!"#$%&$&% ()&*+),"+#$"# -&.

*/"$+ 0123$4#
Tommaso ventuiini, Bonato Ricci, Nichele Nauii, Lucy Kimbell, Axel Neuniei
5"67)+.#
Contioveisy mapping; communication uesign; science anu technology stuuies;
infoimation visualization; paiticipatoiy uesign
82#*+-4*
Contioveisy mapping is a teaching anu ieseaich methou ueiiveu fiom the Science anu
Technology Stuuies anu meant to exploie anu iepiesent mouein sociotechnical issues.
Stiiving to make the intiicacy of scientific uebate ieauable foi a laigei public,
contioveisy mapping is tiappeu in a classic simplicitycomplexity tiaue-off: how to
iespect the iichness of contioveisies without uesigning maps too complicateu to be
useful. Baving woikeu on the question foi almost two yeais in a pioject biinging
togethei social scientists anu uesigneis (emapspioject.com
1
), we can now piopose a
way out of this contiauiction anu suggest thiee ways of moving thiough the
simplicitycomplexity continuum. The fiist movement -by multiplying the numbei of
maps anu by taking into account useis befoie the beginning anu aftei the enu of the
uesign piocess- allows to bypass the simplicitycomplexity tiaue-off. The seconu
movement binu togethei naiiation anu exploiation anu allows the publics to ventuie in
the maze of contioveisies uniaveling the stoiy that will guiue them out. The thiiu
movement allows to involve the publics thiough all the phases of a caitogiaphic
campaign anu to engage it again anu again.
8#9$&% */" +$%/* :1"#*$)&
Some twenty yeais ago Biuno Latoui inventeu !"#$%"&'%() +,--.#/ as a methou to tiain
stuuents in the obseivation anu uesciiption of sociotechnical uebates. Since then, the
methou has evolveu consiueiably not only because many univeisities auopteu it (Paiis,
Copenhagen, Nilan, Nanchestei, Amsteiuam, Liege, Lausanne, Pauova, Tiento, Buenos
Aiies.) anu aujusteu it to theii context
2
, but also because contioveisy mapping has
become the focus of foui collaboiative ieseaich piojects (mappingcontioveisies.net,
piojetmeuea.hypotheses.oig, emapspioject.com, foiccast.hypotheses.oig).
Since Nacospol, the fiist of these piojects, it has been cleai that the main challenge foi
the methou was to engage with the publics of contioveisies:

1
This papei woulu have not been possible without the woik of all who woikeu in the NEBEA
anu ENAPS piojects at the Sciences Po muialab, Bensity Besign, Bigital Nethous Initiative, The
Young Founuation, Baicelona Neuia, the Institute of Spatial Planning of Boitmunu. We woulu
also like to thank Auuiey Baneyx, Auuiey Lohaiu, Baiio Rouighieio, Liam Beaphy, Ian uiay, Eiik
Boiia anu Baibaia Benuei foi theii comments anu suggestions that gieatly impioveu this papei.
2
See, foi example, the most inteiesting woik uone by Albena Yaneva (2u11) on aichitectuial
contioveisies.
01' 23456758 !"#("%$.9+ 1,( :''# ,(('+:;'< $" ,<<%'(( $1.( =9'($."#> 1"? $"
'@-;"%' $1' -%,!$.!,; $"";( $" %'-%'('#$ .# , #'? ?,)( (!.'#$.A.! ,#< $'!1#.!,;
!"#$%"&'%(.'( (" ,( $" '=9.- $1' -"$'#$.,; -9:;.! ,#< $9%# .$ .#$" , %',; %'-%'('#$,$.&'
,%'#,B (NAC0SP0L pioject uocument, uS112uu7, p. 8)
Contioveisy mapping is not a methou of social inteivention. 0nlike ciisis management
oi conflict iesolution, it is not meant to solve oi channel uebates (noi uoes it assume this
is necessaiily uesiiable). Contioveisy mapping is meant to exploie anu visualize
contioveisies not to inteivene. Yet, setting up the Nacospol pioject, we knew all too well
that maps aie nevei neutial iepiesentations of a teiiitoiy. Caitogiaphy has always been
a political tool (8, /C"/%,-1.'D EF ('%$D <G,:"%<D F A,.%' ;, /9'%%', Lacoste, 1976) anu theie
was little ieason to think that contioveisy mapping woulu be an exception.
The question of the public use of contioveisy maps appeaieu theiefoie unavoiuable as
soon as the methou left the classioom. Bow can mapping impiove the uebate on science
anu technology. Bow coulu oui tools anu methous enhance uemociacy
S
. Bow can we
wisely use maps anu visualizations as political instances. What use will the public make
of oui maps. Thioughout Nacospol such questions weie iegulaily iaiseu anu intensely
uebateu.
As it tuineu out, we hau been optimistic. When, at the enu of the pioject, we gatheieu a
gioup of jouinalists anu policy makeis to beta-test oui iesults, we uiscoveieu that they
coulu make little use of oui maps. This came as a uisappointment, of couise, but
expeiimental ieseaich shoulu always be open to suipiises. What is impoitant is that we
weie able to unueistanu what went wiong. The pioblem we weie facing was, in fact, a
classical tiaue-off in caitogiaphy: we coulu eithei offei maps that weie iich but uifficult
to ieau, oi maps that weie easy to ieau but pooi in content (see figuie 1).

H./I JI 0?" +,-( :"$1 9#(,$.(A,!$"%) :9$ A"% "--"(.$' %',("#(
K
I

S
it is woith to be mentioneu that the claim of the NAC0SP0L pioject was "Bemociacy is the
possibility to uisagiee."
4
All the beautiful images that illustiate this papei (except foi figuies S to 8) have been uesigneu
by Baniele uuiuo.
The tiaue-off between iichness anu legibility miiiois anothei tension that we alieauy
encounteieu woiking with contioveisies: the tension between the wish to obseive
contioveisies in a state of unieuuceu complexity (ventuiini, 2u1u) anu the uesiie to
make them simplei anu unueistanuable (legible) foi a wiuei public (ventuiini, 2u12).
Both of these objectives aie ciucial to oui enueavoi. 0veisimplify the iichness of
contioveisies anu you will lose all theii inteiest. Simplify too little anu the map will be
as laige as the teiiitoiy anu theiefoie useless
S
.
To cope with this conunuium anu to extenu the public ieach of contioveisy mapping, we
staiteu anothei collaboiative pioject, ENAPS (Electionic Naps to Assist Public Science,
2u11-2u14). This time, howevei, we took two piecautions to make oui expeiiment
safei.
Fiist of all, we seaicheu backup beyonu the fiontieis of science anu technology stuuies
(wheie contioveisy mapping oiiginateu) in the uiscipline that is most essentially
conceineu by the question of usability, legibility anu community engagement: <'(./#.
The iuea that uesign coulu be the key to contioveisy mapping hau been auvanceu by
Latoui in 2uu8 while auuiessing the Besign Bistoiy Society in Falmouth:
L"? 1'%' .( $1' !1,;;'#/'> M# .$( ;"#/ 1.($"%)D <'(./# -%,!$.!' 1,( <"#' , +,%&';"9( N":
"A .#&'#$.#/ $1' -%,!$.!,; (O.;;( A"% <%,?.#/ ":N'!$(D A%"+ ,%!1.$'!$9%,; <%,?.#/D
+'!1,#.! :;9'-%.#$(D (!,;' +"<';(D -%"$"$)-.#/ '$!I P9$ ?1,$ 1,( ,;?,)( :''# +.((.#/
A%"+ $1"(' +,%&';"9( <%,?.#/( Q<'(./#( .# $1' ;.$'%,; ('#('R ,%' ,# .+-%'((."# "A $1'
!"#$%"&'%(.'( ,#< $1' +,#) !"#$%,<.!$.#/ ($,O'1";<'%( $1,$ ,%' :"%# ?.$1.# ?.$1
$1'('I (Latoui, 2uu8: 12)
6" 1'%' .( $1' =9'($."# M ?.(1 $" %,.(' $" <'(./#'%(> ?1'%' ,%' $1' &.(9,;.S,$."# $"";(
$1,$ ,;;"? $1' !"#$%,<.!$"%) ,#< !"#$%"&'%(.,; #,$9%' "A +,$$'%( "A !"#!'%# $" :'
%'-%'('#$'<B (Latoui, 2uu8: 1S)
Thiough communication uesign, we thought that we coulu impiove both the usability of
oui maps. anu we coulu iuentify anu auuiess moie suitable publics. Attacking the iiuule
of contioveisy mapping fiom both siues, we hopeu we coulu finu the iight point of
balance between legibility anu complexity. Following this leau, we maue suie that the
ENAPS consoitium incluueu paitneis with competences in communication uesign
(BensityBesign Lab, Nilan) anu community uesign (The Young Founuation, Lonuon).
0nce again, though, things tuineu out to be moie complicateu than expecteu. In }une
2u12, ENAPS oiganizeu in Lonuon its fiist encountei with potential useis. The meeting
was centeieu on the questions ielateu to ageing in 0K anu was attenueu by about SS

