1.2. Various ways to integrate citizens into Citizen Science

Site:	European Citizen Science Academy (ECS academy)
Course:	Empowerment through co-designed Citizen Science in education
Book:	1.2. Various ways to integrate citizens into Citizen Science

Printed by:	Guest user
Date:	Saturday, 23 November 2024, 10:40 AM

Description

In this subsection we will review different forms of CS that can be developed and used.

1.2.A. Different aims of CS
1.2.B. Different levels of integration of participants
1.2.C. Exercise

1.2.A. Different aims of CS

Citizen Science (CS) allows for integrating non-scientists people, also named as “the general public” (Buyaert et al., 2014), in research processes as “active participants” (Sauermann et al., 2020). CS may change both scientists and participants and its usually expected outcomes cover three main premises (Strasser et al. 2018):

Therefore, on the basis of the pursued objectives and of the shape they take, CS approaches have been classified into three main forms. Among the different typologies found in the literature, one may refer for instance to Kasperwoski et al. (2017), who defined three types of CS:

On a more practical perspective, one may actually identify different levels of integration of the general public into the practice of science. And thus, one may refer to different methods according to their objective. For instance, the approach will be different if one seek to complete a dataset by inviting people to perform an inventory of some organisms in a given area or to empower a local population to deal with a particular issue within this area. It is therefore particularly important to clearly define the objective of any research project before adopting a CS approach. This is necessary to ensure that the methods used later are relevant and performant enough to fulfill the stated aims. Users of CS may refer to some typologies to identify more easily which kind of approach may suit the best to their objectives.

1.2.B. Different levels of integration of participants

Many typologies have been developed to classify the different forms of CS. We will introduce here some that reflect the level of involvement of participants into the definition of scientific questions, project design, data collection and analysis:

1.2.C. Exercise

Let's imagine...

A research team from University A works on the impact of urbanization on biodiversity and on the use of space by animals in the local city’s landscape. In terms of outcomes for society, the objective is to provide advice for land management.

These scientists have chosen as study-models two common organisms in their region: hedgehogs and birds. They capture some animals, place a GPS transponder on them and release them back on the field. This allows them to follow their movements, that they can then directly analyze thanks to a GIS software. However they would like to get more details on the habitat where the animals move and obtain further information on their behavior. This is actually quite time consuming. Below are a few examples of fictive CS projects that could be developed within this same context.

Project A. Thus, the scientists create a protocol, inviting local inhabitants to report observations of birds and hedgehogs in their gardens. People are invited to observe birds twice a year during one hour and to send the list of species they can identify. They can also report observations of hedgehogs in their gardens, completed by a short description of the environment (size of the garden, organization, presence of hedges, connection to other gardens, presence of pets…).

Project B. The research team invites local naturalists to participate in the project. These local experts on fauna are invited to give their opinion on the dataset derived from the inhabitants’ observations, and once the GIS analysis has been completed, they are also invited to workshops aimed at further analyzing the results obtained. This approach allows the scientists to detect anomalies or inconsistencies thanks to the local experts’ fine knowledge of the territory and of its biodiversity.

Project C. In the neighboring city, a group of citizens is also interested in issues related to biodiversity protection. In the absence of scientific or political initiatives to assess the effects of local urbanization policies, they constitute an NGO. They designate different working groups according to the knowledge and interests of each person. They inventory biodiversity, using their own protocols and make grid-maps reporting the absence and presence of different species in the city, according to the land use. The results are transferred to the other citizens through a dedicated website and by organizing meetings in local cafes. They start a collaboration with the local municipality as well, in order to identify the most sensitive areas for biodiversity preservation.

Project D. On the basis of such an example, the scientists of University A decide to offer the possibility to train citizens to biodiversity observation. Their aim is, ultimately, to create a group of expert citizens who may pursue the actions taken for biodiversity knowledge and preservation beyond the timeline of the research project. They offer to keep working with this citizen group in the future by providing scientific reference support, either by answering questions or providing advice.