About Resource
The Science Museum of Minnesota, with support from the National Science Foundation, began the STEM Racial Justice project to explore how informal science education organizations can partner with community groups to support people's ability to understand, process, and work to dismantle systemic racism. The STEM Racial Justice project began in response to the unrest and uprising sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. The website contains a growing set of practical resources—grounded in equity and social justice principles—to help science centers and museums equitably co-develop projects and research with community groups, particularly Black, Indigenous, Latinx, immigrant, and refugee community groups.
These resources are helpful for those seeking to push against traditional community engagement approaches by science engagement institutions, where the project focus, intended goals, timeline, and budget are predetermined by the institution. The resources align with the Science Museum of Minnesota's approach to equitable community engagement, which requires first building trust and making space for community groups' "asks and offers," followed by the stages of contribution, collaboration, and co-creation.
How to Use
The website includes templates and example materials for conducting outreach to community groups, defining roles and responsibilities, meeting planning and facilitation, and more. For example, the materials in the "Facilitation" section, include meeting agendas that illustrate how the project team co-developed norms, surfaced intentions and motivations for collaborating, and brainstormed effective methods to support racial justice.
The "Initial Engagement and Organization" section includes communication examples that the Science Museum of Minnesota used in its outreach to community partners, and definitions of common terms to help orient project partners. Those who are interested in collaborative research design can find examples of how to describe and invite community participation within the "Sharing Research Practices and Responsibilities" section. The "Activity Development" section provides insight into the types of community priorities related racial-justice efforts that community groups might propose.
Author(s)/Organization: Science Museum of Minnesota
Publication Year: 2021
Tags
Attributes:Aims for Action, Equity-Focused, Respects Community Strengths, Shares Leadership
Outcomes:Capacity for Civic Engagement, Increased Science Agency, Strong Community Partnerships
Approaches:Civic Engagement & Policymaking, Participatory Research
Type:Databases & Collections