{"id":2004,"date":"2025-02-11T15:48:47","date_gmt":"2025-02-11T14:48:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lpinstitute.dev.onpressidium.com\/news\/clea-montanari-sciences-participatives\/"},"modified":"2025-10-29T10:14:23","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T09:14:23","slug":"clea-montanari-participatory-sciences","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/news\/clea-montanari-sciences-participatives\/","title":{"rendered":"[COMMUNAUT\u00c9] Cl\u00e9a Montanari, les sciences participatives au service d\u2019un avenir durable\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00abI consider myself privileged, I've always had the chance to work on something that matches my interests. And in the world of science, that's pretty rare.\u00bb<\/em> The tone is set. On the occasion of <\/strong>International Day of Women and Girls in Science<\/strong><\/a> and while research grants for women remain much lower than those for men, Cl\u00e9a Montanari, who works in the world of participatory science, shares her views and experiences with us. A warm exchange in a caf\u00e9 on the banks of the Seine.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cl\u00e9a Montanari has been on the move all her life. She is a third culture kid (\u00ab <\/em>child of the third culture\u00bb) who grew up most of her life outside her native countries. Franco-Italian, Cl\u00e9a studied for her bachelor's degree at Concordia University<\/a> in Canada. \u00abI chose biology because that's what interested me in high school. It wasn't so much the working environment in a laboratory that appealed to me, but the subject. At the same time, I was studying sustainability (<\/em>Sustainability Studies). \u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

During its first years of study, Cl\u00e9a's research project focused on ecosystem services (Ecosystem Services<\/em>), i.e. the benefits that ecosystems provide to human beings, either directly or indirectly (for example, provisioning services (resources provided by nature - such as drinking water, food, etc.)). Cl\u00e9a then asks what humans can do to ensure that nature benefits from their activities in return. \u00abI was very interested in this subject and really wanted to explore it. I did a lot of research, and kept coming across publications by Rudolf de Groot<\/a>. It was thanks to these readings that I decided to study environmental policy. <\/em>(Environmental Policy) master's degree at <\/em>Wageningen University & Research<\/em><\/a> in the Netherlands.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cl\u00e9a specializes in sustainable development diplomacy (Sustainable Development Diplomacy<\/em>). \u00abWhat interested me in my studies, and what continues to fascinate me, is the human-nature relationship and participatory science.<\/em> (Citizen Science<\/em>) \u00bb. During her gap year, Cl\u00e9a met Muki Haklay<\/a>, Professor of Geographic Information Science (Geographical Information Science)<\/em> at UCL in the UK, now her manager. She came across him by chance on the Future Earth<\/a>, in a working group on the role of participatory science in achieving sustainable development objectives<\/a> (Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs<\/em>). \u00abIt was really exciting for me because, as a student, I was collaborating with well-established researchers.\u00b7<\/em>es. I was even lucky enough to co-write the paper <\/em>Agenda 2030\u2019s, \u201cLeave no one behind\u201d, in citizen science?<\/a>. That's how I entered the world of participatory science.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Presentation
Presentation of the work of Cl\u00e9a Montanari and Muki Haklay's team to the project consortium European Citizen Science<\/em> - Photo under Creative Commons License, by Simona Cerrato, European Participatory Science Association (ECSA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
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But what exactly are participatory sciences, or sciences citoyennes? According to Cl\u00e9a, the term \u00absciences participatives\u00bb is more commonly used in France, while \u00absciences citoyennes\u00bb has a more militant connotation. The use of \u00ab Citizen science <\/em>\u00bbis the term used at European level.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00ab I like to use examples to explain what participatory science is (...)\u00bb, <\/em>smiles the young woman. \u00ab(...) If researchers\u00b7<\/em>to collect data on the migrations of certain birds in order to better understand them, they can draw on the expertise of citizens.\u00b7<\/em>people like you and me who are passionate\u00b7<\/em>The researchers can then use their smartphones to fill in data as they watch the birds. This enables researchers\u00b7<\/em>ses to collect data to continue their work. There's a real idea of collaboration between scientists and civil society. In participatory science, the individual is both subject\u00b7<\/em>te and participant\u00b7<\/em>e, or simply a participant.