We study and support community participation in science through collaborations with scientists, schools, museums, government agencies, nonprofits, and others. Our work expands ideas about who can participate in science and how to make it impactful.

A powerful tradition within some versions of CCS has been communities taking ownership of the scientific process as part of their efforts toward environmental justice and social change. We believe this collaboration is both good for communities, and good for mainstream science institutions, such as universities and government agencies. In all of our projects, we ask “what community is served by this work?”, and push institutions to expand thinking about what communities could be served by CCS approaches who aren’t currently at the table. We link professional scientists to communities already doing similar work, to make local expertise visible and valued. We also investigate how CCS can build community, as people work together to solve problems and share their knowledge and skills.

CCS projects can empower communities to advocate for change based on scientific evidence. When communities and community-based organizations (CBOs) develop their own questions, diverse perspectives and local knowledge contribute to more relevant research outcomes, and more accurate representations of environmental, health, or social challenges faced by local people. Our Center pairs CBOs with professional scientists, and pushes on university systems to open channels for funding, technical assistance, and responsibility for research to flow to communities. Through extensive and growing networks involving researchers, managers, schools, public agencies, CBOs, and others, we sustain partnerships into, through, and beyond funding cycles.

Find resources from our research and projects that support practitioners to do CCS in their communities.