S
<< "What uo you consiuei the laigest map that woulu be ieally useful."
"About six inches to the mile."
"0nly six inches!" exclaimeu Nein Beii. "We veiy soon got to six yaius to the mile. Then we tiieu
a hunuieu yaius to the mile. Anu then came the gianuest iuea of all! We actually maue a map of
the countiy, on the scale of a mile to the mile!"
"Bave you useu it much." I enquiieu.
"It has nevei been spieau out, yet," saiu Nein Beii: "the faimeis objecteu: they saiu it woulu
covei the whole countiy, anu shut out the sunlight! So we now use the countiy itself, as its own
map, anu I assuie you it uoes neaily as well." >>
fiom Lewis Caiioll "Sylvie anu Biuno Concluueu" (189S).
'issue-expeits'
6
(as well as 11 ieseaicheis fiom ENAPS anu seveial The Young
Founuation's membeis seiving as facilitatois). Paiticipants came fiom uiveise
oiganizations woiking in ielation to ageing, incluuing King's College Lonuon
(univeisity); Lonuon Boiough of Towei Bamlets (municipality); Netiopolitan Suppoit
Tiust (pioviuei of seivices anu housing); Age Concein anu ToiiAuE (two voluntaiy
gioups focusing on oluei people).
0ui woikshop methouology was to seat paiticipants at tables, ovei thiee houis, in
mixeu teams of about six people, each with at least one ENAPS ieseaichei anu one
facilitatoi. Befoie seeing any of the maps, paiticipants weie askeu to inuiviuually cieate
a map showing "who is talking about the issue of caie foi oluei people in the 0K". Then
they weie askeu to shaie anu uiscuss theii uiawings with othei people on theii tables.
Accoiuing to the questions iaiseu in the uiscussion, the facilitatoi intiouuceu in each
table the moie ielevant maps cieateu by the ENAPS ieseaicheis. Paiticipants weie
askeu to look at them without much of an intiouuction oi explanation, anu then iesponu
to piompts fiom the facilitatois.
The visualizations employeu in the woikshop weie uiawn fiom a set of 2S maps piinteu
out at A2 oi AS size, anu oiganizeu into packs foi each table. The maps hau been
piouuceu foi the woikshop by ieseaicheis at the Sciences Po muialab anu the Bigital
Nethous Initiative anu hau been ieuesigneu by the BensityBesign Lab to impiove theii
appeaiance anu legibility.
The effoits investeu in communication anu community uesign, howevei, uiu not iesult
in a uiamatic impiovement in oui capacity to engage with the public. The iesponses to
the maps showeu a (polite) confusion, which was not just a mattei of uata visualization
oi labeling, but iathei uifficulty in giappling with what the maps weie anu how they
might ielate to the useis' woilus. Naps still iemaineu too uifficult to ieau oi too pooi in
content. Even woise, uiffeient useis founu opposite faults in the same maps. Accoiuing
to the specific knowleuge that each usei hau of each subject, shehe woulu ciiticize the
map foi being too much oi not enough uetaileu. 0ltimately, we hau to iealize that it is
impossible to finu the iight point of balance between legibility anu complexity. Not
because such a point uoes not exist, iathei because theie seems to be too many of them,
each uepenuing on the singulai chaiacteiistics of the useis, the maps anu even the usei-
map combinations.
Though inconvenient, such a conclusion is not inconsistent with the political theoiies
that inspiieu contioveisy mapping. When askeu to pioviue iefeiences foi his
caitogiaphic methou, Latoui unfailingly invokes Waltei Lippmann (1927) anu }ohn
Bewey (1946). If theie is something that contioveisy mapping can leain fiom Ameiican
Piagmatism is that theie is no such a thing as a homogeneous public.
M# #" $?" ,/'( "% -;,!'( .( $1'%' $1' (,+' -9:;.!I 4"#<.$."#( +,O' $1' !"#('=9'#!'( "A
$1' ,(("!.,$'< ,!$."# ,#< $1' O#"?;'</' "A $1'+ <.AA'%'#$ (Bewey, 1946: SS).
M$ .( #"$ $1,$ $1'%' .( #" -9:;.!III 01'%' .( $"" +9!1 -9:;.!D , -9:;.! $"" <.AA9('< ,#<
(!,$$'%'< ,#< $"" .#$%.!,$' .# !"+-"(.$."#I 3#< $1'%' ,%' $"" +,#) -9:;.!( (Bewey,
1946: 1S7).

6
With 'issue-expeit' we mean all peison having a ielevant expeiience of a given contioveisy. By
uefinition all actois engageu in a contioveisy aie also expeit of it.
The public is a phantom (to use the Lippmann expiession), oi iathei a gaggle of ghosts
piovisionally assembleu aiounu a specific issue anu by no means maue unifoim by it.
That is why the impossibility of finuing a single point of balance between complexity anu
legibility was not unexpecteu. We knew that each contioveisy affecteu uiffeiently each
of the actois involveu; we only hau to iealize that the level of complexity that each actoi
is willing to hanule vaiies accoiuingly. The impossibility of finuing a geneializable
answei helpeu us to iealize that we might have been asking the wiong question all
along. Insteau of asking wheie we shoulu stanu in the legibilitycomplexity continuum,
we shoulu have askeu 1"? ?' !"9;< +"&' $1%"9/1 .$.
Luckily, in ENAPS we hau taken a seconu piecaution: we ueciueu to scheuule the fiist
usei test veiy eaily, a few months aftei the beginning of the pioject. This piecaution has
given us the time to exploie the ioom foi manoeuvie openeu up by ieplacing the
question of balance with the question of movements. Aichiveu the chase foi an
impossible equilibiium, ENAPS tuineu out to be a moie inteiesting exeicise: cataloguing
the vaiious ways of walking the tightiope of contioveisies.
;/" <$+#* =),"="&* )< 4)&*+),"+#6 ."#$%&>
"?*"&.$&% */" 4)=@3"?$*6A3"%$2$3$*6 *+-." )<<
The fiist movement we iuentifieu aims at extenuing the iange of the
complexitylegibility tiaue off, allowing ieseaicheis anu useis to move along the
imaginaiy continuum we illustiateu in figuie 2. This movement is thieefolu as it can go
fiom the centei to the enus oi fiom each enu towaiu the centei.

