Citizen science in the dialogue between science and society

Concept 

Citizen science has the potential to bring together science, policy makers, and society as a whole in an impactful way. In this process, communication is key. But what do we mean by “communication”? In this webinar we will explore how dialogical and participatory communication, where all parties are actively involved, is strategic both for research and for society. We will take a journey through science in recent decades to grasp its rapid and incredible transformations and understand how science communication has welcomed and interpreted them. And we will see how citizen science can be a truly revolutionary approach to democratise science and make it truly inclusive and open to diversity. 

Structure of the webinar 

PART 1 | Science communication: from the deficit modelto participation | plenary | 30 minutes 

What is science communication 

Brief history of science communication 

The deficit model 

The dialogue model 

The participative model 

Citizen science and participation 

Citizen science and democratisation of science and society 

The role of communication in citizen science 

What you can do together 

PART 2 | Your turn | break out rooms | 15 minutes 

Split in small groups (max 5 people) 

Your task: prepare a pitch to describe your citizen science project to a specified audience (each group decide their own audience: teachers, policy makers, high-school students, children, other scientists, your communication officer, etc.) 

PART 3 | Presentation | plenary | depends on the number of participants 

Each group presents to the rest of the audience. 

Everybody comments 

Wrap up and conclusion.

Simona Cerrato 

ECSA | European Citizen Science Association 

ECS project| European Citizen Science project 

Graduated in Physics with specialisation in Cosmic Physics, I hold a Master in Science Communication. I have been dealing with science communication since 1989, with a particular focus on social inclusion and gender equity. Since 2021, I am part of the ECSA team with the role of community and communications manager. In this role, I collaborate on various international projects, participate in the organisation of events and the ECSA conferences 2022 and 2024, and contribute to promoting and advocating citizen science in Europe. Before that, I created and contributed to outreach programs, public communication, European science and society projects, I designed museums and scientific exhibitions, I held training courses for various audiences. I wrote several books, collaborated in the creation of websites, magazines, science and mathematics school texts, scientific expeditions, documentary films, participatory projects with children and young people. I have always worked internationally with an extensive network of scientists, institutes, universities and communicators around the world.

 We meet as usually in our Blackboard room: https://eu.bbcollab.com/collab/ui/session/guest/e2f845f38b064be7a7e1461969fa7d77