Public Lab Research note


Public Lab and UC-Davis partner to explore community science and civic engagement

by Shannon | January 18, 2017 19:18 18 Jan 19:18 | #13862 | #13862

Public Lab and the UC Davis Center for Community and Citizen Science are happy to announce a recent partnership with support from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. The two-year project launched in December 2016.

The central questions that this project seeks to answer are whether and how doing community science can support deeper involvement in civic participation and democracy. This is an opportunity to understand the experiences of individuals and groups, working together both in-person and online, to address environmental challenges that affect people. The team will examine what forms of environmental community science methods, contextualization, and support may engender increased confidence in scientific concepts, and increased civic engagement.

This project will address the following questions:

1. Under what conditions, and through what mechanisms, can engagement in science lead individuals and community groups to become involved in larger social or environmental issues and civic actions?

2. What aspects of the Public Lab model are replicable and transferable, and what audiences are most appropriate to reach with this model?

We hope that insights from this project can demonstrate a methodology that can be applied across different audiences and contexts. This project will focus on adult participation, but the team will use results of the research to begin strategizing resources aimed at K-12 audiences, and will explore the influences of formal and informal learning structures and opportunities for current and future civic and scientific engagement.

About Public Lab

The Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (Public Lab) is a community -- supported by a 501(c)3 non-profit -- which develops and applies open-source tools to environmental exploration and investigation. By democratizing inexpensive and accessible Do-It-Yourself techniques, Public Lab creates a collaborative network of practitioners who actively re-imagine the human relationship with the environment. Visit PublicLab.org and follow @PublicLab.

About the Center for Community and Citizen Science

The Center for Community and Citizen Science, based at the UC Davis School of Education, is a home to programs and partnerships that revolutionize how---and with whom---science gets done. Based on a foundation of research excellence, the Center helps scientists, communities, and citizens collaborate on science to address environmental problems as a part of civic life. Visit education.ucdavis.edu/ccs and follow @UCDavisCCS.

About the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit Moore.org and follow @MooreFound


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