Public engagement with science: the Citizen Science Knowledge Center at the University of Southern Denmark (SDU)
Thomas Kaarsted, Director of the Citizen Science Knowledge Center and Deputy Library Director at SDU
Since 2021, the University Library of Southern Denmark (SDU Library) has hosted the university’s Citizen Science Knowledge Center as part of a project run in partnership with the university’s five faculties and a long list of collaborators. In this 17:15 Colloquium, in addition to talking about the organisation, we will also discuss how to get the public interested in science and the skills required based on library cases.
SDU Citizen Science Knowledge Center
The Citizen Science Knowledge Center is hosted by the SDU Library and run in cooperation with all of the university’s faculties, the Danish Institute of Advanced Studies (DIAS), the SDU Research & Innovation Organisation (RIO) and Odense University Hospital (OUH). The Knowledge Center aims to serve both researchers and society by achieving the following goals:
For society
- Bringing citizens closer to science – and scientists closer to society
- Brokering knowledge sharing about citizen science – internally and externally
- Making the research process accessible to all citizens across all levels of education and social groups through communication, education and learning
For researchers
- Enabling researchers to conduct pioneering research related to citizen science
- Providing relevant services for researchers and enabling them to act independently
- Supporting the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
The Knowledge Center’s mission is to create impact by initiating projects aimed at removing traditional barriers between research professionals, faculties and other areas of education; initiating projects in collaboration with the public, including new and established media; supporting researchers in managing research projects, enabling them to collect data and conduct high-quality, ethically sound, community-based research; and promoting open science.
The Knowledge Center thus aims to support relevant, high-quality research for and with citizens. In doing so, it not only sets SDU and OUH apart as institutions, but also aims to improve the status and legitimacy of research in society, including public debate in the media and society in general – and among decision makers.
Four brief talks
- DownloadHow to organise citizen science in the library (Thomas Kaarsted) (PDF, 1.8 MB)
- DownloadHow to communicate in practice (Lotte Thing Rasmussen) (PDF, 592 KB)
- DownloadCase 1. A healthier southern Denmark (Berit Alving) (PDF, 930 KB)
- DownloadCase 2. Our history (Mette Fentz Haastrup) (PDF, 1.2 MB)
Originally the managing director of a publishing house, Thomas Kaarsted joined the SDU Library in 2008 and was appointed Deputy Library Director in 2013. He is also in charge of communication and external library cooperation. Thomas is a co-founder and co-project leader of SDU’s Network for Citizen Science. Thomas has worked on several strategic community- and society-based projects at national and international level, including academic bridging, library impact, internationalisation, regionality and student engagement, and is engaged in strategic development work for citizen science initiatives. He has been Vice-Chair of the LIBER Citizen Science Working Group since 2019 and became Head of the SDU’s Knowledge Centre for Citizen Science in 2021.