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Structured output methods and environmental issues: perspectives on co-created bottom-up and ‘sideways’ science
Taylor R, Forrester J, Pedoth L, Zeitlyn D
Participatory methods for researching human–environmental interactions seek detailed
inputs on all manner of issues, but the outputs are often only understandable to the technically
literate. On the other hand, participatory methods that involve the co-design of
structured outputs (maps, models, games, stories, etc.) can be used to represent and integrate
the knowledge and views of participants authentically and can be interpretable to both
‘scientist’ and ‘non-scientist’ alike, thereby creating ‘sideways’ rather than top-down or
bottom-up perspectives. This paper is both a methodological paper and a treatise that looks
at some of the theory underpinning such approaches, drawing on the theory of citizen or
‘bottom-up’ stakeholder engagement in science but also co-created engagement, emphasising
the learning and trust-building benefits of this ‘sideways’ engagement. It describes how
some established and novel methods (participatory agent-based modelling; co-constructing
computer games; and participatory social network mapping), can be used to engage stakeholders
in iterative, constructivist communication, allowing researchers and stakeholders to
co-create a structured ‘reality’ separate from the reality it represents. We discuss how such
approaches support and contribute to scientific outputs that better represent participants’
reality. Our findings show that, when applied to ecosystem services, agricultural adaptation
and disaster risk management, such representations provide communication opportunities
and spaces for reflection and constructivist learning. The structured outputs allow stakeholders—
both participant and researcher—to ‘mirror’ their human-environmental system to
collaboratively think about gaps and problems in understanding.
DOI: 10.1057/s41599-022-01304-3
