Lettau, M. (2025). Participatory methodological approaches for regenerative cultural policy. The case study of cultural mapping in the public library of Ravensburg. International Journal of Cultural Policy, 31 (4): 482-96.
This recently published article draws upon aspects of our research group’s work, discussing cultural mapping “as a participatory research method for regenerative cultural policy through investigating the role of libraries as a social infrastructure. It argues that the reframing of cultural policy in a regenerative way—under the idea of the renewal of cultural ecosystems—requires participatory methodological approaches that involve communities and recognize specific characteristics of a place to follow a holistic attempt. Cultural mapping aims to visualize local cultural knowledge such as feelings, practices, memories, or rituals that are important to a community. The method is used to involve communities in cultural planning processes and to visualize and incorporate knowledge that has so far been overlooked or ignored by cultural policy stakeholders. The article uses the case study of cultural mapping in the public library in the city of Ravensburg, Germany, focusing on (1) favorite places of library users, (2) children and young people, and (3) barriers for non-users.”
The focus on the role of the library complements and expands our recent focus on the city museum as a central agent in convening cultural mapping activities.
The article uses the public library in Ravensburg, Germany, as its case study, where a cultural mapping process was conducted with 30 students from Zeppelin University Friedrichshafen from 8 to 9 March 2024. It analyzes how the intangible knowledge of the library users was made visible and, more broadly, how this methodological approach can be useful for regenerative cultural policy.
The full article link is here: https://doi.org/10.1080/10286632.2025.2470820
