Participatory Research: Extending Open Science beyond the ivory tower - Open Science Barcamp 2019

This presentation was given at the Open Science Barcamp 2019 in Berlin.

Participatory research, that is when people who are not employed as scientists do research – on their own, in groups and potentially in cooperation with people who are employed as scientists. There are many different methodologies and approaches to participatory research, for instance DIY science, Community-based Research, Participatory Action Research and Citizen Science.

Such concepts are not often considered in discussions on Open Science, which are usually focussing on developments within scientific institutions. In my talk I will argue that it is important to extend the idea of Open Science beyond academia by considering another shade of openness – openness for participation of volunteers and cooperations with civil society organisations.

With a focus on Citizen Science, I will introduce a pluralistic concept of participatory research, highlight current developments and discuss challenges of this growing field of practice in Europe.