From Citizen Science to Human Security: A tool to facilitate Members of Parliaments’ engagement with constituents

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Abstract

Citizen science tools can demonstrate the transformative potential of citizen engagement as a catalyst for structural change and democratisation within society. This paper examines the application of citizen science tools in facilitating Members of Parliament (MPs) to engage directly with constituents by incorporating the principles of human security. The concept of human security is built around protecting individuals from critical threats while also empowering them. It aligns with the goals of citizen science by advocating for inclusive and participatory methods. The paper focuses on how parliamentarians, parliamentary institutions, committees, and secretariats can enhance the reach and effectiveness of these initiatives through citizen science engagement tools. It also addresses the challenges of traditional top-down approaches to public engagement and proposes interactive, two-way conversational deliberation as a solution. By adapting citizen science engagement tools, this approach aims to promote the democratisation of policy development, helping to bridge the gap between parliament and its citizens while encouraging innovative solutions for complex policy challenges.

1. Introduction

Citizen engagement is recognised as a cornerstone of democratic governance, yet many public participation methods fail to foster meaningful dialogue and promote inclusive decision-making. This paper addresses the critical issue of enhancing the engagement of Members of Parliament (MPs) with their constituents through the innovative application of citizen science tools. By integrating the principles of human security, which emphasize the protection and empowerment of individuals, this approach seeks to transform the traditional top-down engagement model into a more interactive and participatory process. The potential of citizen science tools to revolutionise these models is a cause for optimism, bridging the disengagement between parliament and society, making policy development more inclusive and igniting community innovation in addressing complex societal challenges.

2. Citizen Science

Citizen science encompasses a broad spectrum of activities and practices involving public participation in scientific research, ranging from data collection to hypothesis-driven research. It integrates diverse scientific disciplines, including the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities, aiming to foster shared understanding and collaboration among different stakeholders. Although interpretations may vary, citizen science fundamentally values transparency, inclusivity, and adherence to established scientific principles (European Citizen Science Association, 2020). With their transformative potential, publicly orientated citizen science engagement projects can serve as powerful catalysts for structural change and democratisation within society (Cerrato and Balli, 2024). This two-way process of collaborative and meaningful public engagement as espoused by citizen science principles (Cerrato and Balli, 2024) can facilitate human security-focused outputs through policy-society dialogues, user-centred engagement tools, participatory strategies, community engagement, and co-creation processes.

3. Incorporating Human Security Principles

Human security, which emphasises the importance of protecting individuals from critical and pervasive threats while empowering them to pursue meaningful lives, exercise their agency, and contribute to society beyond mere survival, is a key aspect of this paper. This approach aligns well with the goals of citizen science by advocating for inclusive and participatory methods that ensure the voices of all constituents are heard and valued. The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) underscores the importance of addressing human security concerns through representation within the parliamentary processes, highlighting that MPs should be at the forefront of such initiatives (IPU, 2025).

To enhance the reach and effectiveness of these initiatives, it is crucial to involve various parliamentary institutions beyond just MPs. For instance, parliamentary committees and sub-committees can be pivotal in scrutinising and shaping policies through research and public consultations. Often comprising experts, stakeholders, and civil society members, these bodies can facilitate more in-depth analysis and diverse perspectives on human security issues, thereby enriching the policy development process.

Further, the role of parliamentary secretariats and research departments can be expanded to include developing and disseminating engagement tools and participatory strategies. These institutional arms can ensure that the information and tools provided are of high quality, accessible, and tailored to the needs of different constituencies.

While the “open interplay of opinion and policy is the distinguishing mark of popular rule” (Lasswell, 1941), this traditionally has been facilitated through town meetings, which were an “iconic form of direct citizen democracy” (Field, 2019) that consisted of propositions, deliberations and votes. However, this approach has now morphed into town hall meetings, which is the established tool of engagement with constituents and the public, where Field argues “those in power unilaterally convey information to their constituents” involving “announcements and questions about foregone conclusions”.

