🗺️ Walk Ownership & Stewardship on Walkmates

Walkmates is a living map built by the community. Every walk is a contribution — not a possession.

Who owns a walk?

No one. Walks on Walkmates are public assets.

When you create a walk, you become its steward, not its owner. You can edit and maintain it, but others may schedule it, suggest improvements, or fork it if needed.

What does “donating” a walk mean?

By creating a public walk, you're sharing a route with the community. It's available for others to:

• Schedule their own events
• Explore and walk independently
• Suggest edits or improvements
• Build upon, if the original no longer fits

You’re adding to a shared landscape — not claiming territory.

Who’s responsible for a scheduled event?

The organiser.
When someone schedules a walk, they become the organiser for that instance. They’re responsible for:

• Timing and logistics
• Communications with attendees
• Any additions or custom notes

Even if the walk was written by someone else, the organiser is the point of contact and the one walkers trust.

What happens if a walk changes after I schedule it?

Scheduled events always reflect the current version of the walk.
If the route or description changes after scheduling, the event will automatically reflect those changes.

If you don’t trust the author, do your own.
You can always fork the walk and take full control.

Can I fork a walk?

Yes. If a walk no longer fits your needs, or you want to improve it independently, you can fork it.

Forking:

• Creates a new version under your stewardship
• Keeps the original intact
• Lets you customise title, description, tags, etc.

Can I prevent others from scheduling my walk?

Yes — but by default, walks are reusable.

You can toggle “Allow public scheduling” in the walk settings. Be aware:
more open walks are shown more prominently on maps and in search results.

What determines which walk is shown first?

Walkmates uses a combination of:

• Openness (public + schedulable)
• Usage (number of events, RSVPs)
• Feedback
• Recency and maintenance activity

If multiple versions of the same route exist, the most open and trusted one will rank highest.

Can Walkmates reassign a walk?

Yes — but only when necessary.

Walkmates may reassign stewardship or promote a fork if a walk:

• Is abandoned
• Contains broken, harmful, or blocked content
• Is being misused or no longer reflects the community’s standards

Stewardship is responsibility — not control.

Can I request to adopt a walk?

Yes. If a walk appears abandoned or is locked down without reason, you can request to adopt it.

Walkmates will review the request and reassign stewardship if appropriate.

What’s the Walkmates philosophy?

A walk is a donation.
If you don’t trust the author, do your own.
No one owns the hills — and no one owns the map.