Ramirez-Andreotta Monica D, Brusseau Mark L, Artiola Janick, Maier Raina M, Gandolfi A Jay
Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, The University of Arizona, Touson, Arizona, United States of America.
Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science, The University of Arizona, Touson, Arizona, United States of America ; Department of Hydrology and Water Resources Department and The University of Arizona, Touson, Arizona, United States of America.
Int Public Health J. 2015 Jan;7(1).
A research project that is only expert-driven may ignore the role of local knowledge in research, give low priority to the development of a comprehensive communication strategy to engage the community, and may not deliver the results of the study to the community in an effective way.
To demonstrate how a research program can respond to a community research need, establish a community-academic partnership, and build a co-created citizen science program.
A place-based, community-driven project was designed where academics and community members maintained a reciprocal dialogue, and together, we: 1) defined the question for study, 2) gathered information, 3) developed hypotheses, 3) designed data collection methodologies, 4) collected environmental samples (soil, irrigation water, and vegetables), 5) interpreted data, 6) disseminated results and translated results into action, and 7) discussed results and asked new questions.
The co-created environmental research project produced new data and addressed an additional exposure route (consumption of vegetables grown in soils with elevated arsenic levels). Public participation in scientific research improved environmental health assessment, information transfer, and risk communication efforts. Furthermore, incorporating the community in the scientific process produced both individual learning outcomes and community-level outcomes.
This approach illustrates the benefits of a community-academic co-created citizen-science program in addressing the complex problems that arise in communities neighboring a contaminated site. Such a project can increase the community's involvement in risk communication and decision-making, which ultimately has the potential to help mitigate exposure and thereby reduce associated risk.
一个仅由专家驱动的研究项目可能会忽视当地知识在研究中的作用，不重视制定全面的沟通策略以吸引社区参与，并且可能无法以有效的方式将研究结果传达给社区。
展示一个研究项目如何回应社区的研究需求，建立社区与学术机构的伙伴关系，并打造一个共同创建的公民科学项目。
设计了一个基于地点、由社区驱动的项目，学者和社区成员保持相互对话，并且我们共同：1）确定研究问题，2）收集信息，3）提出假设，3）设计数据收集方法，4）采集环境样本（土壤、灌溉水和蔬菜），5）解读数据，6）传播结果并将结果转化为行动，7）讨论结果并提出新问题。
共同创建的环境研究项目产生了新数据，并解决了一个额外的暴露途径（食用在砷含量升高的土壤中种植的蔬菜）。公众参与科学研究改善了环境健康评估、信息传递和风险沟通工作。此外，让社区参与科学过程产生了个人层面和社区层面的成果。
这种方法说明了社区与学术机构共同创建的公民科学项目在解决受污染场地周边社区出现的复杂问题方面的益处。这样一个项目可以增加社区在风险沟通和决策中的参与度，最终有可能帮助减轻暴露并从而降低相关风险。