This top-down approach can deter engagement from constituents, except those with already polarised opinions, that is, those already committed supporters of the politician or proposal participating in such engagements (Field, 2019) or those opposed to the politician or proposal. Furthermore, the personal abuse and stress politicians face, exacerbated by social media (RTE, 2024), discourage public town hall-type meetings.

4. Interactive and Inclusive Engagement

Politicians are now more open to “interactive, two-way conversational deliberation” (Schooler, 2023) that facilitates dialogue, deliberation, and public engagement in an attempt to move away from this top-down approach. However, they remain wary of the potential for polarised opinions among participants. Neblo, Esterling, and Lazer (2019) emphasise the importance of public deliberation in revitalising democracy. They argue that engaging citizens in thoughtful and informed discussions can lead to better decision-making and more robust democratic processes. They outline several criteria essential for ensuring meaningful public involvement in democratic decision-making, including opportunities for participation from under-represented population cohorts, promoting trust, balanced information, and quality reasoning. Importantly, they stress the need for follow-through with outputs impacting subsequent policies or political approaches.

Parliamentary libraries and information services could be leveraged to provide and/or disseminate balanced and comprehensive information to citizens and parliamentarians. These services ensure that all stakeholders can access the necessary data and context for meaningful deliberations, fostering an environment where everyone feels informed and confident in the democratic process.

Parliamentary outreach programs can also be established to actively engage with diverse community groups, ensuring their voices are not just heard but actively included in the decision-making process. These programs can be instrumental in fostering trust and promoting civic education, empowering individuals to participate more effectively.

5. Empowering Individuals through Citizen Science Tools

Applying citizen science tools within the human security framework is a mechanism to achieve non-polarised engagement. Such a framework empowers individuals to contribute to the policy process in several ways (adapted from Cerrato and Balli, 2024):

• Sharing Knowledge: Individuals can contribute their expertise, including indigenous knowledge, to inform decision-making.
• Shaping Policy: Constituents can actively shape policy through advocacy and dialogue with parliamentarians and policymakers.
• Raising Awareness: Human security-focused constituent dialogue initiatives can raise public awareness about pressing issues and foster a sense of collective responsibility.
• Taking Action: Individuals can take concrete action to address societal challenges by participating in dialogue activities and advocacy efforts.

These tools can address current weaknesses in the town hall engagement process, making policy more democratic, inclusive, and accessible by involving a broader range of people and benefiting from diverse knowledge sources, thus reflecting the principle behind human security.

6. Fostering Open Dialogue and Collaboration

For such engagements to be effective, organisers, be they parliamentarians or parliament as an institution, must clearly define the main objectives behind the human security framework of dialogue without overpromising outcomes. While a human security framework is by its nature non-partisan (IPU, 2025), this does not negate the importance of political debate and divergent viewpoints in a functioning democracy, with parliament itself being a “Congress of Opinions” (Mill, 2004) where the application of the outputs from such dialogues needs to be debated and discussed. The key role played by parliament has been fundamental to the success of the Citizens’ Assembly (2024) model in Ireland, where the outputs from the assembly process are analysed and debated in detail through the parliamentary committee system. Therefore, while the concept of human security should be the basis for the general direction of governance, how it is implemented needs to be debated and agreed upon politically.

7. Parliamentary Dialogue with Citizens

Whatever structure the engagement with the public takes (Appendix 1), it must foster an open dialogue, allowing individuals to share their perspectives, recount experiences, and raise relevant issues from diverse societal viewpoints. For such a method to be successful, parliamentarians must adopt a listening approach, transitioning from providing answers to actively listening to public concerns.

By fostering two-way dialogue and empowering stakeholders, a human security-focused constituent dialogue process can become a powerful catalyst for bringing people together and harnessing collective knowledge to address complex societal challenges. Providing various participation options, incorporating assistive technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (McKinney, 2024), and offering materials in multiple languages ensures inclusivity. Advanced training and support tailored to different experience levels empower participants to contribute meaningfully, as seen in Ireland’s Citizens’ Assembly (2024).

