Giving Compass' Take:

• This post from Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement discusses the ways researchers and scientists can collaborate more with the communities they study, prioritizing their needs.

• How can nonprofits participate in the rise of "community science" and learn from its methods? In what ways might the practices described here build more trust in the philanthropic world?

• Here's how we can make science talk more natural in schools.


At a conference I attended a couple of years ago, a professor presented the results of a survey on what motivates scientists to engage with the public. The top reason scientists gave was to defend science. Building public trust came in last as a community priority.

This struck me as odd. Defending science is a reactive, unfulfilling chore. You never really win. Building public trust looks towards the future, shared purpose, and new projects. These findings suggested a lack of attention to science’s larger civic role.

Today, there are signs this may be changing. An emerging group of scientists is building new research models that treat communities as partners rather than research subjects. Not only do they conduct collaborative research with neighborhood groups, city managers, and business leaders, at times they let community members determine the research topics as well. These scientists practice “community science,” a process by which scientists and communities do science together to advance one or more community priorities. A group of these scientists met recently in Washington at the American Association for the Advancement of Science to discuss their work in environment and health.

Read the full article about the scientist as civic partner by Louise Lief at Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, via medium.com.