Citizen Social Science for participation in public policies on socioenvironmental issues. Analysis of a case study in Argentina. Analysis of a case study in Argentina.
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Abstract
Citizen Science is a framework that promotes the involvement of the general public in different research activities, which could contribute to various stages of public policy making. This paper reflects on the potential role of Citizen Science in socioenvironmental policies, in the context of the project “CoAct Ciencia Social Ciudadana para la Justicia Ambiental” in the Matanza-Riachuelo Basin in Argentina. Citizen participation often constitutes a legal mandate in environmental policies, creating a relevant context to study how receptive are policy decision makers when integrating iniciatives of citizen science into public policy. We present the methodology and results of a workshop created in partnership with the Ministry of Science, Tecnology and Innovation of Argentina and the United Nations Development Programme’s Accelerator Labs, with 21 players of public policy for the basin in September 2022. The goal was to identify options in policy that could improve the potential role of citizen science in the processes of policy making for sanitation of the basin. We used an adapted version of the prospective method of three horizons to identify obstacles as well as opportunities for specific policy instruments. We conclude by discussing policy options that came up in workshop discussions and in dialogue with the literature.
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