I'm working with a local NGO and some volunteers to collect environmental data on stormwater management in green infrastructure in their area. I'm hoping to gain some insight into what communities typically do with environmental data once it is collected and what steps residents can take to use that data for improving their neighborhood.
Are there specific steps that I can recommend that can help them contribute to policy change? Is there a certain way that the data collected can be shared with government institutions? What other efforts can environmental data help contribute to?
The end goal is to create a guide for volunteers and community organizations that have collected environmental data to help them figure out next steps as to what to do with it that can bring about actionable change.
Hi @jessicac where are you working? Also, you should check out the www.publiclab.org/wiki/stormwater for ideas on activities and materials other groups have used!
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Oh this is great, thank you for sharing! The project I'm working on is in Brooklyn.
I think it’s great your working with a community gathering data. Ultimately, it’s up to the community to decide what they want to do w the data- I mean.. that’s what community science is all about. How can data affect change? How can you help the community meet their needs/answer their questions as a scientist? The community needs to develop the question they want answered first.. do the research, collect the data., does the data support their question /hypothesis? Etc. take the data and present to elected officials and larger community. If data is very powerful- plan a press conference. What story does it tell ? What does the community hope to achieve from the outcomes of the data? When folks present data to community and elected officials , what’s the next step? Hope this helps ..
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Thank you, these are all great ideas!
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