Mapping Community Insights

Over time, we've learned that listening to stories is just the beginning. In the Belong in Plymouth project, we’re now turning conversations into insights—mapping what we hear into something we can all learn from.

Matt Bell reflected on how we’re approaching data with care: 'We will not include the collection of demographic data, other than building into the training an opening part of the conversation to be “so tell me about yourself” and to inquire into if there are any groups the person feels they belong to.' This keeps the flow natural, while still inviting people to reflect on belonging.

We’ve also been experimenting with digital tools for story coding and mapping. 'Juliette is getting on well with transcribing, cleaning up the stories. We're concentrating on the use of Quirkos first and foremost to code the stories,' Matt explained. But we’re mindful of privacy too—sharing stories on public tools like Kumu comes with challenges, so we’re working carefully.

Workshops continue to be a central space for making sense together. As one set of notes from an early community workshop in 2021 recalled: 'There was lovely cake, we went in with raw transcripts and had good discussions. The conversion into the map didn’t really happen although factors were drawn out that did feed in.'

Now, we’re planning more of these participatory workshops. Juliette Jackson suggested: 'We'd like to get some group work meetings in the diary...to go through conversations together and marry up with Kumu phrases.' The goal? Co-create a collective map of what matters in Plymouth.

From raw stories to thematic maps, this journey shows how community research can grow into something structured, ethical, and shared.