Articles

Citizen Participation

This is an updated summary of an article that appeared in the American Journal of Alternative Agriculture, 7:3 (1992) entitled, "Advisory/ oversight councils: An alternative approach to farmer/citizen participation in agenda setting at land-grant universities" by Steve Stevenson and Rick Klemme.

The land-grant university and the Wisconsin Idea

Building clear communication between farmer/citizens and the university and ensuring citizens have direct input into research agendas were among the goals of the Morrill Act when it created the land-grant system in 1862.

Later, during the Progressive Era in Wisconsin, at the turn of the last century, the "Wisconsin Idea" emphasized two principles that fed into how the Wisconsin land-grant university was administered:

  • the boundaries of the university were the boundaries of the state
  • experts were "on tap, not on top"

The University of Wisconsin demonstrated these principles in ways that drew national praise for the state and its land-grant university. The UW was seen as uncommonly responsive to the concerns of the state's farmer citizens, more so than many land-grant institutions. Repeatedly in its history, the UW has taken input from citizens and implemented programs to meet their needs, especially within the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Some of this input has come in the form of energetic criticism of the land-grant university. Throughout the history of the land-grant colleges of agriculture, powerful conflicts have arisen from disagreements about the nature and mission of these institutions. One big point of contention historically has been whether land-grant ag colleges should focus on practical, hands-on research or on the building of a body of pure scientific knowlege, using more professional, science-based, conceptual means.

Why CIAS was created

By the mid-1980s, farmers, environmentalists, and rural advocacy groups were demanding significant input into public universities' programs and research agendas around the issue of sustainable agriculture in Wisconsin. This amounted to a call for renewing the original land-grant commitment to citizen-institution communication as well as a request that the UW formalize its commitment to sustainable agriculture research.

Citizens also voiced the need for the land-grant to complement traditional and disciplinary research with interdisciplinary approaches that consider production and socioeconomic issues in contemporary agricultural systems.

This creative tension, history of responsiveness to citizen input, and a need to adapt to changing visions of what the institution should be led to the creation of CIAS in 1989.

Part of the center's mission is to balance differing visions of land-grant responsiveness and effectiveness and to help renew the land-grant on this common ground. The multidisciplinary, multiprofessional, and systems approach to agricultural research that CIAS uses, for instance, can accommodate both visions of the land grants' role while building meaningful citizen involvement.

The Center's role is in part a facilitating one: bringing researchers, farmers, environmentalists, policymakers, citizens, and others together to conduct integrated agricultural systems research and to determine what that research agenda should be and how it should be conducted and communicated.

Center staff also work to balance needed innovation with what can be learned from the long history of attempts to put the Wisconsin Idea into practice.

How it works

The Center builds meaningful citizen involvement into its research, education, and communications projects.

Research projects with an on-farm component.

The Krusenbaum case studies, the four-year management intensive rotational grazing SARE project and the community supported agriculture case studies are examples.

Involving citizens as members of research teams.

The rotational grazing case studies and research on entry and exit career strategies in New Zealand dairy farming are examples.

Building citizen input into research agendas.

We created our Grazing-based Dairy Systems (GDS) and Regional Food Systems (RFS) working groups because citizens considered these important issues in Wisconsin agriculture and laid out the potential for researchable topics.

Building citizen input into center strategic planning, action planning, and decision making via the Citizens Advisory Council.

Citizens Advisory Council members are one of our strongest mechanisms for citizen involvement.

Using citizen input to create new education and communications projects.

The Wisconsin School for Beginning Dairy Farmers and the Wisconsin School for Beginning Market Growers are two projects that arose from farmer requests for innovative training and education.

The CIAS model for meaningful citizen involvement

  • Citizens Advisory Council members recognize and respect the University's administrative authority and the faculty's academic freedom.
  • The Center's staff treats public input as integral to decision making.
  • Staff seeks early input and frequent feedback from the advisory council.