What Is Community Science?
Our world faces critical challenges that exist at the intersection of science and society— including climate change, biodiversity loss, public health preparedness, and systemic health disparities. Alongside these challenges are numerous opportunities and risks associated with rapidly developing technologies like artificial intelligence and advanced computational technology. In each area, there are ethical considerations and trade-offs the public must deliberate on to ensure solutions are locally relevant, equitable, and just.
Community science is a way of working, that centers community priorities, strengths, and leadership to help realize these solutions. Through community science, community members collaborate with one another, scientists, and science engagement practitioners to conduct and leverage scientific research to advance community priorities and improve community wellbeing.
To help science centers and museums better understand, implement, and advocate for community science practice, ASTC developed a framework, which describes community science in terms of Approaches, Attributes and Outcomes. To learn more, visit our Community Science Framework page.
We define “communities” broadly—as connected or organized groups of people who share a common geography, jurisdiction, set of characteristics, or interests and goals—not just a particular racial or ethnic group or zip code. Community priorities related to science and technology might include improving air or water quality, planning for climate resilience, improving health outcomes, making sense of governmental data, weighing in on the ethical implications of new research and technology, shaping research agendas, and much more.
In the context of Community Science, we define science as organized, evidence-based ways of learning about and understanding the world. In the context of Community Science, this can include both physical and social sciences; western modern approaches as well as Indigenous and traditional ecological knowledge; and applied fields such as technology, engineering, and medicine. Community Science often involves using scientific methods, processes, and tools to gather data and collect observations. It might also incorporate data analysis to understand current circumstances related to community needs and apply that knowledge to build and deploy tools to achieve desired community outcomes.
What Does Community Science Look Like?
Community science encompasses a diverse set of community-centered approaches, models, and tools that support communities as they use science and technology to answer their own questions and develop their own solutions. This might mean that community members come together to influence a research agenda, conduct scientific research, or analyze and interpret data to address their priorities. Through this process, community members might develop recommendations for action, change an institution’s policies and practices, or work to influence public policy at the local, state, or national level.
Why are Science Centers and Museums Doing Community Science?
Science impacts every aspect of people’s lives, and community members increasingly have access to tools that let them learn about, participate in, and engage in scientific research and technological innovation to advance community priorities. For science centers and museums, and other science engagement organizations, Community Science can fulfill aims to advance lifelong science learning, connect science and society, engage diverse audiences, and solve local and global challenges. It also allows science engagement professionals to better tackle complex issues and support community-led, science-driven action.
Science centers and museums can leverage their power as trusted conveners and community spaces, as well as their networks with research and academic communities, to bring together and support local community members in pursuit of shared goals. ASTC members are already active in a range of community science efforts, such as:
- Public dialogue and deliberation programs to give community members structured space to discuss issues at the intersection of science and society.
- Citizen-science projects that address pressing community questions (not just researcher questions).
- Environmental and social justice initiatives supported by researchers, scientific evidence, data, and technology.