About

Would you like to increase the diversity of participants benefiting from a participatory science project that you help run?

The IDEAL program offers a unique approach to support you.

It’s not simply a workshop. It’s not just a tutorial. It’s not only resources.

It’s a long-term commitment to a community to support growth through learning activities, worksheets, and readings, and discussions with peers and the IDEAL team.

It’s a deep dive into figuring out how to put the principles of inclusion, equity, and accessibility into practice.

What learning process do you think the pink circle needs in order to make changes?

IDEAL principles challenge us to change how we design projects.  As the illustration shows, we don’t want project leaders to act like the pink circle. We don’t want participatory projects to be like the brick wall that requires folks to lose their edges and change themselves into a new smooth shape in order to participate. We want to get rid of the brick wall, or fill it with multi-shaped holes, so everyone fits. As the pink circle (will eventually) realize, we can’t make these changes by merely being “nice” and “welcoming” with words and smiles. We remove or change the brick wall through actions that change the environment, the culture, and other conditions. The IDEAL solutions can be different for each unique context and circumstances. The IDEAL program guides you towards solutions, which take the form of partnership and action plans.