Katja Mayer gives fascinating insights into participatory methods for evaluation, with a particular focus on evaluating science projects that themselves have participatory elements. We learn that it is a challenge for scientists to suddenly be moderators of a complex debate and mediators of group dynamics. But we also learn how this can be tackled and how a participatory process can be democratising rather than exploiting. Also, participation does not mean to include everybody, but to get representation right for the purpose of the project at stake.

With a fundamental understanding that evaluation has to be part of every research project and not something that is done by auditors afterwards, Katja invites planning, designing and creating impact together from scratch. This is how it is a co-evaluative journey throughout the research process and citizens will not feel evaluated themselves, but get a tool at hand to be masters of their own impact.

Our focus episodes on participatory methods are drawing from the experience we made in the special issue #54 of the fteval Journal. The next episode 16 presents an interview with Emilio Velis with an approach to open innovation.

Links

• Special Issue of the fteval Journal:If you are interested in receiving a printed version of the special issue, please feel free to drop us a note! podcast [at] fteval.at
• Katja Mayer
• Whitepaper on Co-evaluation of Citizen Social Science
• CoACT Project: Co­designing Citizen Social Science for Collective Action
• Paper about the term "Citizen" in Citizen Science
• Antonella Passani, T6
• ACTION Project: Participatory science toolkit against pollution
• Impetus Project: Impetus for Citizen Science
• The “OIS Zam” conference series as a good practice example for an “arena” for citizens, researchers and funders
• Episode 16 on open innovation: Interview with Emilio Velis

This episode was made possible with the kind support of the Federal Ministry for Climate Action, Environment, Energy, Mobility, Innovation and Technology. Thank you! 

Music: Urbana-Metronica (wooh-yeah mix) (ft. Morusque, Jeris, CSoul, Alex Beroza) by spinningmerkaba http://ccmixter.org/people/jlbrock44; SouljaUnit Remix of DeadRobot Music’s Surfy via https://freesound.org/people/SouljaUnit/sounds/640175/

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