The MICS platform prototype for period 1 presents the first incarnation of the MICS system and its user interfaces. It is intended to be a demonstration of the technology required to produce a stable platform, and a first consideration of some of the usability issues and potential design solutions. It will form the basis for an iterative design process running up to D3.5 (the period 2 prototype), which will more fully involve the assessment methodologies derived in WP2, and respond to the validation activities of WP4. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 82471
This document sets general, best-practice principles for developing the MICS platform, analyses tools and projects' results that can be adapted and adopted for developing the MICS platform, and contains initial functional requirements for the development of the MICS platform ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 82471
This report describes the updated communication strategy of MICS one year into the project. The strategy, originally outlined in deliverable 5.8, is made of two parts: (1) a regular, quarterly newsletter which informs about news, events and recent publications; (2) posts and updates on various social-media channels, aimed at reaching out to a wider public and getting them interested in the project and its results. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 82471
This deliverable provides a description of the site and set up of citizen science activities in the Italian case study where the MICS impact assessment will be applied. The Italian case study focuses on the Marzenego River and its tributaries which flow into the Venice Lagoon. The nature-based solutions (NBS) along the Marzenego River have involved restoring two wetlands (Oasi Lycaena and Oasi di Noale) and a new NBS project aims to enlarge the Noale Oasis to increase flood water retention and improve biodiversity. These NBS are the focus of the citizen scientist monitoring activities in the case study. Co-design workshops have identified that the following citizen science monitoring activities will take place: water quality monitoring, bacteriological analysis, riparian vegetation monitoring, aquatic vegetation monitoring. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824711.
Abstract Over the past decade, citizen science has experienced growth and popularity as a scientific practice and as a new form of stakeholder engagement and public participation in science or in the generation of new knowledge. One of the key requirements for realising the potential of citizen science is evidence and demonstration of its impact and value. Yet the actual changes resulting from citizen science interventions are often assumed, ignored or speculated about. Based on a systematic review of 77 publications, combined with empirical insights from 10 past and ongoing projects in the field of citizen science, this paper presents guidelines for a consolidated Citizen Science Impact Assessment framework to help overcome the dispersion of approaches in assessing citizen science impacts; this comprehensive framework enhances the ease and consistency with which impacts can be captured, as well as the comparability of evolving results across projects. Our review is framed according to five distinct, yet interlinked, impact domains (society, economy, environment, science and technology, and governance). Existing citizen science impact assessment approaches provide assessment guidelines unevenly across the five impact domains, and with only a small number providing concrete indicator-level conceptualisations. The analysis of the results generates a number of salient insights which we combine in a set of guiding principles for a consolidated impact assessment framework for citizen science initiatives. These guiding principles pertain to the purpose of citizen science impact assessments, the conceptualisation of data collection methods and information sources, the distinction between relative versus absolute impact, the comparison of impact assessment results across citizen science projects, and the incremental refinement of the organising framework over time.
Deliverable D4.5 provides a description and evaluation of the findings on the impact of citizen science in the case study sites. The MICS impact assessment approach was applied to the five MICS case study sites across Europe, each of which have differing levels of citizen science engagement and approaches to environmental management. The case study are: (i) Outfall Safari (UK): aims to use citizen science to detect and record pollution from surface water outfalls to gather evidence and report on pollution incidents; (ii) Riverfly Monitoring (UK): aims to monitor key macroinvertebrate species (riverflies) that are indicators of river water quality; (iii) Marzenego River NBS Project (Italy): aims to establish a monitoring program to gauge the effectives of NBS implemented within the Marzenego River catchment; (iv) The Creek Rákos Citizen Science project (Hungary): aims to use citizen science as a means of establishing the baseline condition of the Creek to identify suitable sites for restoration and promote public support for NBS; and, (v) The Carasuhat Wetland NBS Project (Romania): aims to establish a monitoring programme to gauge the effectives of wetland NBS implemented in the Danube Delta. ; This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 824711.
This open access book discusses how the involvement of citizens into scientific endeavors is expected to contribute to solve the big challenges of our time, such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity, growing inequalities within and between societies, and the sustainability turn. The field of citizen science has been growing in recent decades. Many different stakeholders from scientists to citizens and from policy makers to environmental organisations have been involved in its practice. In addition, many scientists also study citizen science as a research approach and as a way for science and society to interact and collaborate. This book provides a representation of the practices as well as scientific and societal outcomes in different disciplines. It reflects the contribution of citizen science to societal development, education, or innovation and provides and overview of the field of actors as well as on tools and guidelines. It serves as an introduction for anyone who wants to get involved in and learn more about the science of citizen science.
14 pages, 2 figures ; Citizen Science (CS) is a prominent field of application for Open Science (OS), and the two have strong synergies, such as: advocating for the data and metadata generated through science to be made publicly available [1]; supporting more equitable collaboration between different types of scientists and citizens; and facilitating knowledge transfer to a wider range of audiences [2]. While primarily targeted at CS, the EU-Citizen. Science platform can also support OS. One of its key functions is to act as a knowledge hub to aggregate, disseminate and promote experience and know-how; for example, by profiling CS projects and collecting tools, resources and training materials relevant to both fields. To do this, the platform has developed an information architecture that incorporates the public participation in scientific research (PPSR)—Common Conceptual Model①. This model consists of the Project Metadata Model, the Dataset Metadata Model and the Observation Data Model, which were specifically developed for CS initiatives. By implementing these, the platform will strengthen the interoperating arrangements that exist between other, similar platforms (e.g., BioCollect and SciStarter) to ensure that CS and OS continue to grow globally in terms of participants, impact and fields of application ; The EU-Citizen.Science project received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 824580. The research described in this paper is partly supported by the project "Citizen Science to promote creativity, scientific literacy, and innovation throughout Europe" (COST Action), which received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 15212 ; With funding from the Spanish government through the 'Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence' accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S) ; Peer reviewed
Interest in citizen science is growing, including from governments and research funders. This interest is often driven by a desire for positive environmental impact, and the expectation that citizen science can deliver it by engaging the public and simultaneously collecting environmental data. Yet, in practice, there is often a gap between expected and realised impact. To close this gap, we need to better understand pathways to impact and what it takes to realise them. We articulate six key pathways through which citizen science can create positive environmental change: (1) environmental management; (2) evidence for policy; (3) behaviour change; (4) social network championing; (5) political advocacy; and (6) community action. We explore the project attributes likely to create impact through each of these pathways and show that there is an interplay between these project attributes and the needs and motivations of target participant groups. Exploring this interplay, we create a framework that articulates four citizen science approaches that create environmental impact in different ways: place-based community action; interest group investigation; captive learning research; and mass participation census.