H./ TI 01' $1%'' ('!$."#( "A $1' A.%($ +"&'+'#$ ,;"#/ $1' !"+-;'@.$)U(.+-;.!.$) !"#$.#99+I
B),"="&* )&"C #"4*$)& )&"> "-#$&% $&*) 4)=@3"?$*6 */+)1%/ 4)&*+),"+#6 -*3-#"#
The fiist section of this movement (fiom the centei to the enus) simply consists in the
concatenation of seveial visualizations with uiffeient uegiees of complexity. Theie
wheie contioveisy maps aie bounu to fail, contioveisy atlases may succeeu. The
concept of atlas is impoitant heie. Fai fiom being a meie juxtaposition of maps, goou
atlases allow theii useis to move thiough theii chaits. Fiist useu in 1S9S as a title foi a
seiies of ueihaiu Neicatoi's maps (Atlas, oi Cosmogiaphical Neuitations upon the
Cieation of the 0niveise), the teim atlas has known an incieasing foitune anu an
immense aiiay of applications. Fiom histoiy to politics, fiom aits to meuicine, fiom
astiology to psychology, the atlas is a systematic binu iepiesentations ielative to a
specific but heteiogeneous 9#.&'%(' "A ":N'!$(. Foi us, builuing an atlas is not the meie
compilation of a catalogue:
V01' !"#!'-$ "A ,$;,( .# $1.( !"#$'@$ <"'(#G$ <'-.!$ ,( +9!1 , ;.($ "A +,-(D :9$ %,$1'% ,
()($'+ "A %'-%'('#$,$."#( "A (-,!'D , !"++9#.!,$."# <'&.!' ,.+'< ,$ %'-%'('#$.#/
!"+-;'@ !"#$'@$( $1%"9/1 $1' 9(' "A +,#) -,%$.,; "&'%;,--.#/ #,%%,$."#(> , #'$?"%O
"A +,-(D <.,/%,+(D $'@$( ,#< -'%.$'@$(D !"+:.#'< $"/'$1'% $" <'(!%.:' $1' (-,!' "A
%'(',%!1 .# .$( +9;$.A,!'$'< ,(-'!$(IW (Quaggiotto, 2u1u)
An atlas is the uesciiption of an exploiation. As the mythological figuie fiom which
boiiow its name, it beais a %',;.$) pioviuing it with meaning. An atlas is the iesult of two
uistinct actions: /".#/ .# -the action of obseiving- by which we tiy to get in contact with
a subject anu /".#/ "9$ -the action of telling- by which we ieconnect anu compose the
elements we obseiveu. 0nly, coupling this two actions we can naiiate oui issue to oui
public. An atlas, anu , A"%$."%. a contioveisy atlas, is a containei of uiffeient points of
view (Ricci, 2u1u) expiesseu thiough uiffeient scales anu gianulaiities, languages anu
techniques of iepiesentation.
In two pievious aiticles, we uesciibeu a path thiough the complexity of contioveisies
(ventuiini, 2u1u) anu a seiies of contioveisy maps (ventuiini, 2u12). In this aiticle we
shall put them togethei to uesciibe a possible fiist section to oui fiist movement. 0thei
concatenations woulu be ceitainly possible. What is impoitant is to bieak uown the
iichness of a contioveisy anu then iebuilu it thiough a chain of subsequent
iepiesentations. In the next pages, we will pioviue examples taken fiom the woik uone
by one of oui best gioup of stuuents
7
on the hyuiaulic fiactuiing fiacking contioveisy
(http:www.whatthefiack.eu).
1. H%"+ ($,$'+'#$( $" <':,$'( Q?1,$R. The fiist bai of this section is meant to show that
statements in contioveisies aie nevei isolateu, but always connecteu in a uialogue maue
of enuoisements anu oppositions. It is theiefoie ciucial to be able to show how uiffeient
uiscouises question anu iesponu to each othei. 0f couise, theie aie many ways to uo so.
0ne that is populai among the stuuents of oui contioveisy mapping couises, the 'tiee of
uisagieement', is as olu as uieek philosophy. 0f couise, as 0mbeito Eco (1984, pp. S8-
64) uuly noteu, taxonomies aie always moie complex than expecteu, anu the bianching
of aiguments iesembles moie a ihizome (Beleuze anu uuattaii, 198u) than a Poiphyiian
tiee.

7
Figuie S to 7 have been uesigneu by Chiaia Anuieossi, Nassimo uuizzetti, Ciistina Palamini,
uiulia Peietti, Silvia Recalcati. Theii ieseaich iepoit is available heie:
http:issuu.comuensityuesignuocswhatthefiack1S9.e=119987221uu124

H./IX I 3# '@,+-;' "A $%'' "A <.(,/%''+'#$ $%''I
2. H%"+ <':,$'( $" ,!$"%( Q?1"R. The seconu bai of this section consists in ie-attaching
the statements to the theii speakeis. This movement is impoitant because it gives
mateiiality to the techno-scientific uebate. Contioveisies uo not happen in a vacuum anu
they oppose social actois iathei than platonic iueas. Pioposing an aigument (as well as
suppoiting oi iefuting it) is nevei a meie intellectual move. In contioveisies, eveiy
speech act binus alliances anu entienches oppositions. Plotting who shaies which
aigument with whom, the 'actois-aiguments table' is theiefoie the veiy basis of
contioveisy mapping. It is impoitant to iecall that, uescenuing fiom actoi-netwoik
theoiy, contioveisy mapping has a veiy extenueu uefinition of actois: scientists anu
engineeis, of couise, but also lay expeits, activists, uecisions-makeis anu not only
inuiviuual actois but also collective actois (ieseaich institutions, enteipiises, lobbies.)
anu non-human actois (instiuments, theoiies, laws, natuial elements.) (Callon, 1986).

H./I KI 3# '@,+-;' "A ,!$"%Y,%/9+'#$ $,:;'I
S. H%"+ ,!$"%( $" #'$?"%O( Q1"?R. Actois, like statements, aie nevei isolateu in
contioveisies. As Latoui maue veiy cleai (1999), the hyphen in actoi-netwoik uoes not
encouiage ieseaicheis to look at one ,#< the othei, but to consiuei actois anu netwoiks
as one thing. In contioveisies, the position anu the iuentity of the actois aie ueteimineu
by theii alliances anu oppositions anu, conveisely, netwoiks aie uefineu by the actois
that they connect. The 'actoi-netwoik uiagiam' is meant to visualize the simultaneous
movement of inuiviuualization anu clusteiization that chaiacteiize contioveisies. Not an
easy task, to be suie, but one that is becoming less impossible thanks to the giowing
uigital tiaceability (ventuiini anu Latoui, 2u1u) of scientific citations (Boinei, 2u1u),
hypeilinks (www.e-uiaspoias.fi), quotations (Leskovec et al, 2uu9) anu many othei
foims of social connections (Rogeis, 2uu9).

