Stories

By Jayatri Das, Chief Bioscientist at The Franklin Institute

My town has an old-school fire siren. It bellows out three long blasts whenever the fire department is needed. Some residents can’t stand its moose-like monotone, find it disruptive, or see it as unnecessary in a technology-enabled world. But my friend’s two-year-old understands the siren differently. “It’s for helpers,” says Jade. And she’s right. The siren is a literal call to the community that reminds us of our collective responsibility to take care of each other: the firefighters who jump into action, and the rest of us who help keep them equipped and safe through our support.

In these times of darkness for so many, watching people step up in response to audible and symbolic calls for community is what gives me hope. Neighborhood networks protecting families. Community health workers delivering trusted expertise. Handmade signs fighting to keep history from being erased.

As we hang on to the fragile threads that keep us connected, public engagement with science remains essential for improving lives, making sense of the world, and imagining the future. Civic science gives us a way to connect community purpose with science and technology. This lens focuses our work at The Franklin Institute with Civic Science Fellows and other partners, embodied in four approaches to science engagement that are intertwined with the pillars of civic science learning.

First, participatory science creates opportunities for people to make their own meaning. As we’ve seen in our exhibits, including an interactive visual exhibit about jellyfish created by Fellow Anand Varma in collaboration with the National Geographic Society, experiences that encourage active curiosity and social interaction strengthen science identity. 

Second, we aim to establish models that are distributive, giving diverse and trusted leaders the skills and tools to share science with their communities. We’ve built networks involving on-the-ground partners ranging from school nurses to amateur astronomers to increase community agency and adaptability. 

Third, we embrace the challenge of facilitating values-based conversations about science. Through Fellow Claire Weichselbaum’s work in collaboration with the National Informal STEM Education Network, we have developed program strategies that prioritize practicing skills and attributes like creativity, reflection, collaboration, and empathy. These hands-on activities have shaped our understanding of how public audiences and scientists can engage in meaningful dialogue about the impacts of emerging neurotechnologies.

Most recently, with Fellow Jessica Vaden, we have explored the power of a place-based approach. Jessica worked with a cohort of Philadelphia-area middle school teachers to co-create resources for environmental science education. The teachers led the way in identifying local issues, such as urban flooding, food insecurity, and environmental contamination, as stories relevant to their students’ lived experiences. However, translating these problems into standards-based curriculum often revealed the limits of science and technology in framing solutions. As the teachers learned to embrace a place-based civic science mindset to help contextualize student learning, the project challenged us to consider how to integrate community knowledge and social context into educational frameworks that don’t always align with real-world complexity. We found synergy in designing for our community together, drawing on trusted individual and organizational relationships to create learning resources that reflect the place where we live.

Today more than ever, the value of authentic community is one of the most essential elements of civic science. Each of us finds our own niche, whether through shared place, culture, faith, lived experience, or interests. Our community identities not only shape the perspectives we bring to our work, they also guide us in giving back. I’ve discovered I’m a place-based wonk; I’ve applied my expertise in science communication, project management, and public programs to support my town by co-chairing our civil rights commission, running a voting precinct, and bringing neighbors into dialogue about issues we care about.

As civic scientists, we may not all be firefighters, but we are all helpers—and we can answer the urgent call to help our communities build up the resilience we need right now.