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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SciShops.eu (Enhancing the Responsible and Sustainable Expansion of the Science Shops Ecosystem in Europe)

Teaser

Summary

The SciShops.eu project (Enhancing the Responsible and Sustainable Expansion of the Science Shops Ecosystem in Europe) aims at expanding participatory research and innovation through further building on the capacity of science shops in Europe and beyond. During the SciShops project timeframe, at least ten new university- and non-university-based science shops are being established in Europe by project partners. The non-university ones are affiliated to different types of organizations, such as SMEs, LEs, NGOs/NPOs and research institutes.
The project partners have extensive networks of Science Shops which are included in the Expert and Advisory Board and thus they can uptake first the solutions developed within the project: the SciShops Knowledge Exchange Roadmap, the SciShops Strategy for Community-Based Participatory Research and Science Shops Further Development, SciShops Guide for Establishment and Running of a Science Shop or the SciShops Web platform with its novel twining, matchmaking and awareness features. Through the use of the online platform, organizations willing to establish a science shop are able to find a research organization which can support them with research services or they can be twinned with an experienced similar Science Shop which will help with the establishment and development of the new one. The platform will include a multitude of useful resources and toolkits for newcomer Science Shops.
The SciShops consortium has as a top priority to prove the benefits of starting a science shop for every type of organization, but also the advantages the civil society gains from collaborating with science shops in community-based participatory research.

Work performed

In the first phase, the team conducted a broad assessment of the Science Shops community, analysing the types of organizations, stakeholders involved, funding sources, topics, scope, mode of operation, impacts on communities, relations with the civil society, participatory techniques, best practices and RRI tools relevant for Science Shops through interviews, case studies, surveys and desk research. The analysis part started from the broader concept of community-based participatory research and narrowed down to Science Shops, which are the central point of the SciShops.eu project. Another important part was connecting with relevant stakeholders through synergies, events participation and organization of knowlege exchange events. This included the organization of the first SciShops Summer School for current and future staff of Science Shops. The intense 5 days program included workshops on RRI, participatory methodologies, learning about different types of science shops, sustainability strategies and innovative research projects. Representatives of established Science Shops have been guest speakers or invited the summer school participants to visit their Science Shops and organized interactive workshops there. The following phase of the project included the development of Science Shops Lifecycle Scenarios, Practitioner roadmaps and methodology toolkits and modules for training Science Shops staff. They will be followed by a strategy for community-based research and a guide for establishment of a Science Shop. All these useful materials will be turned into resources or interactive tools to be integrated on the SciShops.eu online platform and made available to community representatives, researchers who wish to start a Science Shop and existing Science Shops staff.

Final results

The SciShops project has as ultimate goal proving of the benefits of starting a science shop for every type of organization, but also the advantages the civil society gains from collaborating with Science Shops in community-based participatory research.
All institutions establishing a science shop get a broad scientific background covering a wide set of relevant information on the current perception of science shop in their region, best practice examples of science shops that have started with similar starting conditions, an overview of the overall landscape by region, topic and other characteristics.
The structured approach of the SciShops project to analyze the European science shop landscape in the scientific background can be a benefit for the overall CBPR landscape and their processes. Information on strategies to overcome obstacles, best practices and collaboration potential can boost the overall process.
As a cumulative result, the European ecosystem is directly and indirectly strengthened by the work undertaken in the research and analysis phase. The results of the structured analysis will be made publicly available.
Within the first SciShops summer school, all participants have been trained on how to establish and run a Science Shop. This is the first step to empower the organizations to start their own Science Shop. Starting a Science Shop will have an impact in the near future on the specific benefits of the organizations. The strategy for engaging stakeholders in community-based research may also positively influence the community-based participatory research process in Europe. The insights on stakeholdersâ€™ view on participatory community-based research can contribute to overcome obstacles and boost collaboration. By involving the European society through knowledge cafÃ©s and co-creation events, their perceptions and knowledge on current societal challenges and possible solutions will be heard. This knowledge will be collected and gain visibility by contributing to the development of concrete research questions and the overall communication of project results. This will have a positive overall impact European society and current societal challenges.
Scenarios collection not only discusses the main aspects related to running a Science Shop, but also challenges that Science Shop may face, such as relating to funding, staff, etc. The developed materials should also be useful to already functioning Science Shops looking for answers to challenges that they face or new insights on running a Science Shop. Scenarios collection and Practitioner roadmaps encompass all types of Science Shops according to mother organisation: University based, NGO/NPO based, as well as business company (SME or LE) based Science Shops. The upcoming deliverables will serve the same aim to build capacity of new and existing science shops. In this way, the deliverables directly contribute to the expansion and qualitative development of Science Shops ecosystem in Europe and beyond. Through the improved functioning of Science Shops and strengthening of stakeholder involvement, which is the particular focus of the Practitioner roadmaps, these deliverables will contribute to enhancing the community-based participatory research process in Science Shops projects. Science Shops, which will use these materials, will be better able to sustain their activities, become more willing to engage different stakeholders in their projects, will learn about tools for strengthening capacities of NGOs and CSOs. In this way, CSOs will learn how to formulate research questions based on their problems and thus will increase their capacity to actively solve them through the collaboration with science shops, as well as gain better understanding of the usefulness of science and research in solving problems. At the societal level, strengthening of inclusion of SCOs into research process will promote democratic values and inclusive societies.