IlluminationSpace Hub Ecosystem Map

The IlluminationSpace Hub Ecosystem Map: Civic Science in Action Analyzing the Impact of Emergent Informal STEM Learning Partnerships on Under-resourced Communities and Academic STEM Research is a project that presents outcomes of a Rita Allen Foundation Civic Science Fellowship, supporting an 18-month effort to research, analyze, and expand the ASRC IlluminationSpace Hub (IS Hub). The IS Hub – a collective space for science communication, outreach, and education housed inside CUNY’s Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) in West Harlem – provides opportunities for community members, students, teachers and researchers to collaborate to address public needs.

The project presents a dynamic ecosystem map as a model of emergent civic science, connecting participants, partners, and knowledge holders while elucidating individual and shared value propositions, describing a scalable, replicable model for public universities seeking to make STEM more inclusive, accessible, and impactful. Included are network maps and data stories reflecting the Hub’s commitment to defining—through an equity and inclusion lens—what constitutes an effective, engaged civic science ecosystem: one in which all participants, from community members to academic researchers, experience both ownership of and benefit from the work. Inclusion in the Pop Up presents an impactful way to demonstrate this model of Public Interest Technology and an invitation to use it to further address public concerns.

IlluminationSpace Hub Ecosystem Map is presented by Catherine Cramer, Civic Science Fellow at the CUNY Graduate Center Advanced Science Research Center (ASRC) and UX designer (and Baruch College graduate) Mashya Mumin.