How do we confront environmental challenges in the city of Philadelphia equitably and sustainably? With a recent grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the Academy partnered with West Philadelphia’s Overbrook Environmental Education Center to help create a way: the Science Shop.
Created in the 1970s, the Science Shop model hails from Europe and is commonly done in the public health sectors around the world. It works out of a process known as community-based participatory research, which is an equitable collaboration between communities, organizations and scientists, created to better understand certain environmental issues and then collectively develop just solutions.
The Academy’s unique scientific approach to Science Shop, offering rigorous data research that reflects the Philly area to continuously address and support the environmental needs of local underserved communities, is one of the first of its kind here in the United States.
“Often, community expertise is undervalued, compared to traditional scientific knowledge,” says Arthi Sivendra, a Drexel University co-op student and research assistant at the Academy. “But both must be valued and work together to produce research that accurately represents communities and their needs.” She adds that the Science Shop model works simply because it fosters equitable partnerships between the Academy’s scientific team and community-based organizations to make this possible.
The ethos is simple: help improve the quality of life for the people of Philadelphia. All projects will be co-created and sustained by community members, local organizations and Academy scientists with a collective aim to address systemic racism and climate change issues across the city. Each participant will bring their unique skillsets, perspectives and knowledge to the table.
“The Overbrook Environmental Education Center has enjoyed our work with the Academy of Natural Sciences through the Science Shop project,” says Jerome Shabazz, Executive Director of the not-for-profit organization. Overbrook Environmental Education Center is located in West Philly and as a key connector, it promotes public education and creative participation in sustainable technological and environmental projects to its surrounding community members. He also adds, “We appreciate having access to the Academy’s technical, policy and research expertise that serves to advance our actionable and urgent community-initiated projects.”
And this collaborative method really works. Academy scientists and educators — in continued partnership with The Environmental Collaboratory and Overbrook Environmental Education Center — recently received an additional grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to expand the horizon of this work into regions beyond Philadelphia, including Camden and Route 9 in Delaware.
“Democratizing science aims to make science accessible to as wide an audience as possible,” says the Academy’s Community Science Specialist Akilah Chatman. “We work with communities to co-develop research that is relevant to their lived experiences, giving them the tools and resources and connections to make the changes they know are necessary. If we hope to use science as a tool to understand the universe we live in and make it better to live in for us all, then that’s something we do in community — and Science Shop is a model for how to do that.”
You can support the Academy’s research efforts to understand the natural world and inspire everyone to care for it by becoming a member or donating.
Tú también puedes apoyar los proyectos de investigación de la Academia, y así ayudar a entender y proteger la riqueza natural convirtiéndote en miembro o haciendo una donación a nuestras colecciones científicas.
Featured Image: Kelly Kiernan/Unsplash