SERIES: Your Community

S1-S3

60–90 minutes

Mapping Your Community

This series is about changing your community, not just studying it. You will redesign spaces, promote local places and businesses, tackle a real issue and build a project that could be pitched to people with the power to make it happen. First, you need to see the community as a system of assets, problems […]

Mapping Your Community

Your Mission

Map your community like a designer looking for places where real change could happen.

You will identify assets and problems, connect them to locations, test your assumptions and prioritise the opportunities with most potential.

The Shape of This Challenge

Discover

✏️ ️ Notice & question

Explore

️ Investigate & test

Create

✏️ Make & communicate

Reflect

️ Think & apply

Discover

Start by seeing what is already strong as well as what is not working.

Step 1

See the Community Like a Designer

️ Asset + issue sort · 8–10 mins

We are learning to notice both strengths and problems in a local area.

Community change starts with more than a list of complaints. Useful ideas build on assets that already exist.

Your Task

List at least six community assets: places, businesses, spaces, services, history, views, events or people-led organisations.
List at least six issues or missed opportunities.
Sort each issue into movement, public space, business/high street, environment, visitor experience or community life.
Choose the three opportunities that feel most worth investigating.

I can identify community assets and problems using clear categories.

→ This gives you an opportunity map rather than a complaint list.

ResearchCritical ThinkingCommunity Awareness

Step 2

Map Where Change Could Happen

✏️ Map + annotate · 10–12 mins

We are learning to connect community issues and assets to specific public locations.

Place matters. A litter problem near a busy route, an empty unit on a high street or unused green space may each suggest different solutions.

Your Task

Use a local map.
Mark at least five assets and five opportunities.
Add one short note explaining why each opportunity matters.
Circle one possible quick win and one bigger transformation.

I can create a location-based community opportunity map.

→ This gives later design challenges real places and problems to work with.

ResearchMappingCritical Thinking

Explore

Add evidence and make choices about where effort could create the biggest difference.

Step 3

Check the Map With Evidence

Choose your route · 12–15 mins

We are learning to test first impressions using public evidence or structured observation.

A place can look underused at one time of day and busy at another, so avoid treating a single observation as the whole truth.

Your Task

Choose two opportunities from your map.
Complete one research route.
Record what the evidence supports and what remains uncertain.
Update one part of the map if needed.

⚡ Quick Track

Use public information, maps, local plans or a teacher-led observation to verify two opportunities.

Dig Deeper

Combine two evidence types, such as public data plus observation or public information plus a short teacher-approved anonymous survey.

I can use evidence to improve a community diagnosis.

→ This makes the opportunity map strong enough to guide action.

ResearchCritical ThinkingInformation Evaluation

Step 4

Prioritise What Could Make the Biggest Difference

️ Impact matrix · 10–12 mins

We are learning to compare local opportunities using impact and feasibility.

The most visible problem is not always the best place to start.

Your Task

Score your top five opportunities from 1–5 for community impact, feasibility, cost/effort and number of people helped.
Choose one high-priority issue and one high-potential asset.
Write how they could connect.

I can prioritise community opportunities using transparent criteria.

→ This gives the series a clear action focus.

Problem SolvingCritical ThinkingDecision Making

Create & Share

Create an opportunity map that becomes the starting point for action.

Step 5

Create a Community Opportunity Map

✏️ Analyse · Create · 25–35 mins

We are learning to communicate where community change could happen and why.

Your map should make somebody think: we could actually do something here.

Your Task

Show at least five assets and five opportunities.
Use at least two evidence points.
Highlight one quick win and one bigger transformation.
Identify the opportunity you would take forward first.
Choose one output below.

Community Opportunity Map

1 page · annotated map + 150–200 words

⏱ 25–30 mins

Show assets, issues, opportunity zones and your first action priority.

Community Change Briefing

4 slides · maximum 30 words per slide

⏱ 30–35 mins

Present strengths, issues, evidence and the opportunities with most potential.

Five Ways This Place Could Be Better

90 seconds final runtime

⏱ 30–35 mins

Create an evidence-based community opportunity tour using public information.

I can create an evidence-based map that points toward action.

→ This is your finished mission output.

ResearchCritical ThinkingCommunication

Step 6

Reflect, Apply, Look Forward

️ Think or discuss · 5–8 mins

We are learning to reflect on how mapping turns local knowledge into action opportunities.

Next you will take one of the most visible community systems — the high street or town centre — and redesign it.

Your Task

Answer the prompts.
Choose one place on your map you most want to redesign.
Write one thing the redesign must improve for people.

Reflect

Which local asset had more potential than you first realised?

Apply

How could an opportunity map help a council, community group or business network?

Look Forward

What could change in your community without waiting for a huge budget?

I can explain how assets and problems can be connected to create opportunities.

→ You are ready to move from diagnosis to physical redesign.

ReflectionCommunity AwarenessProblem Solving

Dex AI Study Partner

Hi! I'm Dex, your AI Study Partner. Ask me a question, attach a screenshot, test your skills with Quiz, or click Mastery for feedback!

Screenshot attached

TOOLKIT

Choose Your Tools

Use public information and teacher-approved research. Do not publish personal information, photograph people without permission, or contact organisations independently unless your teacher has approved it.

Map

Use Google Maps, OpenStreetMap, a printed map or a teacher-provided local map. Mark only public places and public information.

Observe

Use a teacher-led walk, public photographs, Street View or desk research. Record assets as well as problems.

Create

Use a map, one-page opportunity board or short community briefing.

Educator / Parent Notes

Age, Stage and Prior Learning: Designed for S1–S3. Keep mapping to public places and public information; do not map private homes or sensitive locations.

Before You Start: A teacher-led local walk is ideal but not required. Street View, maps and public planning information can support desk-based work.

How to Open This: Ask: “If somebody gave us £100,000 to improve this area, where would we even start — and how would we know?”

Scheduling: Steps 1–4 need 35–45 minutes. Step 5 needs 25–35 minutes.

If a Pupil Gets Stuck: Provide a local map and six ready-made category prompts. Let learners focus on three assets and three issues.

For Fast Finishers: Ask learners to create separate maps for residents, businesses and visitors, then compare priorities.

Marking Guidance: Look for balanced asset/problem mapping, evidence rather than assumption, thoughtful prioritisation and opportunities that can feed later action challenges.

Mapping Your Community

Mapping Your Community

Discover

See the Community Like a Designer

Map Where Change Could Happen

Explore

Check the Map With Evidence

Prioritise What Could Make the Biggest Difference

Create & Share

Create a Community Opportunity Map

Reflect, Apply, Look Forward

Show What You Have Learned

Map

Observe

Create

Show What You Have Learned

Map

Observe

Create

TOOLKIT

Map

Observe

Create

Educator / Parent Notes

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