Cartography of Collective Trauma: Mapping Political Violence and Spatializing Community Healing

2026

Researchers:

Maria Izquiel; Ignacio A. Cardona; Manuel Llorens

Institutions:

Harvard Medica School; Wentworth Institute of Technology; Universidad Católica Andrés Bello

Location:

Caracas, Venezuela

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Cartography of Collective Trauma investigates how political violence becomes territorially embedded through accumulated harm. Using GIS-based multi-criteria analysis, the research maps protest-related fatalities, detention and torture centers, and exposure to military strikes, revealing overlaps that produce a composite Geography of Collective Trauma

The research positions cartography as spatial acknowledgment, making visible patterns of violence that may otherwise remain fragmented or erased. Within Restorative Community Design (RCD), these maps identify territories for trauma-informed psychosocial services, memorialization, and participatory intervention.

Connecting trauma research with spatial practice, the project explores how mapping can move from documenting violence toward restorative action—transforming sites of harm into spaces of memory, dignity, and community repair.