context evaluation
First step: Collect information!
In order to investigate any given field you want to change one should accquire good knowledge. Good knowledge, that is to say not only figures and numbers, but also relations between people, the way they talk and its content. How to find this knowledge? Go and find some information in the internet, at local ressources like archives, newspapers and so on.
Second step: Have a look!
It is recommended to start with an empirical walk. If you already know your field (e.g. it is your neighbourhood), ask others to do this and to describe their observations. Simply walk through the field (or cruise by car or by public transport). By doing so it is important to choose your own route, you should derive! The following questions are supporting your walk and one should take notes:
- What is attracting you?
- Select two different places: a very comfortable one - and one not so comfortable. How could you describe those places?
- Collect your observations, feelings, hearings, smellings, what you think.
The empirical walk brings up questions and inspires your interest for different aspects (spatial, social, ecological, …) in the field. Another way of doing this is to materialise your tour by using a foto- oder videocamera. Later this can be edited and serve as an visual introduction into the field or as material for semiotic analysis. Also it is possible to ask a school class or people in a youth-club to do this. Usually they will point directly at the hot points in the field. Think about a good way to document everything you do in the field. You never know …
