Participatory Science and Participatory Research at the heart of the NGO’s actions
Participatory Science and Participatory Research have played a foundational role in the history and activities of the NGO Objectif Sciences International. The first participatory research initiatives imagined and created in 1992 immediately enabled children, teenagers, adults, families, teachers, volunteers and field practitioners to contribute directly to real scientific projects, in contexts of learning, exploration, cooperation and collective benefit.
This choice was never about adding a scientific activity to a programme, nor about turning a journey into a simple tool for science communication. From the outset, the aim was to make the lived experience of the adventure itself — both individual and collective — a driver of experiential learning, capacity building and knowledge production. Since 2005, the scientific programmes, scientific journeys, research camps, field missions, training courses, expeditions, discovery classes and international programmes developed by the NGO have all integrated the principles of Participatory Science and Participatory Research across all their formats.
This approach makes it possible to connect lived experience, observation, the scientific method, cooperation, responsibility and long-term commitment. Participants are not simply placed in front of already established knowledge: they learn to formulate a question, observe an environment, contribute to a protocol, collect data, understand the usefulness of their actions, cooperate with others, present what has been produced and take part in research that goes beyond their own individual journey.
The creation of training that continuously remains at the cutting edge
In 2005, this accumulated experience therefore led to the first structured training course in Participatory Science and Participatory Research, offered by the NGO Objectif Sciences International, based on work in science education carried out by Thomas EGLI and André GIORDAN within the Laboratory of Science Education and Epistemology — LDES — at the University of Geneva. Today, this training remains one of the oldest and, to this day, one of the most comprehensive and practical programmes in the field of Participatory Science and Participatory Research.
Delivered several times a year around the world, and every year in March in Paris, it is available in a short 3-day version, designed to provide the methodological, educational and operational fundamentals — Research and Facilitation-Teaching version — and in an intensive 5-day version, delivered as action training and a hackathon, enabling participants to design a complete project, including its business model — Research, Facilitation-Teaching and Design version.
Particular attention is given to Participatory Science and Participatory Research for Impact. The aim is not merely to understand the principles of scientific participation, but to train people who are capable of mobilizing audiences, designing useful protocols, producing data, documenting the effects achieved and leaving with a project ready to operate. This requirement includes the search for sustainable business models, so that projects can endure, create activities, strengthen teams and generate jobs within host organizations such as national parks, nature reserves, leisure centres, local authorities, schools, universities, NGOs, popular education associations, third places, science centres, responsible tourism organizations or local development programmes.
Because of the success of this training and the need to make it accessible to a greater number of stakeholders, the NGO Objectif Sciences International was led to contribute to the creation and development of a dedicated training organization: Step and Go. This international organization, present on every continent and operating in partnership with the NGO Objectif Sciences International and the entire UN ecosystem, now makes it possible to transmit, professionalize and deploy these methods among organizations, territories, institutions, companies, local authorities and project leaders seeking to transform their scientific, educational, social or environmental challenges into concrete action.
