The Civic Science for Environmental Futures Lab (CivicFutures) is a research space based in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society (SFIS) at Arizona State University. We are a group of faculty, graduate and undergraduate researchers, and community partners all committed to working together to make sense of complex environmental issues. Through these collaborations, we explore how communities can engage with science and policy to shape a more just and equitable environmental future.
Civic Science… Is a science linked to social movements & collaborative research. It is a science that draws diverse people into the process of discovery and rejects views of science that marginalizes local knowledge. Importantly, it is a science that attends to concerns for equity, democracy, and social justice.
Environmental Futures… Denotes a process of inquiry that emerges when people come together to make sense of complex environmental issues. Imagining alternative futures fosters critical inquiry, accounts for externalities, and makes visible how power in decision-making can be differently distributed between the public, industry, and regulators.
A Collaborative Methodology… We thrive in the tenants of “team science” — working with partners across disciplines and sectors on intellectual endeavors with the common goal of building capacity, sharing resources, and generating new scientific knowledge.