Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Walking as a method for epistemic justice in sustainability

  • Getting to Solutions: Moving Beyond Theory to Practical Methods for Change
  • Published:
Ambio Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

We argue that walking as a method provides an integrative approach to advance epistemic justice in sustainability research. The theory and practice of walking as a method has grown quickly within the social sciences and arts but remains underrepresented in sustainability research, where walking is typically an object of study (e.g., urban walkability). We argue that walking should be valued as an important mode of knowledge production that simultaneously widens sustainability knowledge, integrates diverse knowledge systems, and supports transdisciplinary sustainability solutions. In this perspective article, we consider the following questions: (1) Why is walking important to sustainability knowledge? (2) How can walk-based methods advance epistemic justice in sustainability knowledge? (3) What outcomes might we expect from cultivating walking as a method for sustainability knowledge? We reflect on how walking as a method centers equity and the contributions of walk-based sustainability knowledge for research and policy.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Aghaabbasi, M., M. Moeinaddini, M.Z. Shah, Z. Asadi-Shekari, and M.A. Kermani. 2018. Evaluating the capability of walkability audit tools for assessing sidewalks. Sustainable Cities and Society 37: 475–484.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alessio, G., and M. De Lucia. 2017. Promotion and development of protected volcanic areas through field-based environmental communication activities: The ‘Gran Cono’tour in the Vesuvius National Park (Italy). Geoheritage 9: 435–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amaya, V., M. Chardon, H. Klein, T. Moulaert, and N. Vuillerme. 2022. What do we know about the use of the walk-along method to identify the perceived neighborhood environment correlates of walking activity in healthy older adults: Methodological considerations related to data collection—A systematic review. Sustainability 14: 11792.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Apetrei, C.I., G. Caniglia, H. von Wehrden, and D.J. Lang. 2021. Just another buzzword? A systematic literature review of knowledge-related concepts in sustainability science. Global Environmental Change 68: 102222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Auyeung, D.N., Campbell, L.K., Johnson, M., Sonti, N.F., and Svendsen, E. 2016. Reading the landscape: citywide social assessment of New York City parks and natural areas in 2013–2014. Social Assessment White Paper(2), 1–69.

  • Bates, C., and A. Rhys-Taylor. 2017. Walking through social research. Taylor & Francis.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bazuń, D., and M. Kwiatkowski. 2022. Exploratory walk and local cohesion—the concept and application. Mobilities 17: 565–584.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beyond, C. 2019. Why am I always being researched? A guidebook for community organizations, researchers, and funders to help us get from insufficient understanding to more authentic truth. Chicago: Chicago beyond Equity Series 1: 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhattacharya, D., and K. Barry. 2021. On orientations and adjustments: An exploration of walking, wandering and wayfinding in Brisbane-Meanjin, Australia. Australian Geographer 52: 257–272.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Choi, M.A. 2022. The power of slowness: Governmentalities of Olle walking in South Korea. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 47: 562–576.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, W.C., L. Van Kerkhoff, L. Lebel, and G.C. Gallopin. 2016. Crafting usable knowledge for sustainable development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 113: 4570–4578.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Curtis, E. 2016. Walking out of the classroom: learning on the streets of Aberdeen. In Ways of Walking, 155–166. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duffy, M., M. Gallagher, and G. Waitt. 2019. Emotional and affective geographies of sustainable community leadership: A visceral approach. Geoforum 106: 378–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ettema, D., and I. Smajic. 2015. Walking, places and wellbeing. The Geographical Journal 181: 102–109.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Evans, J., and P. Jones. 2011. The walking interview: Methodology, mobility and place. Applied Geography 31: 849–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fuccillo Battle, K., A. Duhon, C.R. Vispo, T.M. Crimmins, T.N. Rosenstiel, L.L. Armstrong-Davies, and C.E. de Rivera. 2022. Citizen science across two centuries reveals phenological change among plant species and functional groups in the Northeastern US. Journal of Ecology 110: 1757–1774.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Giddy, J.K., and G. Hoogendoorn. 2018. Ethical concerns around inner city walking tours. Urban Geography 39: 1293–1299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haeffner, M., F. Hames, M.M. Barbour, J.M. Reeves, G. Platell, and S. Grover. 2022. Expanding collaborative autoethnography into the world of natural science for transdisciplinary teams. One Earth 5: 157–167.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haider, L.J., J. Hentati-Sundberg, M. Giusti, J. Goodness, M. Hamann, V.A. Masterson, M. Meacham, A. Merrie, et al. 2018. The undisciplinary journey: Early-career perspectives in sustainability science. Sustainability Science 13: 191–204.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Heidegger, M. 2008. Being and time. Harper Collins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Heijnen, I., E. Stewart, and S. Espiner. 2022. On the move: The theory and practice of the walking interview method in outdoor education research. Annals of Leisure Research 25: 529–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ingold, T., and J.L. Vergunst. 2008. Ways of walking: Ethnography and practice on foot. Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jamei, E., M. Mortimer, M. Seyedmahmoudian, B. Horan, and A. Stojcevski. 2017. Investigating the role of virtual reality in planning for sustainable smart cities. Sustainability 9: 2006.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson, W. 2019. Walking Brooklyn’s redline: a journey through the geography of race. Journal of Public Pedagogies 4. https://doi.org/10.15209/jpp.1191.

