Method guide · Arrange people and ideas
Community Walk Audit
Use to observe public-space resources and issues along a safe route, with indoor participation and tightly limited photo handling.
- People
- 4–30
- Base procedure time
- 90 minutes
- Recording
- Shared record
Purpose: Generate ideas; Reflect and learn.
English guide
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How this method works
Walk a safe route and bring observations of community resources and issues back to a map. Before departure, check the route, return time, device manager and subjects that must not be photographed. Turn off location saving, automatic cloud sync and external sharing on photography devices. Walk in groups of 3–6 and put public-space resources and issues into anonymous notes. The device manager deletes photos the same day, including sync destinations. Only the responsible person views exception photos, which are deleted from every sync destination within at most 7 days. For disclosure, generalise evacuees, individual support locations and vulnerable facilities to wider areas or keep them private. After returning, record proposed uses, responses, verification contacts and deadlines. Do not run this without a safe route and indoor participation.
Phase schedule
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- Set safe routes and recording boundaries0–10 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Bound. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Walk in groups of 3–6 to note resources and issues10–45 minutes from the start (35 minutes)
Action: Walk. Participation: Groups of 3–6.
Shared record
- Put anonymous notes and photo-deletion dates on the map45–65 minutes from the start (20 minutes)
Action: Place. Participation: Groups of 3–6.
Shared record
- Compare resource uses and issue responses65–80 minutes from the start (15 minutes)
Action: Compare. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
- Generalise sensitive locations and hand over checks80–90 minutes from the start (10 minutes)
Action: Hand. Participation: Everyone.
Shared record
Facilitation steps
- For 10 minutes, check the safe route, device manager, disabled automatic sync/external sharing, and the responsible person and deletion date for exception photos.
- For 35 minutes, walk the route in groups of 3–6, recording resources and issues one item at a time in text notes. Do not enter private land.
- For 20 minutes, transfer photos into anonymous notes. The device manager deletes the photos the same day, including sync destinations; only the responsible person views exceptions.
- For 15 minutes, choose one proposed use of a resource and one response to an issue, without asserting unverified facts.
- For 10 minutes, record verification contacts and deadlines; generalise evacuees, individual support locations and vulnerable facilities to wider areas or keep them private.
If something changes
If
Before departure or during walking, there is one weather warning, traffic danger, illness or route obstruction.
Then
Do not send out any group, or return all groups to the nearest safe meeting point, and switch to indoor map checking.
If
One photo or note contains information whose disclosure increases danger, such as a person, nameplate, vehicle number, evacuee, individual support location or vulnerable facility.
Then
Do not put it on the public map. Generalise it to a wider area or keep it private. The device manager deletes photos the same day, including sync destinations; only the responsible person may view exception photos for at most 7 days.
If
At least one participant’s whereabouts are unconfirmed 5 minutes after the planned return time.
Then
Do not start organising the results. Follow the prior contact sequence and route check, and do not share outputs until everyone’s safety is confirmed.
Preparation
Materials
- Blank maps at the same scale: one per group
- Resource and issue text cards: 10 of each per group
- One portable sheet per group for route, return time, emergency contacts and photo-deletion date
- One managed device per group using one, with location saving, automatic cloud sync and external sharing turned off
- Broad-tip pens: 2 per group
- Stop, rest and indoor-participation cards: one set per person
Room and setup
- Display safe routes, rest points, return time, subjects that must not be photographed and indoor participation options.
- Assign one device manager and turn off automatic sync and external sharing. Only the responsible person views exception photos, deleting them from every sync destination within at most 7 days.
Adjust for people and time
For 4–6 people, walk as one group. For 7–30 people, distribute participants into groups of 3–6 differing by no more than one person and assign a route-checking person to each group. Use maps at the same scale, but do not consolidate records identifying individuals or private land. Generalise evacuees, individual support locations and vulnerable facilities to wider areas or keep them private before disclosure. For 31 or more people, use separate sessions.
Safety and non-applicable situations
Confirm safe routes, rest, return arrangements and indoor alternatives. Do not enter private land or photograph prohibited subjects. Disable location saving, automatic sync and external sharing, delete photos including sync destinations the same day except for restricted exceptions deleted within 7 days, and keep dangerous identifying locations off public maps. At 5 minutes past the return time, if anyone’s whereabouts are unconfirmed, follow the contact/check procedure and do not organise or share outputs until everyone’s safety is confirmed.
Manuscript's recorded references
These translate the original manuscript's source and rights claims. They remain separate from any current-page notice below; they do not establish new verification.
- Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications: A Guide to Discussion Using Workshop Methods, p.4 menu 1
https://www.soumu.go.jp/main_content/000997425.pdf
PDL-1.0 adaptation; changes made
- Conditions applying to PDL-1.0
https://www.soumu.go.jp/menu_kyotsuu/policy/tyosaku.html
PDL-1.0
Diagram, print, and video language
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Editorial provenance
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