H./I ZI 3# '@,+-;' "A ,!$"%Y#'$?"%O <.,/%,+I
KI H%"+ #'$?"%O( $" !"(+"('( Q?1'%'R. Eveiy contioveisial is will always be pait of othei
laigei meta-contioveisies anu always composeu of seveial sub-contioveisies.
Caitogiapheis aie fiee to choose theii level of investigation, but they must be able to
situate theii case stuuy in the 'scale of uisputes' to which it belongs. In paiticulai, it is
impoitant to show that though contioveisies aie often fought on the battlefielu of
technical uetails, they always oppose conflicting woiluviews. No mattei how specific
contioveisies may look fiom the outsiue, fiom the viewpoint of theii actois they aie a
wai of woius. Conveisely, no mattei how abstiact be the piinciples at stake,
contioveisies aie always ueciueu by the most specific anu conciete aiiangements.

H./I [I 3# '@,+-;' "A (!,;' "A !"(+"(I
ZI H%"+ !"(+"('( $" !"(+"-";.$.!( Q?1'#R. The last bai of this section is ceitainly the
most uifficult one. Besiues piesenting what contioveisies aie about, who fights them,
how they join oi oppose theii foices anu wheie battles anu wais take place,
caitogiapheis must also show how all these elements evolve thiough time. Auu to this
the fact that the time of contioveisies is often heteiogeneous (uiffeient pait of the same
contioveisy may iemain uoimant foi ages anu suuuenly buist into the quickest
uevelopments) anu the complexity of cosmopolitics will be eviuent. This is why, though
ciucial, the uynamic of uisputes can only be intiouuceu aftei all othei elements have
been set into place.

H./I \I 3# '@,+-;' "A <':,$' <)#,+.!(I
By ueveloping all these maps anu concatenating them in a coheient atlas, insteau of
seaiching foi an impossible point of balance between legibility anu complexity,
caitogiapheis leain to covei a laigei segment of the continuum.
B),"="&* )&"C #"4*$)& *7)> 1#"D2"<)+"D1#" -&. @-+*$4$@-*)+6 ."#$%&
The seconu anu thiiu sections of the fiist movement have not been testeu in contioveisy
mapping (yet), but they have been conceptualizeu within the tiauition of paiticipatoiy
uesign. Speaking at the EASST confeience, Pelle Ehn (2u11), explicitly uiscusseu the
Latoui's Falmouth challenge anu pioposeu two complementaiy appioaches calleu
iespectively "use-befoie-use" anu "uesign-aftei-uesign". The fiist appioach is uefineu by
Ehn as follows:
8'$G( ($,%$ ?.$1 9('I 01.( .( $1' $%,<.$."#,; ?,) $" /" ,:"9$ <%,?.#/ $1.#/( $"/'$1'% .#
+) "?# A.';< ,#< .( "A$'# %'A'%'#!'< ,( 7,%$.!.-,$"%) ]'(./#I P,(.!,;;)D $1' .<', .( $"
(,)> ?';;D 8'$G( .#&.$' 9('%( ^ ?' O#"? ?1" $1') ,%'D ?1" $1' 19+,# !"#($.$9'#!.'( ,%'
^ ,#< 1,&' $1'+ -,%$.!.-,$' ,#<D :) $1,$ ?,)D '#&.(."# , A9$9%' 9('D ,#< ?' 9(' ,;;
$1'(' $"";(D ,;; (!'#,%."( ,#< -%"$"$)-'( $" <" $1,$I M$ !"9;< :' (,.<> $" A"!9( "#
,(('+:;.'( :'A"%' ":N'!$(D ,#< 9(' :'A"%' ,!$9,; 9(' (Ehn, 2u11: 4S-44).
In oiuei to implementing this appioach in ENAPS, we oiganizeu a seconu usei test. This
time we staiteu fiom choosing one 'issue expeit' to woik with us as leau usei. Foi this
iole we chose one of the paiticipants at the fiist meeting, Naiia Paisons (Cieative
Bementia NetwoikEminence uiise) who has a uiveise caieei in the issue of ageing
incluuing uoing evaluations, ieseaich anu consultancy (anu she is also a caiei heiself).
Between August anu 0ctobei, Kat }ungnickel (a uesign-STS ethnogiaphei hiieu by
ENAPS) spent seveial uays with Naiia as a paiticipant obseivei as she went about hei
woik. The aim of these sessions was to elicit Naiia's "ieseaich questions" in ielation to
ageing. These questions weie then tianslateu in ways that coulu be opeiationalizeu
thiough caitogiaphic tools, see Table 1.
E"#"-+4/ :1"#*$)& F@"+-*$)&-3$#-*$)&
What aie the iesouices (human, mateiial,
institutional.) that help people living well with
uementia.
Bypeilink netwoik of the websites citeu by blogs of
people suffeiing fiom uementia oi caiing foi them
What aspects of uementia aie most uiscusseu oi
contioveisial.
Beatmap of the ieveits on the Wikipeuia pages of
Bementia, Aging anu Alzheimei
What aie the uiffeient languages useu to talk about
ageing anu uementia.
Nost fiequent expiessions occuiing in uocuments
about ageing anu uementia issueu by institutions,
ieseaich initiatives, chaiities anu blogs.
What aie the uiffeient uiscouises about ageing anu
uementia.
Expiessions co-occuiing with 'uementia' anu
'ageing' in uocuments about ageing anu uementia
issueu by institutions, ieseaich initiatives, chaiities
anu blogs.
What uiscussion topics aie moie ielateu to ageing
in uiffeient Euiopean countiies.
ueogiaphical maps of issues associateu with aging
in uiffeient Euiopean countiies.
What is the image of ageing in uiffeient Euiopean
countiies.
Web-images associateu with the expiession 'olu
age' in website in uiffeient Euiopean languages.
0,:;' JI _'(',%!1 =9'($."# "# ,/'.#/ ,#< $1'.% "-'%,$."#,;.(,$."#
0n the basis of this opeiationalization, ieseaicheis at Sciences Po muialab, Bigital
Nethous Initiative anu BensityBesign uevelopeu a seconu set of maps on ageing. These
maps weie then shown to a small gioup of issue piofessionals to uiscuss with them how
the uesign of the maps coulu be impioveu. The test took place in 0xfoiu, on 1S 0ctobei
2u12, anu lasteu about two anu a half houis. This was a uelibeiately small event, with
only thiee auuitional people involveu as well as oui leau usei: two people fiom Age 0K
(voluntaiy sectoi, 0xfoiushiie), one peison woiking as a fieelancei foi the 0xfoiushiie
County Council. In contiast to the }une event, in this test we tiieu to get the paiticipants
to tiy to use the maps anu locate themselves within them anu not just iesponu to them.
So in auvance of the woikshop, staff fiom YF woikeu with the leau usei to cieate tasks
similai to those unueitaken by the test useis, anu to pioviue an "in vivo" context in
which they coulu exploie possible uses of the maps.
Biawing on the iesults of the 0xfoiu meeting, the contioveisy maps weie impioveu by
collecting auuitional uata anu impioving the uesign. 0ne map was uioppeu as useis hau
shown little inteiest in it. The new set of maps then became the basis foi anothei laigei
meeting helu in Lonuon on 12 Becembei 2u12, lasting about thiee houis. We split the
paiticipants up into six teams, each woiking togethei at a table with a facilitatoi fiom
The Young Founuation anu at least one ieseaichei fiom ENAPS. Paiticipants incluueu
issue piofessionals fiom the Lonuon Boiough of Camuen (a municipality); Caie 4 Caie (a
social ventuie focusseu on ageing); The 0 (a social ventuie focussing on community-
ueliveieu leaining); NESTA (a national innovation inteimeuiaiy); Leeus 0luei People's
Foium (an activistvoluntaiy gioup) (some of these people hau also attenueu the }une
event); Auuit Commission (a national bouy); Community Netwoik (a social enteipiise
pioviuing confeience call seivices foi the not-foi-piofit sectoi); Social Life (a social
enteipiise focusing on place-baseu innovation).
Compaieu to the pievious occasion, the seconu Lonuon meeting was a cleai success.
Inteiacting with the useis fiom the eailiest phases of the mapping piocess helpeu us to
anticipate anu solve all the majoi uisciepancies between the public anu the maps. We
uesigneu a bettei atlas anu we inviteu a moie suitable public. To be suie, the iiuule of
contioveisy mapping iemains, but patching the biggei faults maue it at least possible to
ieveal the smallei (anu moie inteiesting) ones. We obseiveu, in paiticulai, that the
moie inteiesting the useis finu the maps, the moie they long to change them. Bau
contioveisy maps leave useis inuiffeient, bettei contioveisy maps leave useis
unsatisfieu, which biing us to the next section of this movement.
B),"="&* )&"C #"4*$)& */+""> ."#$%&D-<*"+D."#$%& -&. .$%$*-3 $&*"+-4*$,$*6
The thiiu section of the fiist movement has been uefineu by Ehn (2u11) as follows:
01.( .( , =9'($."# "A 1"? $" <%,? $1.#/( $"/'$1'% A"% V<'(./# ,A$'% <'(./#WI `1,$ ?'
#''< $" <" .( $" <'(./# , $1.#/ $1,$ "-'#( 9- A"% -"$'#$.,; <'(./# ,A$'% $1' ,!$9,;
<'(./# .# $1' -%"N'!$ 1,( $,O'# -;,!'D $" <'A'% ("+' "A $1' <'(./# 9#$.; ;,$'% "#D
,((9+.#/ $1,$ -'"-;' ?"9;< :' .#$'%'($'< .# <".#/ $1,$ Q,# ,((9+-$."# $1,$ !"9;< :'
=9'($."#'<RI `' /" A%"+ <'(./#.#/ $1.#/( ,.+'< ,$ 9(' "A -%"<9!$( ,#< ('%&.!'(D $"
<'(./# $1.#/(D $" !%',$' , /""< '#&.%"#+'#$ A"% A9$9%' <'(./# $1.#/(D .# $1' A9$9%'D ,$
9(' $.+'D ?1'%'&'% ,#< ?1'#'&'% $1,$ +./1$ :' (Ehn, 2u11: 46).
Eviuently, this appioach is moie uifficult than the fiist to implement. While paiticipatoiy
uesign has long exploieu how to involve useis in the eaily uesign stages (e.g. Ehn, 1988),
little ieflection has been ueuicateu so fai to the ait of uesigning visualizations that
iemain open to subsequent contiibutions. Though much woik has been uone in the
tiauition of exploiatoiy uata analysis (Tukey, 1977) to uevelop inteiactive visualizations
wheie uata can analyzeu anu euiteu thiough uiiect manipulation, these inteifaces have
been openeu to a non-acauemic public only veiy iecently
8

