Counter Cartography
Dare to Map it
Mapping isn't just about lines on paper. It's a radical act of seeing, feeling, and reclaiming space.This counter cartography exploration challenges our understanding of mapping by centring lived experiences. It asks us to look at what is usually overlooked: dumpsters' hidden ecologies, chewing gum's street hierarchies, neighbourhood security cameras. What do their relative positions tell us about how we really interact with the city, and about the inner working relationships of the city itself? This September we invite you to join us in this exploration.
ABOUT THE SERIES
Four hands-on workshops along Den Haag’s coast, exploring how mapping techniques shift perspective and can concretely influence design and policy decisions. We approach material, social, ecological, and political processes through counter cartography — a curious, collaborative method that brings urban planning, ecological science, and social research into conversation.
No prior mapping experience required. Just bring your curiosity and willingness to observe. Whether you’re a researcher, designer, architect, urban ecologist, or simply someone who loves their city, you’re welcome!
THE WORKSHOPS
| Workshop | description | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
Matters of FactStreet Ecologies |
Map dumpsters, chewing gum, and neighbourhood security cameras to explore what their relative positions reveal about use, care, control, and belonging in the city. | 9 September 14:30–17:00 |
Kijkduin Coast |
Matters of ConcernSocial Perspective |
Trace paths, desire lines, pauses, and routines to understand how people and more than-human actors move through and shape shared space. | 16 September 14:30–17:00 |
Boulevard Scheveningen |
Matters of CareCounter Ecologies |
Map pollution, noise, exposure, and uneven environmental conditions to ask whose environment is protected, and whose is put at risk. | 23 September 14:30–17:00 |
Eerste Haven |
Matters of ImaginationTerritorial Organisation |
Bring the previous sessions together in counter-maps that test alternative arrangements, futures, and forms of spatial organisation. | 30 September 10:00–17:00 |
Zuiderstrand / Harbour Fringe |
WHAT COUNTER CARTOGRAPHY PRODUCES
At the end of the series, you’ll have created a spatial argument — accumulated layers — street ecologies, movement traces, contamination gradients, speculative futures — form a composite document that no single discipline would produce alone. Counter cartography isn’t an alternative to urban planning, ecological science, or social research. It’s a method for bringing these practices into conversation, using the map as a shared surface where different knowledges meet, contest, and occasionally surprise each other.
PARTICIPATE
Open to everyone: researchers, designers, architects, urban ecologists, curious citizens — anyone with interest in the spatial dimensions of the city they inhabit.
Registration options: Join the full series, or register for individual sessions that fit your schedule.
DETAILS
Location: Den Haag (coastal sites along the harbor and boulevard)
Time: 10:00–14:00
Dates: 12, 18, 24, 25 September 2026
Contact: Eva Kuiper
