The UMass Science, Technology and Society (STS) Initiative, under the auspices of the Center for Public Policy and Administration, has received a $14,720 Public Service Endowment Grant from the University. The grant will support the Commonwealth’s participation in World Wide Views on Biodiversity (WWVB), a project that will bring citizens’ voices to the 2012 United Nations Convention on Biodiversity (COP 11) in India next October.
The grant will also support a collaboration between UMass Amherst and the Museum of Science in Boston, which will host a day of dialogue and deliberation about biodiversity for 100 residents throughout Massachusetts on September 15, 2012. The proceedings from that day will be summarized and distributed to policymakers for their use at COP 11, along with views gathered from citizens in nations around the world.
An important component of the project is a graduate-level course at UMass, “Global Governance and Biodiversity,” taught this spring by Gretchen Gano, a staff member at Amherst College completing her doctorate at Arizona State University. Gano’s research focuses on the human dimensions of science and technology, particularly deliberative democratic strategies for governing complex and emerging technologies in society.
Students enrolled in the course will develop an ethically-based, inclusive strategy for selecting area and other state residents as participants in the day of dialogue next September. Students will also write op-eds and/or issue briefs for state policymakers, assist with a citizen information guide about local and regional biodiversity issues, and design an evaluation strategy for assessing the state’s involvement in WWVB.
According to Jane Fountain, professor of political science and public policy and director of STS, “We are delighted to receive this grant, which will serve the Commonwealth by helping to ensure that Massachusetts citizens are represented in deliberations about issues that affect their present and future quality of life.”
The grant includes funds for outreach to low-income residents in western Massachusetts and support for their participation in the Museum of Science event next fall.
According to Gano, “This grant is focused on supporting the involvement of western Massachusetts residents in the World Wide Views initiative, participation that might otherwise be limited because of the traditional east-west divide in our state. But the project will benefit the entire Commonwealth by supporting Massachusetts’ role as a World Wide Views site, joining other sites that currently include Arizona, Iowa, Colorado and the District of Columbia.”
State residents not directly participating in WWVB will be able to learn and discuss issues related to biodiversity, citizen science and citizen engagement through a planned lecture series and/or area town hall this coming year.
Spaces are still available for students to enroll in PUBP&ADM697ST: Global Governance and Biodiversity. Advanced Five College undergraduates may also enroll with the instructor’s permission.
For additional information about the course or WWVB, please contact Gretchen Gano (ggano@amherst.edu). Additional information about WWVB is also available at http://www.tekno.dk/subpage.php3?article=1739&survey=15&language=uk.