12. Januar 2022
The Citizen Science platform Bürger schaffen Wissen has been awarded the UN World Summit Award-Germany 2021 (WSA-Germany). The joint project of Wissenschaft im Dialog (WiD) and the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin convinced the jury in the category "Government & Citizen Engagement".
With its decision, the jury acknowledged the successful work of the project, which has set itself the task of providing information about opportunities to participate in research and to further develop Citizen Science in Germany. The jurors see Bürger schaffen Wissen as a "unique platform" that allows citizens to participate directly and actively in research projects and to initiate new scientific projects in exchange with researchers.
"We are very pleased that this important project is being honoured with the WSA Germany Award," says Markus Weißkopf, Managing Director of Wissenschaft im Dialog. "Citizens Create Knowledge brings researchers together with citizens and enables all interested parties to participate in research projects themselves. That is science communication as we want to promote it: Dialogue-oriented, participatory, open to all. By being involved themselves, by helping to gather knowledge and new findings, people also experience how science works. They gain insights into methods and ways of working, and sometimes also into the challenges of scientific work. This not only stimulates interest in research, but also fosters confidence in science."
"The team is hugely excited about this award, which also shows that we are on the right track. The task of researchers must become even more of a dialogue: From top-down communication to public engagement, active dialogue, participation and true collaboration. This takes time, money, a socio-political change and must be supported and shaped systemically. People must enjoy mediating between science and society, bringing questions from society into science and accompanying the dialogue between science and society. This professionalisation is supported by infrastructures such as the platform Citizens Create Knowledge," says Johannes Vogel, Director General of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
Since 2013, the online platform Bürger schaffen Wissen has presented, networked and supported Citizen Science projects in Germany. The project is implemented by Wissenschaft im Dialog together with the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin and funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. As winner of the WSA-Germany, Bürger schaffen Wissen was also nominated for the global Word Summit Award (WSA-Global), but did not make it to the next round.
Further informationen about Bürger schaffen Wissen
Further information about WSA-Germany