Organic Public Engagement: How Ecological Thinking Transforms Public Engagement with Science - Hardcover

by Adam S. Lerner (Author), Pat J. Gehrke (Author)

Challenges dominant paradigms in public engagement through both a comprehensive competing theory of engagement and specific case studies of public engagement with science

Presents a foundational theory of engagement and the practical methodology for implementing that theory

Appeals to public engagement scholars, researchers, and students, especially those working in public engagement with science and technology, science communication, public understanding of science, and rhetoric of science and technology

Back Jacket

This book advances organic public engagement methods based on ecological thinking. The authors draw on rich multi-disciplinary literature in ecological thinking as well as research from public engagement with science events held over the past several years across the United States. Through this combination of ecology theory and case studies, this book provides both the conceptual foundations and the proven practical applications of public engagement grounded in ecological thinking. It offers engagement scholars an effective and efficient means of carrying out their missions, while simultaneously building a more ecologically valid method for studying actually existing publics.

Author Biography

Adam S. Lerner, Research Fellow of Communication and Rhetoric of Science, Department of English, University of South Carolina, USA

Pat J. Gehrke, Associate Professor and Director of Speech Communication & Rhetoric, Department of English, University of South Carolina, USA