Special Issue Citizen Science Projects for Environmental Challenges and Sustainable Development Goals.-- 17 pages, 2 pages, 1 figure.-- Data Availability Statement: Not applicable ; There is a growing acknowledgement that citizen observatories, and other forms of citizen-generated data, have a significant role in tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. This is evident in the increasing number of Sustainable Development Goals' indicators for which such data are already being used and in the high-level recognition of the potential role that citizen science can play. In this article, we argue that networks of citizen observatories will help realise this potential. Drawing on the Cos4Cloud project as an example, we highlight how such networks can make citizen-generated data more interoperable and accessible (among other qualities), increasing their impact and usefulness. Furthermore, we highlight other, perhaps overlooked, advantages of citizen observatories and citizen-generated data: educating and informing citizen scientists about the Sustainable Development Goals and co-creating solutions to the global challenges they address ; The research described in this paper was funded by the European Commission via the Cos4Cloud and MICS projects, which have received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreements 863463 and 824711. ICM-CSIC authors acknowledge the institutional support of the "Severo Ochoa Centre of Excellence" accreditation (CEX2019-000928-S) ; Peer reviewed
Interest in the formal representation of citizen science comes from portals, platforms, and catalogues of citizen science projects; scientists using citizen science data for their research; and funding agencies and governments interested in the impact of citizen science initiatives. Having a common understanding and representation of citizen science projects, their participants, and their outcomes is key to enabling seamless knowledge and data sharing. In this chapter, we provide a conceptual model comprised of the core citizen science concepts with which projects and data can be described in a standardised manner, focusing on the description of the participants and their activities. The conceptual model is the outcome of a working group from the COST Action CA15212 Citizen Science to Promote Creativity, Scientific Literacy, and Innovation throughout Europe, established to improve data standardisation and interoperability in citizen science activities. It utilises past models and contributes to current standardisation efforts, such as the Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) Common Conceptual Model and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards. Its design is intended to fulfil the needs of different stakeholders, as illustrated by several case studies which demonstrate the model's applicability.
24 pages, 4 figures, 3 tables ; Interest in the formal representation of citizen science comes from portals, platforms, and catalogues of citizen science projects; scientists using citizen science data for their research; and funding agencies and governments interested in the impact of citizen science initiatives. Having a common understanding and representation of citizen science projects, their participants, and their outcomes is key to enabling seamless knowledge and data sharing. In this chapter, we provide a conceptual model comprised of the core citizen science concepts with which projects and data can be described in a standardised manner, focusing on the description of the participants and their activities. The conceptual model is the outcome of a working group from the COST Action CA15212 Citizen Science to Promote Creativity, Scientific Literacy, and Innovation throughout Europe, established to improve data standardisation and interoperability in citizen science activities. It utilises past models and contributes to current standardisation efforts, such as the Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) Common Conceptual Model and the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards. Its design is intended to fulfil the needs of different stakeholders, as illustrated by several case studies which demonstrate the model's applicability ; Peer reviewed
This chapter considers the interface of citizen science, health, and environmental justice. We review citizen science research undertaken by civic educators, scientists, and communities that aims to broaden scientific knowledge and encourage democratic engagement and, more specifically, to address complex problems related to public health and the environment. We provide a review of the current state of existing citizen science projects and examine how citizen science, health, and environmental justice impact each other, both positively and negatively. Specific challenges that relate to these projects are discussed, especially those that are not obvious or applicable to more traditional citizen science projects.
19 pages, 5 figures, 3 tables ; Marine processes are observed with sensors from both the ground and space over large spatio-temporal scales. Citizen-based contributions can fill observational gaps and increase environmental stewardship amongst the public. For this purpose, tools and methods for citizen science need to (1) complement existing datasets; and (2) be affordable, while appealing to different user and developer groups. In this article, tools and methods developed in the 7th Framework Programme of European Union (EU FP 7) funded project Citclops (citizens' observatories for coast and ocean optical monitoring) are reviewed. Tools range from a stand-alone smartphone app to devices with Arduino and 3-D printing, and hence are attractive to a diversity of users; from the general public to more specified maker- and open labware movements. Standardization to common water quality parameters and methods allows long-term storage in regular marine data repositories, such as SeaDataNet and EMODnet, thereby providing open data access. Due to the given intercomparability to existing remote sensing datasets, these tools are ready to complement the marine datapool. In the future, such combined satellite and citizen observations may set measurements by the engaged public in a larger context and hence increase their individual meaning. In a wider sense, a synoptic use can support research, management authorities, and societies at large ; The Citclops project received funding by the EC-FP7 Programme, grant agreement No. 308469. We acknowledge support by the CSIC Open Access Publication Initiative through its Unit of Information Resources for Research (URICI). ; Peer Reviewed ; Publisher's version