8. Managing Stakeholder Relationships

Managing relationships between stakeholders and constituents is vital, as interactions can be complex. Potential challenges include divergent viewpoints and collaboration conflicts. Project organisers must develop a clear picture of stakeholder relationships, understand roles and interests, and strategise on the dialogue process to facilitate productive communication and collaboration.

9. Maximising Impact Through Effective Communication

Maximizing effective communication is crucial throughout the project lifecycle (adapted from Cerrato and Balli, 2024):

• Identifying policy questions: Engaging diverse stakeholders can spark valuable insights and shape relevant research questions.
• Designing the dialogue process: Clear communication fosters collaboration and ensures understanding of goals and methodologies.
• Implementing the dialogue process: Consistent communication keeps participants informed and motivated.
• Interpreting results: Collaborative interpretation allows diverse perspectives to inform analysis.
• Disseminating findings: Effective communication ensures findings reach relevant audiences, maximising impact.

10. Building Trust and Reputation

The public image of members of parliament or the parliament itself significantly influences the effectiveness of the citizen or constituent dialogue process. A strong reputation fosters trust and increases participation. MPs should be mindful of their public image or that of their party or parliament, integrate trust-building strategies, and prioritise transparency, openness, and accountability.

11. Unlocking the Power of Collective Intelligence

A human security framework of constituent dialogue can unlock the power of collective intelligence and empower individuals to participate actively in policy development. It serves as a tool for uniting diverse stakeholders to tackle societal challenges. By fostering dialogue and collaboration through such a framework, a constituent dialogue process can (adapted from Cerrato and Balli, 2024):

1. Build a more informed society: Provide citizen education that enhances understanding and critical thinking skills, focusing on civic education and human security, which are crucial today.
2. Empower communities: Give communities a voice and a sense of ownership over issues impacting their lives and, through the concept of human security, a greater understanding of the impact on other members of society.
3. Bridge the gap between parliament and society: Promote mutual understanding, trust, and cooperation by applying the concept of human security to enhance awareness of its impact on other members of society.
4. Democratising Policy Development: Enhance the transparency of the policy-making process, promote political literacy, and facilitate access to policy development through a more informed and educated population.
5. Igniting innovation: Foster novel ideas and approaches to addressing complex issues.

This approach transcends traditional policy development, contextualising policy within the community and allowing the public to relate it to everyday experiences.

12. Participatory Dialogue Processes

Table 1 provides a selection of the types of participatory processes where people engage in conversation, dialogue, deliberation, reflection, organisation development, group process, community renewal, collective intelligence, and democracy (Process Arts, 2024). Some processes or combinations might be more effective for policy engagement for parliamentarians, political parties, or parliaments. However, a broad suite of potential tools is available (Appendix 1), many of which effectively deliver a human security approach to solving critical policy issues at both community and national levels.

Artificial Intelligence applications can also significantly enhance the effectiveness of these processes across various stages, from recruitment and planning to follow-up. McKinney (2024) has outlined eleven potential applications but has cautioned that this requires balancing the potential enhancement of capacity with maintaining democratic quality. McKinney advises cautiously implementing hybrid approaches to help mitigate these issues, ensuring AI supports rather than undermines democratic processes.

Table 1: Selection of Participatory Processes

As the Process Arts (2024) source did not clearly explain each participatory process, Microsoft Copilot was explicitly requested to provide a simple explanation for each process, which is set out in Appendix 1.

13. Conclusion

In conclusion, integrating citizen science tools within a human security framework offers a promising pathway to revitalising democratic engagement between MPs and their constituents. This approach can address the limitations of traditional top-down engagement methods by fostering open dialogue, empowering individuals, and leveraging collective intelligence. The successful implementation of such initiatives requires the active involvement of parliamentary institutions, the development of high-quality engagement tools, and a commitment to inclusivity and transparency. Ultimately, this model has the potential to democratise policy development, enhance trust between parliament and society, and drive innovative solutions to pressing societal issues.

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