Ecodoc, When Libraries Become Citizen Labs

In ECODOC, two public libraries, true research partners, are co-piloting the research project and opening their doors to citizens to participate in the co-design of a science communication device. The ECODOC research project is a citizen science project on the circulation of scientific information in areas undergoing climate transition. We aim to work with citizens to co-design a device that facilitates access to scientific knowledge, particularly about forests, which have suffered severe fires in our region. This participative work allows us to study the mechanisms of science communication, and more specifically from the perspective of metadata construction In this project, we are working with two public libraries, Floirac and Arès (France), and we would like to share this experience of involving libraries in a research project, both to show our gratitude and to highlight the importance of working with such partners. These two libraries are actively involved in the governance of the project, within a steering committee, from the definition of survey methodologies to co-publication. As such, the librarians are true citizen scientists committed to the project throughout its duration, contributing their expertise in information and as places that welcome and facilitate the circulation of people, ideas, and knowledge. In addition, these two libraries have opened their doors to us and given us access to a diverse range of citizens who are not affiliated with the university, enabling us to carry out our co-design project with citizens in a variety of forms, including conferences, science poetry workshops, workshops for co-designing games based on scientific data, and finally, workshops for co-designing our device about forests. In other words, our project would not be what it is without them!