Participating in the COPUS network
As part of COPUS, your organization will become part of a national network sharing resources and leveraging efforts. You will have the opportunity to interact with others to promote common goals and develop joint strategies to improve the public understanding of science.
Advantages to COPUS network participants
By participating in COPUS, your organization contributes to a national effort and in return, your organization may:
- Gain new opportunities to communicate and collaborate on national and local levels
- Increase audience participation and improve visibility of science programs and resources nationally and locally via the COPUS program and resource directory and the YoS09 website
- Enhance partnership opportunities by forming a communication network among peers with common passions and concerns, but different perspectives and areas of expertise
- Leverage existing resources by sharing best practices, tools, and content for improving public engagement in science
- Combine limited resources to expand efforts to new audiences
- Facilitate local awareness of and participation in national initiatives
Expectations of COPUS network participants
- Support the development of local and regional coalitions and partnerships in your area
- Work with others to develop activities and programs in support of Year of Science 2009
- Contribute to the national effort by registering Year of Science 2009 activities and adding the Year of Science logo where possible
- Share best practices and evaluation data about those practices with the rest of the COPUS network
- Work with the COPUS network to develop common messages and theme
- Promote the Coalition and Year of Science 2009 with others
Participants in the COPUS Network agree to the following characterization of science:
- Science is a way of learning about what is in the natural world and how it works.
- Science involves a process for testing ideas.
- Science proposes broad natural explanations for how the natural world works and tests those explanations by making observations of the natural world.
- Scientific explanations must be predictive and hence, falsifiable or testable.
- Science is an intellectual and social endeavor.
|
