Participatory science means the use of scientific techniques by members of the general public to gather information about environmental issues such as air quality, water quality and biodiversity. Other terms like citizen science or community science are also used to refer to the involvement of the public in scientific research and data gathering. While the term participatory science is relatively new, it best represents the inclusive and accessible nature of public participation in science to support environmental protection.
Activities such as bird counts go back a century, but new technologies have enhanced the role of participatory science in environmental protection, by informing the public and influencing policymakers. Agencies are learning to capitalize on this resource to support their programs, and environmental justice communities are using scientific tools to support their advocacy.
Participatory science is a rapidly evolving field, especially with regard to the use of data by environmental agencies, or by communities to influence agency policies and decisions. The potential for community-generated data to have an impact on policy and action and to fill information gaps by providing valuable information to the public, is significant.
The focus of ELI’s work in participatory science, is its potential to influence government action or assist agency programs. In particular, ELI strives to empower community-led efforts in participatory science to ensure inclusive data collection, universal access to data on environmental issues, and equitable responses to local environmental concerns.
ELI's work on participatory science can be found here.
However, issues remain that must be overcome for the full potential of participatory science to be realized, including:
- Ensuring that data is of high quality, so that it can support government decisions.
- Educating the public about potential uses of data and about how to ensure data is adequate for each type of use.
- Identifying ways to use the data generated that does not meet traditional expectations, such as identifying potential problem areas for further investigation, improving the state of the art in terms of technology for data management, formatting and display (e.g., use of the FAIR principles).
- Building common understandings between state and local agencies and communities to ensure that community-generated data is used.
- Bridging western science with traditional and local ecological knowledge.
In 2020, ELI provided a set of recommendations to EPA on steps to take to address these issues and accelerate the use of citizen science in environmental programs.
ELI is seeking to identify and catalog participatory science efforts that aim to influence government action,or are used in government programs. Its hope is that doing so will be helpful to others who are carrying out projects with similar goals. The most current list of such projects can be found in the Participatory Science Database. Suggestions of other projects that could be added to this list are welcome, and can be sent to participatoryscience@eli.org
Related Events
Bridging Remote Sensing, Participatory Science, and Wetlands: An ELI Workshop January 9, 2023