Introduction to Science Shops
What is a Science Shop?
“Science Shops are organizations that make knowledge available to civil society organizations that don’t have the means to pay or carry out research themselves. Science Shops can be embedded within other organizations (universities, research institutions, companies) or established as independent organizations in the form of non-governmental or other not-for-profit organizations.” (Science Shop Establishment Guide)
Key features at a glance
- A Science Shop creates dialogue between civil society organizations and the research community to support these initiatives
- A Science Shop is concerned with sharing ideas and developing appropriate responses
- For each project, public feedback and/or an accessible deliverable are used to make all the knowledge recommendations that have emerged available
Introduction
What is the format about?
Associations, local authorities, and citizens’ groups sometimes need specific insights and knowledge to consolidate their actions, assess their impact, or discover new approaches.
The Science Shops provide a link between the research community and civil society, encouraging dialogue and collaboration between them.
Thanks to the space for exchange and monitoring, they offer potential for experimentation, particularly through seminars and workshops.
Associations, citizens’ groups, and local authorities are supported in their questioning by researchers who mobilize students in the form of internships, challenges, or group work.
How does the format work?
- The Call for interest => formulation of requests. This call for expressions of interest is open for a fairly long period of approximately four months (generally from February to May) so that all applications can be received and properly processed collectively.
A question of general interest is submitted to the Science Shop, studied, and reformulated in coordination with a scientific committee to develop specialized support.
- The Scientific Committee => selection of projects. Each year, the Science Shop brings together a scientific committee composed of experts who examine the applications submitted through the call for expressions of interest and select around fifteen projects to be carried out each year. In some cases, the scientific committee redirects applications to other formats.
- The design and dissemination of offers => Applications and interviews
- The completion of group tutorial projects and of individual placements
A team of researchers or students is then contacted and put together by the science shop to carry out a field study and work with these civil society players to develop a practical response to their problem.
- The dissertations / presentations / presentation of results => potential political decision makers in attendance
A public presentation and/or an accessible final publication will make available all the knowledge that has emerged.
Tasks and resources
This is a program to support the stakeholders in a project, promoting dialogue and collaboration between civil society organizations and scientific research.
It supports researchers who want to be more in touch with different stakeholders in the field and is interested in participatory research projects. They will become involved by taking part in seminars and workshops and will benefit from centralized resources on the theme of participatory research.
The Science Shop gives researchers the opportunity to supervise a student or a group project and to support the implementation of research in conjunction with all the players involved.
It also allows them to take part in the work of exploring and supporting social demand, enabling them to find and advise partner structures for collective student projects or personal projects.
For large-scale research projects, they can call on the expertise of the science shop’s third-party supervisors (participatory research supervisors).
Required resources at a glance
| Hours | Days | Weeks | Months | ||||
| Researchers’ time for this activity | x | ||||||
| Researchers’ time for dealing with organizational issues | x | ||||||
| Knowledge exchange officers’ time | |||||||
| Policymakers’ time | x | ||||||
| Medium | High | ||||||
Examples
Boutique des sciences de l’Université Lumière Lyon 2 https://www.univ-lyon2.fr/sciences-et-societe/boutique-des-sciences
Sources and further reading
Leaflet Boutique des Sciences ULL2: https://www.calameo.com/read/0074134546a08abe69437
Guide pratique de la recherche participative (A practical guide to participatory research French version): https://lemouvementassociatif-aura.org/wp-content/uploads/bsk-pdf-manager/2024/11/GUIDE-RECHERCHE-PARTICIPATIVE.pdf
Website : le mouvement associatif : https://lemouvementassociatif-aura.org/nos-4-champs-actions/actions-innovation-sociale-associations-mouvement-associatif-auvergne-rhone-alpes/
Living Knowledge Network – the formal international network of Science Shops and Community Based Research : https://livingknowledge.org/
And their Science Shop Establishment Guide (pdf version) : https://www.scishops.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/SciShops_D4.4_Guide.pdf.pdf
