Public participation in environmental research

Abstract

Public participation in scientific research (PPSR) is a potentially useful tool for environmental scientists. Compared to traditional research methods, involving the public in scientific research can help in cutting costs and increasing efficiency. PPSR projects help improve scientific literacy amongst the public, and improve the public's perception of the value of science. It is an ideal tool to unlock (traditional) information held by the public, e.g. the information on traditional, cultural and/or farming practices held by smallholder farmers and rural communities. However, doubts regarding the scientific quality of the data collected in PPSR projects stand in the way of widespread adoption of PPSR techniques in the scientific world. PPSR techniques can only be applied alongside, or instead of traditional research methods if the scientific data quality, comparability of results and relevance of the outputs are beyond doubt. The general objectives of this paper are to investigate how public participation in scientific research can improve the quality and quantity of data available for scientists, and how these participatory methods can improve the lives and livelihoods of agricultural societies. The different forms of PPSR, and best practices in PPSR are investigated through an extensive literature review. Examples of public involvement in scientific data collection exercises are given, and designs of various public participation models are looked at. Based on the literature review, a comprehensive framework is proposed which can be used in the design and execution of PPSR projects. The main aim of this comprehensive framework is to overcome the main objection scientists have against PPSR, namely, that the collected data are not up to scientific data quality standards. Furthermore, results from a field study are presented, focusing on the possibilities for scientists of working together with local communities in PPSR projects in a rural area in Kenya