We are glad to announce that on the 27th of June 2024 AIRGEO was awarded the Prize for Participatory Research in the category “co-construction” by INRAE. This Prize celebrates and promotes innovative knowledge production that actively promotes collaboration between academia and civil society.
The project AIRGEO was funded by the Pathways Collaborative Research Action (CRA) of the Belmont Forum, and its communication products were sponsored by the Pathways Communication Grants.
While AIRGEO involves six countries, this prize brings to light the collaborative work carried out between Melina Macouin, geophysicist at CNRS, Yann-Philippe Tastevin, anthropologist at CNRS, Claire Dutrait, researcher and PhD student at CIELAM, and other academic researchers and community actors of Sébikotane, Senegal.
Constructed as a research notebook that confronts disciplines and scientific approaches with local realities, the residents, their knowledge and their representations, AIRGEO emerges from different encounters and contributions.
The project entailed the production of 200 sensors made from tree bark and deployed with the help of significant citizen mobilisation. While this effort added to academic knowledge, it undoubtedly promoted democratic processes and provided actionable knowledge about pollution to the public.
Additionally, artists and different art forms, such as murals, literature or forum theatres, were involved in questioning the project and its outputs. They articulated diverse takes, mediated dialogues, and ultimately helped to raise awareness, foster project ownership, and empower.
Interdisciplinary and participatory, the project brilliantly illustrates science in action, where engagement is the only way to stay in touch with reality, as said by Marc Berthold, and where engagement enhances and changes collective approaches and living environments, enabling new perspectives for communities.
We are honoured to have backed the development of Capteurs, the forum theatres, through our Communication Grants and even more pleased to have seen the project be awarded the Prize for Participatory Research.
Discover the forum theatre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x3BmZz58ek
Learn more about AIRGEO: https://airgeo.hypotheses.org
Participants from the theatre forum in Sébikotane, Senegal.