  • Jung, Y. 2014. Mindful walking: The serendipitous journey of community-based ethnography. Qualitative Inquiry 20: 621–627.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Karjalainen, L.E., and S. Juhola. 2021. Urban transportation sustainability assessments: A systematic review of literature. Transport Reviews 41: 659–684.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keeler, B.L., K.D. Derickson, H. Waters, and R. Walker. 2020. Advancing water equity demands new approaches to sustainability science. One Earth 2: 211–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kitson, J., M. Bucknum, and M. Meenar. 2021. Staging hydrophilic encounters–Experiential methods for creating dialogic listening space. Social & Cultural Geography 1: 1–18.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kowalewski, M., and R. Bartłomiejski. 2020. Is it research or just walking? Framing walking research methods as “non-scientific.” Geoforum 114: 59–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lam, M. 2022. Rurality, identity, and motivations for tackling climate change (or not): A duoethnography. Environmental Education Research 28: 1144–1156.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lebowitz, A., and D. Trudeau. 2017. Digging in: Lawn dissidents, performing sustainability, and landscapes of privilege. Social & Cultural Geography 18: 706–731.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lemos, M.C., and B.J. Morehouse. 2005. The co-production of science and policy in integrated climate assessments. Global Environmental Change 15: 57–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lyons, C., A.L. Crosby, and H. Morgan-Harris. 2018. Going on a field trip: Critical geographical walking tours and tactical media as urban praxis in Sydney, Australia. M/C Journal 21. http://hdl.handle.net/10453/128096.

  • Manolas, E., Hockey, J.C., and Littledyke, M. 2013. A natural history of an environmentalist: Identifying influences on pro-sustainability behavior through biography and autoethnography. Paper presented at the Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung/Forum: Qualitative Social Research.