\u00bb <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For her final Master's thesis, Cl\u00e9a is trying to understand how articles written by environmental organizations<\/a> can have an impact on the way readers\u00b7<\/em>rices consider their own relationship with nature and their food citizenship (Food citizenship<\/em>). Food citizenship explores the idea that we are not just consumers\u00b7<\/em>at the end of the food chain.\u00b7<\/em>es throughout the food system. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the end of her studies, Cl\u00e9a applied to become a project manager with the European programme European Citizen Science<\/em><\/a> (European participatory science)<\/em>. She has now been working on the project for over two years, alongside project manager Muki Haklay. \u00ab <\/em>European Citizen Science<\/a> aims to grow and strengthen participatory science in Europe. It brings together s twenty-seven EU countries, as well as the UK, and twenty-one partner organizations, including Universit\u00e9 Paris Cit\u00e9 and the Learning Planet Institute. Here in Paris, we're working specifically on the development of a European participatory science academy. We're improving a digital platform, working on a business plan and mobilizing networks of trainers.\u00b7<\/em>rices and educators\u00b7<\/em>The academy will be based in Berlin and will offer both physical and online training courses for researchers, engineers, engineers and other professionals.\u00b7<\/em>ses, museums, universities, research libraries or public libraries.\u00bb <\/em>The four-year project is scheduled for completion in late 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"Workshop
Workshop organized as part of the European Citizen Science<\/em> - Photo under Creative Commons License, by Simona Cerrato, European Participatory Science Association (ECSA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The construction of this academy is one of the initiatives in citizen science supported by the Learning Planet Institute<\/a> convinced, for nearly fifteen years now, that citizens\u00b7<\/em>nes have a major role to play in meeting the challenges of a sustainable future. In all, three major European projects have been supported by the Institute, which recently created Learning Transitions research unit (UR LT)<\/a> with CY Cergy Paris Universit\u00e9<\/a>. The aim of this department is to develop tools, theories and scientific methods for systemic approaches to planetary transitions, drawing on interdisciplinarity, artificial intelligence, collective intelligence and - of course - participatory science. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cl\u00e9a considers herself fortunate to work in the research field, and is aware of the privilege of being a woman in the world of participatory science. \u00abI don't know if I've ever wondered about my own place as a woman in science. I consider myself privileged, I've always had the chance to work on things that correspond to my interests. In the world of science, that's pretty rare, <\/em>she admits. \u00abIt's important to note that women are much more involved in the participatory science community than in many other areas, such as <\/em>STEM \u00bb(science, technology, engineering and mathematics - <\/em>according to the UN, women account for only 40% of graduates\u00b7<\/em>and 28% computer science graduates\u00b7<\/em>es in engineering). <\/em>According to Cl\u00e9a, this attraction is probably due to the research method: more personal and relational, more collaborative too. When asked what she thinks about the place of girls and women in science, Cl\u00e9a replies: \u00abThis question simply shouldn't exist. What we can question, on the other hand, is the way we do science and the way the institution itself needs to change.\u00bb<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Learn more<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about the project European Citizen Science<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find out more about\u2019Research Unit Learning Transitions<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

See more portraits of members of our community<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A portrait by Marie Ollivier<\/a>
Thanks to Cl\u00e9a Montanari for answering our questions<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Portrait de Cl\u00e9a Montanari, responsable de projet au sein du programme science participative europ\u00e9en \u00ab European Citizen Science \u00bb et membre de l’Unit\u00e9 de Recherche Learning Transitions au Learning Planet Institute<\/p>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":2008,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[75,35,20],"tags":[36],"class_list":["post-2004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-community","category-rd","tag-portrait"],"acf":[],"meta_box":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2004"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2004\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.learningplanetinstitute.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}