During the NWO Synergy conference, we did a workshop on citizen science’s potential to democratise our science system. Participants thought about what we need to change in our current scientific system and came up with problems such as the widening gap between science and society. A more ideal science system would help to close that gap by empowering citizens, and by taking societal knowledge more seriously.
Then, participants took on the role of policy makers, scientists, or citizens to reflect on what the benefits would be of a growing citizen science movement. The ideas they came up with included more data and more extensive knowledge for scientists and policy makers and to increase trust in science for citizens. The next steps that these groups would need to take involve changing the funding structure of science to allow for more citizen involvement.
