Listening as an encounter: action and reflection in a collective field study

Abstract

The article discusses field research methods in actions carried out collectively, as a continuous movement of action and reflection, theory and practice, involving the listening of the urban space and its agents. We argue that such activities reaffirm the research act as a continuous process of dialogue and discussion, based on the experience of the CentroSP project field study, conducted by researchers from Nomads.usp in downtown Sao Paulo, Brazil. After a prologue that briefly examines issues imposed by the 2020 pandemic on field methods, the article introduces the CentroSP project and discusses listening activities in the field as collective practices that help to root research to reality.