roadmap.

phase 1: Community Grounding.

DURATION

March 2025 - July 2025

5 months

  • This gathering brought together around one hundred practitioners from the European tracking community and offered a unique opportunity to test the relevance of the project directly within the field it seeks to explore.

    During the symposium, Followly was presented and discussed with practitioners from across Europe, allowing the team to collect a wide range of perspectives, ideas and initial contacts.

CONTEXT

FOCUS

  • Testing the relevance of the Followly project within the European tracking community

  • Observing the dynamics of exchange within the tracking community.

  • Collecting initial video and audio materials.

  • Collecting contacts across the network and identifying potential future collaborators.

  • Identifying key directions for the development of the project.

OUTCOMES

  • Direct engagement with approximately one hundred members of the European tracking community.

  • Validation of the project’s relevance within the field and accurate feedback from practitioners.

  • Initial network of contacts established across several European territories.

  • A first collection of audiovisual materials and field observations.

  • Initial conceptual and technical exploration of immersive 360° formats.

phase 2: Editorial and Artistic Development.

DURATION

October 2025 - March 2026

6 months

  • During this period, the project began testing different ways of documenting tracking practices through film. The objective was not simply to produce documentary reports of events, but to explore how the emotional and perceptual experience of tracking could be transmitted to an audience.

    Filming also took place in contrasting contexts involving very diverse groups of young participants. Followly accompanied social workers who organise outdoor workshops for children and teenagers from a wide range of backgrounds — from families already familiar with nature-based activities to young people growing up in dense urban environments with little opportunity to experience natural landscapes.

    Observing these encounters allowed the project to explore how the practice of tracking can resonate across very different life experiences. Whether for children accustomed to outdoor activities or for those discovering natural environments for the first time, the act of reading traces often sparks the same sense of curiosity, attention and collective discovery.

    Documenting these moments helped the team refine its cinematic approach while capturing the powerful simplicity of a shared experience: the moment when a group realises that the ground beneath their feet is full of stories waiting to be read.

    Through these experiments, Followly progressively clarified its identity: an artistic, engaged and poetic approach to tracking that explores the practice not only as a field skill, but also as a lens through which to reflect on contemporary society.

CONTEXT

FOCUS

  • Giving and filming workshops involving children and teenagers from diverse urban backgrounds.

  • Developing Followly’s narrative language, aiming to capture moments of curiosity, discovery and collective attention.

  • Exploring non-linear storytelling approaches, inspired by the fragmentary nature of tracking itself.

OUTCOMES

  • First filmed encounters with both experienced trackers and new audiences.

  • Experimentation with cinematic and narrative approaches.

  • Clarification of Followly’s artistic and editorial identity.

  • Initial research into interactive and non-linear storytelling formats.

  • Consolidation of collaborations with practitioners and creative partners.

phase 3: European Field Production.

DURATION

April 2026 - April 2027

12 months

  • Based between Belgium and France, Followly will radically expand its perspectives by engaging with practitioners and creators from other parts of Europe.

    At the beginning of this phase, Followly is positioning itself as a host organisation within the framework of the Culture Moves Europe programme. Through this initiative, the project welcomes a first international artist and further enrich the team both geographically and culturally.

    Rather than attempting an exhaustive survey, the project will concentrate on a selection of five territories where tracking practices remain active and culturally significant : Alpine territories , Scandinavian forests, Mediterranean landscapes, Balkan mountains, Atlantic coastal landscapes.

    To develop the project’s transnational dimension, Followly will adopt a deliberately simple methodology : rather than constructing an artificial network, the project will follow the natural movements of trackers already connected within its first circle of contacts. Many of these practitioners regularly travel across Europe to meet colleagues, share practices and explore new landscapes together.

    In each of the five territories, Followly will also organise workshops in collaboration with local schools and youth organisations. These activities will introduce young participants to the practice of observing traces and landscapes, while creating opportunities for encounters between practitioners and new audiences.

    During this phase, Followly will also refine its different narrative formats, building on the experience gathered in very different contexts and developing a deeper understanding of how audiences engage with the project. Rather than adopting a centralised or “one-size-fits-all” approach, Followly deliberately pursues a diversified strategy. The ambition is to develop a sufficiently wide range of formats capable of engaging audiences across Europe with different educational backgrounds, ages and levels of familiarity with the practice of tracking.

    At the same time, the project remains curious about the unpredictable circulation of cultural forms. Some formats may be designed with a certain audience in mind, yet resonate with entirely different groups of viewers. Documenting these unexpected forms of reception will also be part of the exploration.

    By the end of this phase, Followly aims to have assembled a significant body of audiovisual material reflecting the diversity of tracking practices across several European landscapes. The productions created during this phase will progressively populate the different narrative pathways of the Followly project: by territory, by character and by format.

    Through this process, Followly seeks to cultivate a flexible ecosystem of formats capable of reaching a wide diversity of audiences while remaining faithful to the spirit of tracking itself.

CONTEXT

FOCUS

  • Strengthening Followly’s transnational dimension.

  • Starting our partnership with the Culture Moves Europe Programme and hosting a first visiting artist.

  • Documenting encounters and exchanges between trackers in 5 different European landscapes.

  • Organising workshops in local schools and youth organisations.

  • Developing multilingual accessibility and refining the project’s narrative formats based on the growing understanding of audiences.

OUTCOMES

  • A growing collection of portraits and conversations with practitioners from different tracking traditions.

  • A diversified body of audiovisual materials across the project’s different narrative formats, shaped in dialogue with the tastes and cultural codes of local audiences.

phase 4: Consolidation and European Visibility.

DURATION

From May 2027

  • In the final stage of the project, Followly focuses on consolidating the materials gathered during the previous phases and strengthening its visibility across European audiences.

    By this point, the project will have documented encounters with practitioners across several territories and developed a diversified body of audiovisual materials across its different narrative formats. The objective of this phase is to organise these materials into a coherent ecosystem that can be explored through the different narrative pathways of the project: by territory, by character and by format.

    During this period, particular attention will also be given to strengthening the European visibility of the project. Followly will seek to share its productions through screenings, encounters, workshops and discussions organised in collaboration with practitioners, cultural organisations and educational partners.

    This phase will also include the preparation of future development opportunities. Building on the experience and materials gathered during the project, Followly will explore funding opportunities and partnerships that can support the continuation and expansion of the initiative.

CONTEXT

FOCUS

  • Consolidating the audiovisual and editorial materials gathered during the previous phases.

  • Expanding Followly’s documentary exploration to a wider range of European territories, including urban landscapes where the practice of observation takes new forms.

  • Developing partnerships with cultural institutions, schools and organisations interested in landscape observation and ecological storytelling.

  • Organising screenings, encounters and discussions to present the project to broader audiences.

  • Identifying and applying for funding opportunities that can support the long-term development of the project.

OUTCOMES

  • A consolidated body of audiovisual and editorial content documenting tracking practices across several European landscapes.

  • A coherent narrative ecosystem allowing audiences to explore the project through territories, characters and formats.

  • Expanded visibility of Followly within European cultural and environmental networks.

  • Funding applications and partnerships established to support the continuation and long-term development of the project.

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