Participatory systems mapping worksheet

The map visualizes stakeholder hypotheses rather than representing a finished product. Turn important links into evaluation questions to use it.

When to use this worksheet and what completion involves Fictional completed example

EvalCompass Worksheet

Participatory systems mapping worksheet

Method: Participatory Systems Mapping

The map visualizes stakeholder hypotheses rather than representing a finished product. Turn important links into evaluation questions to use it.

Basic information

Record the workshop focus.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Theme or issue: Continued participation in learning support
Map scope: 1 district, participation process during the current period
Participants: Service users, parents and staff (fictional)
Facilitator: Staff member A
Date implemented: September 2026 (fictional)

Reason for this entry: Record the scope and included perspectives.

Theme or issue

Map scope

Participants

Facilitator

Date implemented

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Record the workshop focus.

Record the scope and included perspectives.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Follow each field’s heading to record the program name, focus, period, and other details. Leave undecided matters clearly marked as unresolved.

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Main factors

Organize factors within the system.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Factor	Type: outcome / behavior / institution / resource, etc.	Who is affected?	Notes
Travel burden	Resources and environment	Service users and parents	Consider time and cost separately.
Sense of security	Experience and outcomes	Service users	Check the person's interpretation.

Reason for this entry: Identify specific changing factors.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Factor	Type: outcome / behavior / institution / resource, etc.	Who is affected?	Notes

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Organize factors within the system.

Identify specific changing factors.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Keep the information in each row aligned. Scroll wide tables horizontally to see every column.

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Important causal links

Record strong influences and hypothetical links requiring investigation.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Causal factor	Resulting factor	Influence direction: increase / decrease	Evidence or hypothesis	Verification method
Travel burden	Participation frequency	Decrease	Hypothesis from parents	Interviews with absent participants
Sense of security	Participation frequency	Increase	Staff hypothesis	Personal accounts and participation records

Reason for this entry: Specify whose perspective is represented.

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Causal factor	Resulting factor	Influence direction: increase / decrease	Evidence or hypothesis	Verification method

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Record strong influences and hypothetical links requiring investigation.

Specify whose perspective is represented.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Keep the information in each row aligned. Scroll wide tables horizontally to see every column.

Read the full fictional example

Leverage points and evaluation questions

Describe important intervention points and evaluation questions.

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

Transport support is a candidate intervention. Before acting, check whose absence relates to travel burdens and what barriers exist beyond cost. Update after 1 month, adding non-participants' views.

Reason for this entry: Connect candidate actions with questions for verification.

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

Describe important intervention points and evaluation questions.

Connect candidate actions with questions for verification.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Use the example as a reference and record what you have established about your own program. Distinguish assumptions and unchecked matters from confirmed facts.

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Completion check

Completed example for this section (fictional)

This fictional example is for explanation. Adapt it to your own program. Your entries will not change.

☑ Checked: Clarified map boundaries and focus
☑ Checked: Participants from several perspectives identified factors
☑ Checked: Turned important links into evaluation questions
☑ Checked: Set update timing

Reason for this entry: A fictional workshop design. Participants are not presented as representative of all residents.

Clarified map boundaries and focus
Participants from several perspectives identified factors
Turned important links into evaluation questions
Set update timing

Writing tips and explanation for this section

About this section

A fictional workshop design. Participants are not presented as representative of all residents.

View the method explanation

Writing tips

Read each item and check those you have confirmed. Do not use the fictional example’s checkbox states as findings about your own program.

Read the full fictional example

Before writing, check when to use the worksheet and what completion involves

Participatory systems mapping worksheet is a worksheet for applying Participatory Systems Mapping in meetings or individual work. For the overall duration of the method, use “Planning example, not a universal standard duration: half a day–2 days, including design, workshop and synthesis” as a reference, adjusting for scale and resources. Fill in what you know provisionally and leave unresolved matters as questions to check next.

When this worksheet is useful

When complex community issues or policies do not have a single linear outcome pathway
When stakeholder perspectives differ and a shared understanding of the problem structure is needed
When including unintended effects, external factors and interactions in evaluation design

Participants and preparation

Participants representing affected people, field practice, relevant organizations and policy, with a facilitator. Adjust numbers for diverse perspectives and ease of dialogue.

