The walk-along (or go-along) method is a qualitative, participatory approach where researchers accompany participants on their everyday routes, such as through neighbourhoods or public spaces. Emerging from ethnography and human geography, it captures lived experiences, socio-spatial relationships, and the participant’s embodied interactions with the environment. Unlike traditional sit-down interviews, walk-alongs allow participants to demonstrate their experiences in real time, revealing habitual routines, spatial constraints, and embodied knowledge that may remain hidden in conventional methods.
Overview
In feminist research, this method prioritizes bodily experience, participation, and situated knowledge. Walking alongside participants can reveal how social hierarchies, power relations, and infrastructural inequalities shape access to urban space—for instance, uneven sidewalks, inaccessible transit, or unsafe streets.
It also fosters a shift in power dynamics, as participants guide the researcher, determining routes and points of discussion, which can be particularly empowering for marginalized groups. This approach emphasizes the relational, sensory, and affective dimensions of urban life, generating insights that traditional interviews may overlook.
Walk-alongs in IMBRACE
In IMBRACE, walk-alongs are used to explore how migrants experience urban spaces in relation to climate health vulnerabilities, such as heatwaves and flooding. Researchers accompany participants to assess access, usability, and safety of climate adaptation infrastructure, including public parks, plazas, or health centres, and identify gaps or unintended negative impacts like exclusion or gentrification.
Walk-alongs are implemented with small, trusted groups (e.g., 5 participants per city), with flexible routes co-designed with participants to ensure safety and comfort.
Sessions are limited to around 1 hour, followed by reflection where participants share feelings, observations, and challenges encountered. The method allows participants to highlight intersectional experiences and embodied knowledge, supporting planning and policy recommendations that address diverse needs, enhance inclusivity, and inform climate-health adaptation strategies at local and European scales.