Mainstreaming civic tech and citizen sensing: a research agenda on co-creation methods, data interfaces, and impact pathways

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mainstreaming civic tech and citizen sensing

T2 - a research agenda on co-creation methods, data interfaces, and impact pathways

AU - Raetzsch, Christoph

AU - Hamm, Andrea

AU - Shibuya, Yuya

N1 - Publisher Copyright: Copyright © 2023 Raetzsch, Hamm and Shibuya.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - In this perspective article, we propose an interdisciplinary research agenda that addresses citizen science approaches embedded in civic tech initiatives and citizen sensing scenarios. The proposed agenda builds on the multi-level perspective framework (Geels, 2004; Geels, 2019) to inform research on how such ‘niche innovations’ like citizen sensing become mainstreamed in broader socio-technical systems and modes of governance. To support research across use case scenarios and make analyses more comparable internationally, we identify three core areas of interdisciplinary future research and practice development: 1) uses of co-creation methods to develop project objectives and align stakeholders; 2) designs of interfaces for gathering, communicating, and archiving civic data for different types of users; and 3) modeling impact pathways of individual projects that include civic tech activists and citizen scientists, academic researchers, journalists, and policymakers. For impact pathways, we highlight the importance of collaborations with data-driven approaches in journalism.

AB - In this perspective article, we propose an interdisciplinary research agenda that addresses citizen science approaches embedded in civic tech initiatives and citizen sensing scenarios. The proposed agenda builds on the multi-level perspective framework (Geels, 2004; Geels, 2019) to inform research on how such ‘niche innovations’ like citizen sensing become mainstreamed in broader socio-technical systems and modes of governance. To support research across use case scenarios and make analyses more comparable internationally, we identify three core areas of interdisciplinary future research and practice development: 1) uses of co-creation methods to develop project objectives and align stakeholders; 2) designs of interfaces for gathering, communicating, and archiving civic data for different types of users; and 3) modeling impact pathways of individual projects that include civic tech activists and citizen scientists, academic researchers, journalists, and policymakers. For impact pathways, we highlight the importance of collaborations with data-driven approaches in journalism.

KW - citizen science

KW - citizen sensing

KW - civic data

KW - civic tech

KW - comparative framework

KW - data interface

KW - data journalism

U2 - 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1228487

DO - 10.3389/fenvs.2023.1228487

M3 - Journal article

AN - SCOPUS:85169331463

SN - 2296-665X

VL - 11

JO - Frontiers in Environmental Science

JF - Frontiers in Environmental Science

M1 - 1228487

ER -