How Citizen Participation in Research Can Be Strengthened

Participation researcher Dr. Andreas Bischof from the Professorship of Media Informatics will participate in the final event of the Citizens' Assembly on Research in Berlin on May 19, 2022, which will be livestreamed starting at 6 p.m.

On May 19, 2022, the Citizens' Assembly on Research will hand over the citizens' report with measures for more participation in science to the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Berlin. When the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, accepts the report in the evening, Dr. Andreas Bischof, a researcher from Chemnitz University of Technology, will also be on the podium. The sociologist, who heads the miteinander (with each other) junior research group at the Faculty of Computer Science, Professorship of Media Informatics, has made a name for himself in recent years through research projects, publications, but above all practical aspects of participation in science - and has also supported the Citizens' Assembly on Research in its work.

Chemnitz expertise in demand

The BMBF launched the citizens' assembly between November 2021 and March 2022 on the topic of participation in science. Around 50 randomly selected citizens from different social groups from all over Germany were invited to develop concrete and practical recommendations for action on citizen participation for politics and science. The results of the citizens' assembly are to be incorporated as a societal perspective into the Ministry's development of a participation strategy to strengthen citizen participation in the field of research. Dr. Andreas Bischof participated as an expert in one of the seven meetings and reported to the citizens' assemblies on the practical difficulties of enabling participation within the tightly scheduled project logic of research funding.

But Bischof was also allowed to participate in other meetings of the panel as a guest, and is enthusiastic about the work of the citizens. "It is really remarkable with how much sense of responsibility before the task and mutual respect was discussed in the round," says Bischof, and continues about the results developed, "The proposals of the citizens' assembly, for example to create a central platform for participation offerings, are not only meaningful from the point of view of the citizens, but also on a par with scientific findings of participation research."

Multifaceted research on participation in science

Research on how participation in science can be enabled - and what effects this has - is one of Bischof's central working topics. At Chemnitz University of Technology, the Chemnitz scientist has already conducted practical research and published on this topic in the junior research group miteinander (BMBF, 2015-2022) and in the Stadtlabor auf dem Brühl (BMBF, 2019-2021). Currently, the project Schlaue Technik. Tolle Helfer? (Smart technology. Great helpers?) is running in the testing and participation location, in which older Chemnitz residents discover and evaluate smart technologies. Other participatory research projects are in preparation, including urban mobility, human-technology interaction and the Capital of Culture Year 2025.

Closing event of the Citizens' Assembly on Research in the livestream

The final event of the Citizens' Assembly on Research will begin at 6 p.m. on May 19. After a welcoming address by the Federal Minister of Education and Research, Bettina Stark-Watzinger, the recommendations will be presented by the participating citizens and then, at around 7 p.m., discussed with scientific experts, including Dr. Andreas Bischof from Chemnitz University of Technology. The event will be broadcast live on this website on May 19, 2022, between 6:00 p.m. and probably 8:00 p.m.: https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/shareddocs/veranstaltungen/2022/220519-abschluss-buergerrat-forschung.html

(Translation: Brent Benofsky)

Mario Steinebach
19.05.2022

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