Bring the materials used for decisions, existing data, and differing stakeholder views to help complete the worksheet.

Suggested order

1. Basic informationRecord the workshop focus.
2. Main factorsOrganize factors within the system.
3. Important causal linksRecord strong influences and hypothetical links requiring investigation.
4. Leverage points and evaluation questionsDescribe important intervention points and evaluation questions.
5. Completion check

Signs the worksheet is ready for review

Systems map
Important loops and intervention points
Candidate evaluation questions

Cautions for review

Making attractive diagrams the goal without developing evaluation questions
Adding so many factors that it becomes unclear where to focus
Ignoring power differences and preventing honest discussion

Read a completed fictional example (your entries will not change)

Fictional example; not actual results

A fictional illustrative workshop record considering participation in learning support.

Basic information

Theme or issue: Continued participation in learning support
Map scope: 1 district, participation process during the current period
Participants: Service users, parents and staff (fictional)
Facilitator: Staff member A
Date implemented: September 2026 (fictional)

Reason for this entry: Record the scope and included perspectives.

Main factors

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Factor	Type: outcome / behavior / institution / resource, etc.	Who is affected?	Notes
Travel burden	Resources and environment	Service users and parents	Consider time and cost separately.
Sense of security	Experience and outcomes	Service users	Check the person's interpretation.

Reason for this entry: Identify specific changing factors.

Important causal links

Scroll horizontally to view the table

Causal factor	Resulting factor	Influence direction: increase / decrease	Evidence or hypothesis	Verification method
Travel burden	Participation frequency	Decrease	Hypothesis from parents	Interviews with absent participants
Sense of security	Participation frequency	Increase	Staff hypothesis	Personal accounts and participation records

Reason for this entry: Specify whose perspective is represented.

Leverage points and evaluation questions

Transport support is a candidate intervention. Before acting, check whose absence relates to travel burdens and what barriers exist beyond cost. Update after 1 month, adding non-participants' views.

Reason for this entry: Connect candidate actions with questions for verification.

Completion check

☑ Checked: Clarified map boundaries and focus
☑ Checked: Participants from several perspectives identified factors
☑ Checked: Turned important links into evaluation questions
☑ Checked: Set update timing

Reason for this entry: A fictional workshop design. Participants are not presented as representative of all residents.

Common errors in judgment

Calling map arrows established causal relationships

How to revise: Distinguish links based on hypotheses, lived accounts and records.

Reason: Participant perceptions alone cannot establish causal effects.

Assuming representatives alone cover everyone's perspectives

How to revise: Identify missing perspectives and add participants or interviews.

Reason: The map's scope depends on participants' experiences.

Editorial and checking information

Content updated: 2026-09-13Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)No documented human reviewIncludes fictional examplesEditorial policy and scope of checking Cite this page Report a correction

References and checked sections

How to design a Participatory Systems Mapping process
Alexandra Penn／Pete Barbrook-Johnson · 2022
Section consulted
System definition/boundary; Choosing Stakeholders; Mapping Process; Analysis Design
How it relates to the text
Specify boundaries and participants, retain differing views and keep the map open to updating.
Source checked: 2026-09-13 (includes AI cross-checking)

How to cite this page

EvalCompass Editorial Team. “Participatory systems mapping worksheet”. EvalCompass, updated 2026-09-13. https://evalcompass.jun-nakatani.com/en/worksheets/participatory-systems-mapping/

Add the date you accessed the page. Text created by this site is available under CC BY 4.0. Quotations, external materials, and bundled fonts have their own terms of use. When reusing content, credit the source, link to the license, and indicate any changes.

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Change history

2026-09-13 — Checked sources for definitions and applicability conditions, and added fictional examples, reasons for judgments and examples for every worksheet field. Revised unverified claims about history and adoption. Also reviewed existing procedures and cautions, and adjusted fixed participant counts and thresholds and generalizations about institutions.