Some expeiiences, howevei, have been attempteu in the fielu of uata jouinalism.
Stiiving to explain complicateu affaiis while avoiuing oveisimplification, clevei online
jouinalists uiew on Web inteiactivity to tiansfei the simplification woik to theii
ieaueis. 0ne of best example of such stiategy has been uevelopeu by Nike Bostock anu
Shan Caitei to iepiesent a classic political contioveisy: the 0S piesiuential election. The
inteiactive visualization publisheu the New Yoik Time anu showeu below is iemaikable
foi it allows the ieauei to unueistanu the weight of each swing State by simulating
uiffeient combinations of iesults.

8
0nce exclusively auuiesseu to scientists anu engineeis, infoimation visualization has been iecently
pioposeu to less specializeu useis (Pousman, Stasko, anu Nateas 2uuS). At least foui aieas of
visualization foi non-expeits have been uevelopeu:
- ambient visualization (Pousman anu Stasko 2uu6);
- social visualization;
- aitistic visualization (vigas anu Wattenbeig 2uu7, Kosaia 2uu7);
- peisuasive visualization (Fogg, 2uu2).

H./I aI ZJT 7,$1( $" $1' `1.$' b"9('I 01' &.(9,;.S,$."# ,;;"?( $1' 9('%( $" (';'!$ <.AA'%'#$ -"((.:;'
"9$!"+'( A"% ',!1 c(?.#/ ($,$'G ,#< $1'%':) <)#,+.!,;;) !1,#/.#/ $1' -"((.:.;.$) $" ?.# "A $1' $?"
!,#<.<,$'(I d@'+-;,%) !,('( ,%' ,;(" -%"&.<'< :) $1' '<.$"%( "A $1' Le 0.+'(I
Q???I#)$.+'(I!"+U.#$'%,!$.&'UTfJTUJJUfTU9(U-";.$.!(U-,$1(Y$"Y$1'Y?1.$'Y1"9('I1$+;R
As the NYT example illustiates well, inteiactivity is the key to the uesign aftei uesign
appioach (at least in contioveisy mapping). 0seful maps pioviue theii useis the
possibility of looking at the biggei pictuie anu focussing on specific uetails. In tiauitional
caitogiaphy, such inteiactivity is ieacheu by viitue of the extiaoiuinaiy iesolution anu
flexibility of papei. Eveiy tiavelei knows that an atlas is only useful if one can put
hishei fingei on it, pull it closei oi faithei, biowse it, twist it, folu it. Navigating :) a
map always implies navigating $1%"9/1 that map.
Papei atlases, howevei, aie ielatively expensive to piint anu uistiibute anu that is why
in oui effoit to uisseminate contioveisy mapping we ueciueu to tuin to uigital
visualizations. Infeiioi in iesolution anu suppleness, uigital atlases can nonetheless iely
on theii embeuueu computation capability. Beei anu Schneiueiman (2u12) iuentify in
paiticulai thiee main types of inteiactions that uigital inteifaces can pioviue:
],$, ,#< &.'?( (-'!.A.!,$."#. The inteiface shoulu allow useis to focus on the most
ielevant contents foi theii analysis. In a fiist inteiaction usei shoulu peifoim ieuuctions
on the oveiall uata in thiee main ways: soiting, filteiing anu ueiiving. Soiting means to
ieaiiange items setting a piioiity vaiiable. Filteiing means to ieuuce the uisplayeu
infoimation. Beiiving means to keep the same uata iichness but aggiegating it at
uiffeient uetail levels. In this last opeiation, the complexity of uata in not just cioppeu
but tiansfoimeu. Though this movement is as olu as statistics, its cost (anu, moie
impoitantly, the cost of uisaggiegation) is uiamatically ieuuceu anu with it the iisk of
ieification that always accompanies aggiegation. When aggiegating, uisaggiegation anu
then ie-aggiegation aie just a click away; it is uifficult to believe in a substantial
miciomacio uiviue (cf. Latoui et al. 2u12).
g.'? +,#.-9;,$."#. Thiough the visualizeu elements useis can peifoim fuithei
opeiations. Fiist of all navigating it: when the infoimation space is laige anu uetaileu
useis neeu to scioll thiough it, zooming in anu out. Two movements aie possible
thiough visual inteiface: in the fiist one, useis stait fiom a bioau view of the topic
uiilling uown to single elements; the movement is well synthetizeu in the mantia
"oveiview fiist, zoom anu filtei, then uetails-on-uemanu" (Shneiueiman 1996). The
seconu kinu of movement staits fiom a small poition of the uata going fai to obtain an
oveiall view on them: "Seaich, show context, expanu on uemanu" (van Bam et Al. 2uu9).
7%"!'(( h -%"&'#,#!'G Nost of the times useis will use the map in an iteiative piocess, to
valiuate anu confiim theii hypothesis. The inteiactive map shoulu pioviue tools to
cieate snapshots of point ieacheu while exploiing (to use in piesentation, to shaie with
othei useis, to keep foi fuithei exploiations). Also the ability to annotate infoimation,
typical in piinteu aitefact, shoulu be pieseiveu in uigital, inteiactive tools.
Against these auvantages, inteiactive maps biing also uiawbacks mainly ielateu to
piouuction time anu the impossibility to contiol stochastic behaviouis of elements when
uata is highly vaiiable. Nain uiawback is the uifficulty to cieate quickly au-hoc solution
foi iaw uata. Bigital maps inueeu neeu an encoueu set of iules to uynamically cieate
visualizations, anu is weakei when uata isn't homogeneous.
As we just saw, the thiee sections of the fiist movement aie veiy uiffeient. In the fiist,
we concatenateu a seiies of maps to ueploy complexity in a piogiessive way. In the
seconu, we leaint fiom paiticipatoiy uesign to anticipate useis' involvement. In the
thiiu, we uiscusseu how uigital inteiactivity can open up contioveisy atlases to usei
inteiaction. In uiffeient ways, howevei, all thiee sections shaie the same effoit to tuin
the +''$.#/ -".#$ between public anu maps into a +''$.#/ -%"!'((: multiplying the
occasions of inteiaction (section 1), involving the public eailiei (section 2) anu keeping
