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Step 3: Map the Terrain

Mapping the terrain of human relationships helps you to identify opportunities for action.

Who is most harmed by the problem? Who can you engage in your advocacy? Who is working against you?

Map the Terrain

We each work in our own unique country context. At the same time, all our human rights work takes place within human relationships. We are working to change attitudes, behaviors and the actions people will take. We are working to change policies that are created by people. We are working to change institutions and processes that are implemented by people.

It is important to expand the knowledge of yourself, your allies and your opponents. We all have networks of human relationships. It is important for us to understand the network of human relationships surrounding a problem. We call this the “terrain”. It is important to “Know the Terrain” of the human relationships that operate within your unique context.

Objectives:

  • Visualize the connections of human relationships involved in your issue.
  • Visualize who are for and against your issue on a spectrum from active allies to active opponents.

Mapping the terrain of human relationships allows you to identify more opportunities for action. Your work may be at the community, national or international levels. This step helps you to “Know the Terrain” but also to better “Know Yourself”, including your allies, and “Know Your Opponents”. This step helps you and your team to better assess how to use your limited resources. Understand and prepare for your opponents. Identify more allies for cooperation. It will prepare you to choose appropriate and effective tactics for engaging different relationships.

You will find two tools in this step to help you better understand this human relationship terrain. Both tools are included in the online Tactical Mapping tool. Explore Sun Tzu’s three sources of knowledge using these tools:

  • Use the tactical map to “Know the Terrain” of human relationships. Visualize the complex systems of relationships involved in your identified problem.
  • Use the spectrum of allies to “Know Yourself” and “Know your Opponent”. Identify and visualize the range of active allies to active opponents on your issue.

Each tool helps you to organize and track these relationships. Each tool will help you visualize the human relationships in your context. These are the people, groups and institutions working both for and against change on your identified problem.

This step helps you identify key actors on your issue. Each of these relationships create opportunities for action. It is critical to “Know the Terrain” before identifying tactics for taking action. Here are some tips to help you Map the Terrain:

This step will prepare you for selecting effective tactics for making change (Step 4 – Explore Tactics).

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