At the beginning of the course, we asked you to reflect on what you thought open science is and how it relates to citizen science. Recalling that response, consider:

  • Have any of your views changed after taking this course? 
  • Which concepts from this course did you find useful, agree, or disagree with?
  • Can you identify which aspects of open science you could implement in your current or future citizen science projects?

You have reached the end of this course. There will be a final quiz that you can take to receive a certificate. But before that, we will conclude with the story below of the “stone soup” [1]. It is a European folk tale about sharing and working together. How do you think it might represent the processes and outputs of open science? Does it inspire open science? Whatever you think, we hope you’ve gained useful knowledge and insights from this course and will consider making open science part of your citizen science project. Thank you for joining us.

Image of a stone soup
Stone soup image by Theresa Thompson via Flickr, CC BY-NC 2.0

Some travellers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travellers. Then the travellers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travellers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.

The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travellers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. The villager hands them a little bit of seasoning. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient, like potatoes, onions, cabbages, peas, celery, tomatoes, corn, meat, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travellers and villagers alike. Although the travellers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors. (Adapted from [1]).

References

1. Stone Soup. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup

Last modified: Wednesday, 20 October 2021, 3:36 PM