Community-Driven Civic Science: Relationship Building to Prioritize Public Needs

At a time of unprecedented emphasis and investment in civic science, policymakers must grapple with whether existing civic science practices deliver on intended public benefits. Civic science, if poorly managed, can exploit communities due to inherent power imbalances between researchers and the public. For community stakeholders to guide or lead civic science—an approach we call community-driven civic science—we must invest in the relational infrastructure and relational capacity for scientists to build authentic relationships with communities. Relational infrastructure investments should include modifications to criteria for academic advancement—like tenure, expansion of funding sources, and grant reporting structures redesigned to focus on ongoing evaluation of community stakeholders’ value gained. Relational capacity building should include financial stipends for community members, training resources, and staff professional development. These investments will cultivate a new generation of civic scientists and scientifically engaged communities to collaborate towards using science for public benefit.