Co-mapping on Country: Train the trainer for sustainable development

Co-mapping on Country involves creating large, multi-purpose maps on canvas in collaboration with Traditional Owners. Thes maps are designed to facilitate engagement, discussion, communication, and informed decision-making, with the primary purpose of utilising Aboriginal land for economic development. These maps are also used for cultural maintenance and education, including inter-cultural leaning. In particular:  Maps serve as excellent boundary objects which help negotiate the spaces between different cultures and knowledges. They are tangible items which facilitate discussion, planning and decision-making in complex inter-cultural environments. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples value maps for a range of reasons. Developing a two-way map is an effective engagement tool with land at the centre. The training of other artists/intercultural communicators in the process of co-mapping will enable access to a pool of people with expertise to assist the Aboriginal Land Economic Development Agency (ALEDA) meet its goals for economic development, enabling more two-way maps to meet the objectives in (1) above. Underpinning the training is the desire to ‘grow’ the expertise of others to do this important cross-cultural work. The co-mapping process and the resulting maps are multi-purposed but for this project, the objective is to provide the appropriate foundation required for successful planning and implementation of commercial development on Aboriginal land and enable that information to then be used to plan development activities that fit with the aspirations and expectations of all stakeholders. The co-mapping process and maps will provide critical information to support commercial development on Aboriginal land by enabling discussion, planning, intercultural understanding, decision-making, and implementation of development activity which fits with aspirations and expectations of all stakeholders. The maps record: Exclusion zones Flora and fauna Women’s and men’s cultural sites Basic topography and hydrology, cadastre Infrastructure Ecological features and water sources These maps can be used to identify areas most suitable for development, incorporating both local Indigenous languages and English.

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