Opening reflexive spaces: Maps as an anticipatory tool in expert interviews

The value of maps in geographical and social-scientific research as tools that afford imaginative aesthetic engagement with research topics has become increasingly recognised. We explore here, for the first time, the value of these affordances for interviewing experts. In particular, the imaginative engagement maps can provide may help unsettle routines of thought, and invite reflexivity towards the assumptions on which expert knowledge may rest. This contribution of maps can be particularly valuable in research where anticipating potential future consequences of societal transformations is a central aim. We examine a case study from South Wales, UK, relating to explorations of socio-technical transitions in the field of energy, and show how the imaginative engagements that maps afford for expert participants can facilitate specific ways of anticipating potential futures that avoid simply extrapolating from what is familiar.