools and video recording can be used for the presentation.

In case of a group of participants which has the above mentioned impediments and/or cannot be gathered in one single space (as for instance happened during COVID restrictions) a video conferencing tool should be used for participants to discuss.

Bear in mind that in an online situation, some of the features of the exercise will be limited. The use of street maps and video recordings does not allow participants to observe a wider area (as they are limited by the image shown) or some aspects more in detail. A video recording has the additional problem, that the “stops” are predefined by the professional and cannot be altered.

Still, in cases where a physical route is not an option, the exercise can still provide relevant information (although less rich and diverse).