Citizens' Engagement Program with High School Students
Tinkering with the Temperature of Planet Earth:
A citizens' deliberation on climate geoengineering
September 27 - October 19, 2010
Project Development:
CSPO faculty and staff worked with the coordinator of the science policy program at the Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, VA, to develop a schedule and process for face-to-face and online deliberation and the final presentation. Technology for online deliberation was selected with assistance from the Association of Science Technology Centers. Public engagement and climate policy experts were consulted to identify participants for the on-line deliberation and development of the deliberation scenario. Finally, the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Centers for Scholars provided venue and technical support for the mock hearing.
Deliberation Scenario:
Congress has convened a special session to enact legislation that will accelerate the pace of current research and development in cloud whitening technology—technologies that aim to lower global temperatures by reflecting sunlight back into space.
Project Summary:
For three weeks beginning in late September, the students in the Science Policy Program at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology posed as citizens groups from the States of Virginia and Maryland and the District of Columbia. They deliberated face to face with each other and on-line with experts in the field about the prospects, potentials, uncertainties and challenges associated with the research and development of cloud whitening technologies. They had a chance to listen respectfully to each other, review publicly available information, and obtain answers to their questions directly from experts in the field. Reflecting on these deliberations they formed a set of recommendations about how the research and development of these technologies should or should not be managed.
The students then prepared written testimonies and presented them in a mock Congressional Committee Hearing on October 19, 2010, before a panel comprising of Claire Parkinson of NASA, Ana Ivelisse Aviles of the U.S. Government Accountability Office, Sam Thernstrom of the Bipartisan Policy Center, Mike MacCracken of the Climate Institute, and CSPO co-director Dan Sarewitz. [project memo]
Project Timeline:
- Monday, September 27: Briefing and overview of the project
- Wednesday, September 29: Initial face-to-face deliberation in class within groups
- October 4 – 8: Online deliberation with experts
- Friday, October 15: Final face-to-face deliberation in class within groups
- Tuesday, October 19: Testimony to Mock Congressional panel and the public
Partners:
Partnerships for this project included the Association of Science Technology Centers, the science policy program at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and the Science and Technology Innovation Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Centers for Scholars. Other members of the ECAST network, the Museum of Science, Boston, Loka Institute and Science Cheerleader, all contributed valuable guidance towards developing and implementing the project.