  • Markwell, K., D. Stevenson, and D. Rowe. 2004. Footsteps and memories: Interpreting an Australian urban landscape through thematic walking tours. International Journal of Heritage Studies 10: 457–473.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marston, R.A. 2008. Land, life, and environmental change in mountains. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 98: 507–520.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McDonnell, M.J., S.T. Pickett, P. Groffman, P. Bohlen, R.V. Pouyat, W.C. Zipperer, R.W. Parmelee, M.M. Carreiro, et al. 2008. Ecosystem processes along an urban-to-rural gradient. Urban Ecology: An International Perspective on the Interaction between Humans and Nature 1: 299–313.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Middel, A., N. Selover, B. Hagen, and N. Chhetri. 2016. Impact of shade on outdoor thermal comfort—a seasonal field study in Tempe, Arizona. International Journal of Biometeorology 60: 1849–1861.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray, L., and H. Järviluoma. 2020. Walking as transgenerational methodology. Qualitative Research 20: 229–238.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nicol, R. 2013. Returning to the richness of experience: Is autoethnography a useful approach for outdoor educators in promoting pro-environmental behaviour? Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning 13: 3–17.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Oleas, N.H., K.J. Feeley, J. Fajardo, A.W. Meerow, J. Gebelein, and J. Francisco-Ortega. 2019. Muddy boots beget wisdom: Implications for rare or endangered plant species distribution models. Diversity 11: 10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Opfermann, L.S. 2021. Walking in Jozi: Guided tours, insecurity and urban regeneration in inner city Johannesburg. Global Policy 12: 41–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Orlove, B., P. Sherpa, N. Dawson, I. Adelekan, W. Alangui, R. Carmona, D. Coen, M.K. Nelson, et al. 2023. Placing diverse knowledge systems at the core of transformative climate research. Ambio 52: 1431–1447. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-023-01857-w.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Patias, N., F. Rowe, S. Cavazzi, and D. Arribas-Bel. 2021. Sustainable urban development indicators in Great Britain from 2001 to 2016. Landscape and Urban Planning 214: 104148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pierce, J., and M. Lawhon. 2015. Walking as method: Toward methodological forthrightness and comparability in urban geographical research. The Professional Geographer 67: 655–662.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pink, S. 2008. An urban tour: The sensory sociality of ethnographic place-making. Ethnography 9: 175–196.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Portman, M.E., A. Natapov, and D. Fisher-Gewirtzman. 2015. To go where no man has gone before: Virtual reality in architecture, landscape architecture and environmental planning. Computers, Environment and Urban Systems 54: 376–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Santo-Tomás Muro, R., Sáenz. de Tejada, C. Granados, and E.J. Rodríguez Romero. 2020. Green infrastructures in the peri-urban landscape: Exploring local perception of well-being through ‘go-alongs’ and ‘semi-structured interviews.’ Sustainability 12: 6836.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shrivastava, P., M.S. Smith, K. O’Brien, and L. Zsolnai. 2020. Transforming sustainability science to generate positive social and environmental change globally. One Earth 2: 329–340.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Silver, J., D. Fields, R. Goulding, I. Rose, and S. Donnachie. 2021. Walking the financialized city: Confronting capitalist urbanization through mobile popular education. Community Development Journal 56: 161–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spangenberg, J.H. 2011. Sustainability science: A review, an analysis and some empirical lessons. Environmental Conservation 38: 275–287.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Springgay, S., and S.E. Truman. 2017. Walking methodologies in a more-than-human world: WalkingLab. Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stratford, E., G. Waitt, and T. Harada. 2020. Walking city streets: Spatial qualities, spatial justice, and democratising impulses. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 45: 123–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Svendsen, E.S., L.K. Campbell, N. Falxa-Raymond, and G. Baine. 2015. Urban Stewardship as a Catalyst for Recovery and Change. In Waterproofing New York, vol. 02, ed. D.H.B.A.C.S. Nordenson, 104–111. New York: Terreform.

    Google Scholar 

  • Temper, L., and D. Del Bene. 2016. Transforming knowledge creation for environmental and epistemic justice. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability 20: 41–49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urquijo, M. 2023. Walking ethnography: The polyphonies of space in an urban landscape. Journal of Cultural Geography 1: 1–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte, W.F. 1993. Revisiting street corner society. Paper presented at the Sociological forum.

  • Wintoneak, V., and C. Jobb. 2022. Walking collaboratories: Experimentations with climate and waste pedagogies. Children’s Geographies 1: 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wyborn, C., A. Datta, J. Montana, M. Ryan, P. Leith, B. Chaffin, C. Miller, L. Van Kerkhoff. 2019. Co-producing sustainability: Reordering the governance of science, policy, and practice. Annual Review of Environment and Resources 44: 319–346.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Alan Wiig and Nancy Sonti for their valuable feedback, as well as Thomas Heise, Davy Knittle, Andrew Strombeck, and Maria Sulimma for their insightful comments during the “New Urban Imaginaries: Narrating the Post-Industrial City” workshop hosted by Penn State Abington. The USDA Forest Service provided support for this research. The findings and conclusions in this are those of the authors and should not be construed to represent any official USDA or U.S. Government determination or policy.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geography and Urban Studies, Temple University, 308 Gladfelter Hall, 1115 W. Berks St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, USA

    Hamil Pearsall

  2. Department of Geography and Environment, St Mary’s Building, University of Aberdeen, King’s College, Aberdeen, AB24 3UF, UK

    Joseph Pierce

  3. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 431 Walter Reed Rd., Bayside, NY, 11359, USA

    Lindsay K. Campbell

Authors
  1. Hamil Pearsall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Joseph Pierce
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Lindsay K. Campbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hamil Pearsall.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors have no relevant financial or nonfinancial interests to disclose.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Pearsall, H., Pierce, J. & Campbell, L.K. Walking as a method for epistemic justice in sustainability. Ambio 53, 907–915 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-01985-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13280-024-01985-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation