Representing spatio-temporal relations between humans and non-humans: The role of landscape architecture in transdisciplinary research

The mapping tool Gaiagraphy visualizes interactions between humans, animals, plants, and non-living things. We explore its potential in the context of ecosystem-strengthening coastal protection by testing it in a real-world lab on the German North Sea coast.

Ecosystem-strengthening coastal protection is a complex task that not only poses technical challenges but also involves many diverse stakeholders. Apart from human interests, the interests of animals and plants, whose habitats require preservation and enhancement, are also at stake. From the perspective of landscape architecture, this paper discusses the representation of these spatio-temporal relationships and their value in participatory processes, focusing on the mapping method of Gaiagraphy. Recently developed by Alexandra Arènes, Jérôme Gaillardet and Bruno Latour, this method is based on the Gaia hypothesis proposed by Lynn Margulis and James Lovelock, and it visualizes the spatio-temporal interactions between humans, animals, plants, and even non-living things such as sand or water. The potential of the method was tested in a coastal research project during workshops with stakeholders and residents on the German island of Spiekeroog and in the coastal town of Dornum. It turned out that Gaiagraphy is a promising tool for landscape architects to communicate socio-ecological processes, yet it needs to be adapted when used in short-term participatory workshops.