the maps open longei (section S). Novements two anu thiee, as we will see, will be
ueuicateu to steeiing this piocess.
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*/" &-++-*$)&D"?@3)+-*$)& )< .-*-#4-@" &-,$%-*$)&
Thiough the fiist movement we moveu away fiom the iuea of a punctual equilibiium
between complexity anu legibility anu gaineu some ioom to manoeuvie the inteiaction
between the maps anu the useis. The seconu movement is meant to uiiect such
inteiaction anu is twofolu, as inteiaction with complexity can move in two opposing
uiiections that we shall call naiiation anu exploiation.
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Fai fiom being limiteu to contioveisy mapping, the naiiative movement is common to
the laigest pait of scientific liteiatuie. This movement follows a chaiacteiistic cuive: it
staits with a bloom of complexity geneiateu by a few ieseaich questions anu then
pioceeus thiough a seiies of pioofs until the complexity is tiimmeu to a unique answei.
In such a movement, 'haiu pioofs' uo of couise play a ciucial iole; yet scientific
liteiatuie cannot be ieuuceu to haiu pioofs alone. If it is calleu 'liteiatuie', it is because it
has liteiaiy qualities. A goou scientific papei is not just a pile of facts: it is a goou stoiy in
the same way a goou ciime novel is not just a game of clues (which is why we enjoy
ieauing two hunuieu pages just to uiscovei that it was Colonel Nustaiu, in the Libiaiy,
with the canulestick).
The content of scientific stoiies may vaiy, but the stiuctuie iemains the same. It always
staits with a ieseaich question that geneiates a flouiishing of uata complexity. Then
comes methous anu analysis to hainess anu ieuuce complexity. Finally theie is
naiiation, the aiticle itself wheie the mess of scientific piotocols is iesumeu to a cleai
anu enjoyable stoiy.
The same cathaitic powei must be invokeu in contioveisy mapping, foi naiiation is the
only philosophei's stone that coulu uisentangle the uebate imbioglios anu make it
legible foi a laigei public. This is wheie the notion of 'mapping' falls shoit in uesciibing
oui effoits. In caitogiaphy, iouting is as impoitant as mapping. 'Contioveisy mapping' is
both the atlas anu the fingei pointing at it. }ust like goou hotel ieceptionists, we cannot
just hanu ovei the plan to oui publics: we have to give them some uiiections, inuicate
the attiactions, suggest a couple of goou iestauiants, pioviue some naiiation of the city.
Emphasizing stoiytelling, to be suie, uoes not mean neglecting the necessity of exploiing
the complexity of contioveisies. Quite the contiaiy, a goou stoiy is the Aiiaune's thieau
that leaus the public into the maze of the uebate anu out of it; the A.; %"9/' that allows
wanueiing thiough a multituue of viewpoints without getting lost.
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If scientific liteiatuie is a foim of naiiation it is neveitheless a veiy special one. As
Latoui suggesteu in a seminal papei on scientific iefeience (199S), the specialty of
scientific liteiatuie is its ieveisibility, the possibility to inveit the uiiection of the stoiy
anu go back fiom the simple to the complex. Like eveiy goou naiiation, scientific papeis
ieuuce the complexity they auuiess, yet unlike most othei naiiations they aie always
ieauy to pioviue uetails on uemanu: you uon't tiust oui iesults. Beie is the analysis we
followeu! You uon't tiust the analysis. Beie is the iaw uata (oi how to obtain it)! This is
why scientific papeis aie peisuasive, because they allow (even challenge) theii ieaueis
to veiify them.
The possibility to '@-;"%' :,!O the valiuity of a scientific aigument becomes moie anu
moie piominent now that scientific publications aie incieasingly migiating online.
Thanks to the uecieasing cost of uigital publishing, it is now possible anu even iequiieu
(Ince et al., 2u12), to publish one's coue anu uata along with the papei piesenting the
iesults extiacteu fiom them.
In contioveisy mapping, in any case, exploiation has always been as impoitant as
naiiation anu foi a veiy simple ieason: the methou has been uevelopeu to auuiess
uebates that aie not yet closeu. Besciibing a contioveisy is telling a stoiy that uoes not
enu at the close of the naiiation (anu whose fuithei uevelopments might well ueny all
that was saiu befoie). This is why naiiation is not enough to tame contioveisies;
exploiation is necessaiy as well. If contioveisy mapping wants to iespect the complexity
of public uebate, it has to pioviue its useis with all the uata available ,( ?';; ,( with the
tools to manipulate them. This is wheie the caitogiaphic metaphoi is moie liteial:
contioveisy mapping is about cieating visual, inteiactive anu peifoimative tools to
assist the public in the exploiation of public uebate.
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Naking contioveisies ieauable while pieseiving as much as possible of theii complexity
iequiies binuing togethei the two movements of naiiation anu exploiation in a ciicle
(as shown in figuie 8). Such a ciicle offeis the public a simple naiiative path thiough the
uebate jungle, but also the possibility of stepping out at any moment to exploie the
complexity of contioveisies. This ciiculation between complex anu simple, uata anu
iesults, maps anu uiiections has been calleu <,$,(!,-' #,&./,$."# (Latoui et al., 2u12)
anu it uefines the seconu movement of contioveisy mapping.

