Experiencing Design Fieldwork: Walking Interviews on Madeira Island

This article invites reflections on the design fieldwork practice as a process for connecting, relating and understanding complex social, natural, cultural and political systems, non-linear and interdependent visions about change at the root of many ecological issues. Through walking and talking with natural scientists in Madeira Island, we conducted a place-based inquiry that aimed to understand site-specific problems and opportunities to recount biological and cultural aspects of its peculiar forests. We used a fieldwork approach as embodied contextual analysis for amplifying the unique aspects, connecting ecological controversies, and bridging local efforts that cross both natural science and design. This contribution wants to present the place-based research project we conducted and specifically the walking interview process method we used to outline collaborative visions of development.