As new leadership takes the helm in the White House, a newly released proposal offers a roadmap for future scientific engagement.
The Day One Project, in partnership with Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS) and the LISTEN Network, recently released A Federal Strategy for Science Engagement. The proposal outlines potential steps towards a nationwide strategy that would enable all Americans to learn from, use, and participate in the process and outputs of science.
Currently, science engagement efforts at federal agencies are disjointed and often sporadic, making it challenging to understand impact, track promising practices, and align complementary activities. According to the report, the lack of coordination or shared language around science engagement means that practitioners do not have a clear understanding of all relevant work underway, including promising practices and established relationships between communities.
The proposal’s recommendations include:
- Establishing and cultivating federal expertise in science engagement,
- Improving coordination among federal science agencies,
- Incorporating science engagement in federal research initiatives, and
- Expanding broader impacts.
The document concludes that the COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the importance of public understanding of their role in science, as well as the need to strengthen relationships between science and society. It suggests that a federal strategy for science engagement would boost the impact of scientific research across society.
About Day One
Day One is dedicated to democratizing the policymaking process by working with new and expert voices across the science and technology community, helping them develop actionable policies that can improve the lives of all Americans, and readying them for Day One of the next presidential term.
About Advancing Research Impact in Society
The National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a $5.2 million grant to fund the Center for Advancing Research Impact in Society (ARIS). The ARIS Center is housed at the University of Missouri and will work with scientists and engagement practitioners to build capacity, advance scholarship, grow partnerships and provide resources to help them engage with and demonstrate the impact of research in their communities and society.
About the LISTEN Network
The Leaders in Science and Technology Engagement Networks, or LISTEN Network, connects and supports perspectives from across the science-engagement ecosystem, including informal science education, public engagement, journalism and science writing, live events, community science, and science-communication training.