H./I iI 01' !.%!;' "A <,$,(!,-' #,&./,$."# $1%"9/1 ($"%)$';;.#/ ,#< '@-;"%,$."#I
Implementing such a ciicle, howevei, is easiei saiu than uone because existing mapping
foimats aie still unable to combine naiiation anu exploiation. Lineai foimats, such as
texts oi viueos, tenu to be moie suiteu foi naiiating stoiies. Non-lineai foimats, such as
uiagiams oi websites, uo not impose a pieueteimineu path but invite useis to exploie
theii iichness. 0ne of the most impoitant uiffeiences among the uiffeient contioveisy
mapping couises is whethei stuuents aie askeu to piouuce viueos oi websites.
Both choices have theii auvantages anu, moie impoitantly, theii uisauvantages. viueos
(e.g.. those piouuceu by the stuuents of the BensityBesign couise in Nilan,
http:vimeo.comuensityuesign) aie geneially effective in intiouucing issues, but aie
often too simplistic anu incapable to ienuei the iichness of contioveisies. Websites (e.g.
those iealizeu at Nanchestei (www.msa.ac.ukmacStuuentWoik) allow the laigest
libeity in the oiganization of infoimation, but often enu up pioposing little oiganization
at all. In the enu neithei the viueos noi the websites seems completely appiopiiate foi
the aims of contioveisy mapping.
The uifficulty to oveicome the naiiationexploiation gap explains why few initiatives
have succeeuing in combining cinematogiaphictextual lineaiity with hypeitext
openness. Bespite the mixing potential of uigital technologies, most multimeuia euitois
(i.e. http:www.ivl.io, http:piezi.com, http:zeega.com) aie still little moie than
enhanceu PoweiPoint piesentations. 0utstanuing examples of the naiiation-exploiation
ciicle exist in the uomain of viueogames (Nuiiay, 1997) anu inteiesting expeiiments aie
in piogiess with web-uocumentaiies (see localoie.net oi webuocu.fi foi examples), but
little has yet been uone in the uomain of scientific communication (Segel & Beei, 2u1u).
0i to be piecise, much has been uone in scientific papeis anu posteis with nothing moie
than a text (uesciibing the iesult of the expeiience) anu a few embeuueu images
(iepoiting on uata anu methous). Biawing on the potential of uigital multimeuia, much
moie coulu anu shoulu be uone in the neai futuie.
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*/" #@$+-3 )< @123$4 "&%-%"="&*
Submitting the ENAPS pioject to the Euiopean Commission, we knew that contioveisy
mapping was an unconventional object, yet we thought that we coulu hanule it with a
conventional appioach maue of foui subsequent phases: fiist of all uata collection, next
analysis, aftei that visualization anu finally uissemination of iesults.
The fiist Lonuon test, howevei, maue uiamatically cleai that such lineai oiganization
was unsuiteu to oui objectives, foi a 'use-befoie-use' appioach (uesciibeu in the seconu
section of the fiist movement) seemeu unavoiuable foi oui mapping campaign. Fiom the
veiy fiist test of oui pioject we weie confionteu with the neeu to "engage the public in
the piocess of uesign-making" uesciibeu by Tanyoung Kim anu Cail BiSalvo (2u1u)
M$ 1,( :''# , %./.< :';.'A $1,$ $1' !%',$.&.$) "A &.(9,; !"++9#.!,$."# <'(./#'%( !"+'(
(";';) A%"+ -'%("#,; .#$9.$."#I b"?'&'%D .A <'(./#'%( ,$$'+-$ $" -'%(9,<' ,9<.'#!'(
$1%"9/1 &.(9,; +'((,/'( ?.$1"9$ -%"-'%;) 9#<'%($,#<.#/ ?1"+ $1') ,%' <'(./#.#/ A"%D
.#,--%"-%.,$' "9$!"+'( !,# %'(9;$I j#<'%($,#<.#/ ,9<.'#!'( <"'( #"$ %'=9.%' "#;)
$%,<.$."#,; 9('% %'(',%!1 $'!1#.=9'(I M$ ,;(" %'=9.%'( $1,$ <'(./#'%( '#&.(."#
+'$1"<";"/.'( $1,$ ';.!.$ $1' <.%'!$ -,%$.!.-,$."# "A $1' ,9<.'#!'(I
B),"="&* */+""C #"4*$)& )&"> "&%-%$&% */" @123$4 */+)1%/)1* */" =-@@$&%
4-=@-$%&
Fai fiom being iestiicteu to uissemination, contiibutions fiom the public aie ciucial
thioughout all the phases of contioveisy mapping:
1. H6@)*/"#$#. The fiist phase of all mapping campaigns shoulu be caiiieu out as a
uialogue between useis (suggesting which aie the inteiesting ieseaich questions
within an issue in which they aie involveu) anu uata expeits (suggesting feasible
opeiationalization). Such uialogue is nevei easy - as uata expeits often feel that
useis ask the impossible, while useis feel that uata expeits offei things that aie
uninteiesting - but it is necessaiy to envision a successful anu ielevant ieseaich
piotocol.
2. I9"*4/$&%. In oiuei to involve the useis in the ciucial woik of hypotheses
opeiationalization, it is useful to pass thiough a phase of sketching wheie
infoimation uesigneis uiaft mockups of the final maps. These mockups aie useful
foi uiscussing with the useis anu iefining the ieseaich piotocol befoie actually
implementing it. Few people know what contioveisy maps coulu look like oi how
they might be useu oi engageu with, anu exploiatoiy piototypes aie necessaiy to
help the public make valuable contiibutions.
3. !-*- 4)33"4*$)&. 0seis' help is also impoitant when it comes to collecting uata to
be useu inc cieating maps. Inteiesteu useis may alieauy have inteiesting
uatasets anu ceitainly know wheie to look foi them. Bata expeits shoulu
theiefoie collaboiate with useis to collect the existing uata anu also extiact new
uata.
4. 8&-36#$#. This is the only phase wheie useis can be absent (though theii
piesence may have auvantages). In this phase the uata expeits anu uesign
expeits iealize the maps anu inteipiet them.
5. 0123$4-*$)&. In the last phase, the maps aie assembleu by uesigneis in atlases
finally ieauy to be useu by the public.

