In this second edition of Remote Data Collection Methods (RDCM): Making sense of the messiness in fieldwork in Codesign, we extend and deepen these discussions by reflecting on the implications of remote data collection for codesign within increasingly complex and situated participatory contexts. The global challenges of climate change, social inequality, and ecological degradation, often referred to as the ‘polycrisis’ (Lawrence et al. Citation2024), require not only systemic change but also inclusive, place-based modes of collaborative decision-making. As governments and civic actors align with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (United-Nations Citation2016) to address economic, social and environmental dimensions of development, codesign researchers’ and practitioners’ role to develop participatory methods that can engage diverse communities across geographical, cultural, and epistemological distances becomes even more critical.