H./I JfI 01' ($,/'( "A $1' <'(./# "A , !"#$%"&'%() ,$;,(
B),"="&* */+""C #"4*$)& *7)> "&%-%$&% */" @123$4 -%-$&C -&. -%-$&C -&. -%-$&
Aftei the positive iesults of the seconu Lonuon meeting, the ENAPS consoitium was
convinceu of the impoitance of contiibutions fiom useis anu of the fact that the seconu
anu moie uifficult case stuuy of the pioject (the uebates aiounu climate change
auaptation) coulu not be tackleu without an eaily engagement with the public.
0nfoitunately, this tuineu out to be easiei saiu than uone. Foi one thing, as soon as we
ueciueu to 'go public', we hau to iealize that we hau little clue as to ?1" ?,( $1' -9:;.!.
Reauy as we weie to open the uoois of oui methou, we uiu not know whom to invite in.
We weie expeiiencing what meuia scholais (Lipmann, 1927 anu Katz anu Lazaisfelu,
19SS) long suggesteu: that theie no such a thing as $1' -9:;.!. Publics aie always pluial
anu always specializeu, they gathei tempoiaiily aiounu paiticulai issues to ueal with
theii specific consequences. As Bewey (1946) saiu: "the public consists of all those who
aie affecteu by the inuiiect consequences of tiansactions to such an extent that it is
ueemeu necessaiy to have those consequences systematically caieu foi" (pp. 16-17). In
fact, the public of a contioveisy is nothing othei than the assemblage of the actois
involveu in the uebate. To be suie, such an assemblage is neithei homogeneous noi
stable. It is a tuibulent lanuscape of all soit of actois (inuiviuual anu collective, human
anu non-human) clashing anu mingling thiough all soit of ielations (cfi. movement 1,
section 1, bai 1 anu 2). Theie is no such a thing as a ieauy-maue public that we coulu
sample anu invite to join oui mapping: publics aie summoneu by contioveisies anu
theii shape uepenus on how contioveisies aie aiiangeu. "No issue, no public" as Nooitje
Naiies (2uuS) well put it.
This is wheie the connection between contioveisy mapping anu its public becomes
moie complicateu. By biinging togethei uiveiging viewpoints anu aiianging them in the
same atlas, contioveisy mapping uoes moie than just uesciibing the state of affaiis; it
contiibutes towaius aiticulating the uebates anu aiianging theii publics. If they want
theii maps to be politically ielevant, social caitogiapheis cannot shy away fiom the
iesponsibility of tiansfoiming the teiiitoiies they map
9
. As the ENAPS consoitium soon
iealizeu, uesigning ielevant maps foi the publics anu uesigning ielevant publics foi the
maps aie, in fact, one anu the same movement
1u
.
Such iealization, howevei, opens anothei iiuule: how can we engage a laige public
without ieliable maps to iuentify it. Bow can we obtain such a map without the help of a
laige public. Which iope can we giab to pull ouiselves out of oui Nunchausen's swamp.
As in all bootstiapping uilemmas, the solution comes fiom iteiation. We can't uesign
goou maps fiom sciatch noi engage laige publics out of thin aii, but we can uesign bau
maps anu then impiove them; engage small auuiences anu then extenu them
11
.

9
In this sense, contioveisy mapping is not so uiffeient fiom conventional mapping which has
always hau a piofounu impact on geogiaphical teiiitoiies. Fai fiom being meie iepiesentations,
maps have always been useu to envision how the teiiitoiies hau to be iuleu anu tiansfoimeu,
foi example when tiacing the ioute of a new ioau to be builu oi a new boiuei to be uefenueu
(Faiinelli, 2uuS). 0n the political use of caitogiaphy see also Ciampton & Kiygiei, 2uuS.
1u
In this sense, ENAPS pioject iepiesents a tangible example of the effoits to couple the iueas of
}ohn Bewey anu the activities of uesign imagineu by Cail BiSalvo (2uu9).
11
The piogiessive appioach uesciibeu heie iesembles closely the 'agile' appioach to softwaie
uevelopment, wheie uiawing uetaileu anu complete specification is consiueieu less impoitant
than piototyping anu inteiacting with the useis accoiuing to the slogan "ielease eaily, ielease
often!" (Raymonu, 2uu1).

H./I JJI 01' $1%''Y!".;( (-.%,; "A !"#$%"&'%() +,--.#/I
The seconu section of the thiiu movement, theiefoie, benus a lineai ieseaich piotocol
into a spiial wheie eveiy coil ueliveis bettei maps anu engages laigei publics. In the
ENAPS pioject this meant finuing a few alpha-useis willing to help us fiom the onset of
oui exploiation. The natuial choice was to tuin to the leaueis of othei institutions anu
piojects alieauy engageu in climate auaptation, hoping that theii inteiest in the subject
woulu motivate them to collaboiate even befoie we coulu show soliu iesults. Luckily,
oui hopes have been fulfilleu anu we have been able to gathei an amazingly vaiieu
gioup of alpha-useis (which we will nevei thank enough) woiking on seveial inteiesting
pioject connecteu to auaptation (the IBBRI, weABAPT.oig, the 0NERC, the uuaiuian
uatablog, KomPass anu otheis)
This extiaoiuinaiy gioup of alpha-useis has helpeu us to pioceeu thiough the fiist coil
of the spiial anu uevelop a fiist seiies of maps on the auaptation uebate. Such maps will
hopefully be publisheu on the websites of the alpha-useis' initiatives anu will seive as
the staiting point of a new iteiation with the communities anu auuiences of those
initiatives. This seconu iteiation, we hope, will help us to impiove oui maps even moie,
leain about theii possible uses, anu make them ieauy to encountei the publics involveu
in the laigei climate auaptation uebate. Thiough these thiee coils of the spiial (othei
piojects' manageis, othei pioject's auuiences, anu the actois of the auaptation uebate),
we will hopefully succeeu in piouucing a contioveisy atlas so stimulating that it will
have a ieal impact on the auaptation uebate.
()&431#$)&#
In this papei we claimeu that the exeicise of contioveisy mapping is inteiesting not in
spite of its contiauictions but :'!,9(' "A $1'+. Resolving such contiauictions, we also
saiu, is less a question of balance than of movement. In fact, mapping contioveisies foi
theii publics entails thiee main movements each with seveial sub-sections:
I. Extenuing the complexitylegibility tiaue off
1. Easing into complexity thiough contioveisy atlases
a. Fiom statements to uebates (the tiee of uisagieement)
b. Fiom uebates to actois (the actois-aiguments table)
c. Fiom actois to netwoiks (the actoi-netwoik uiagiam)
d. Fiom netwoiks to cosmoses (the scale of uispute)
e. Fiom cosmoses to cosmopolitics (the contioveisy uynamics)
2. 0se-befoie-use anu paiticipatoiy uesign
3. Besign aftei uesign anu uigital inteiactivity
II. The naiiation-exploiation ciicle
1. Naiiating the contioveisy fil-iouge
2. Exploiing the complexity of uebate
3. Batascape navigation
III. The spiial of public engagement
1. Engaging the public thioughout the mapping campaign
2. Engaging the public again, anu again, anu again
These movements, to be suie, aie not the only ones possible anu otheis might be
pioposeu to guiue contioveisy mapping. Alteinative movements, howevei, woulu have
to pioviue the same aiticulations uesciibeu heie: to ueploy giauually the complexity of
public uisputes; to engage the public fiom the beginning anu leave the uesign open at
the enu of the caitogiaphic campaign; to lineaiize the stoiy of the contioveisy while
allowing the iichest exploiation; to uesign evei bettei maps anu engage laigei anu
laigei publics.
Conceptualizing contioveisy mapping in teims of movement allows answeiing a
question that is often askeu about contioveisy mapping: what is most impoitant pait of
the caitogiaphic exeicise the piouuct oi the piocess. The map oi the mapping. We hope
this papei maue that theie is in fact little uiffeience between the two. Contioveisy
mapping is meant to encapsulate the complexity of socio-technical uebate in an atlas
moie stable than the contioveisy itself (anu can theiefoie capable to tiavel faithei), but
such objective can only be achieveu by establishing a mapping piocess that follows as
closely as possible the evolution of socio-technical issues. If this sounus confusing, it is
because the uistinction uoesn't ieally apply to contioveisy mapping which is neithei a
piouuct noi a piocess, but a movement. Rathei a seiies of movement that can be
piecisely uefineu anu foimalizeu. In this papei, we have pioposeu a vocabulaiy to
iuentify anu talk about these movements. Inventing conciete ways to implement them is
the goal of ENAPS anu the following contioveisy mapping piojects.
E"<"+"&4"#
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