A Collaborative Endeavour to Develop Criteria for Citizen Science Platforms

Daniel Dörler, Gitte Kragh, Cristina Luís, Sonja Grossberndt, Fredrik Brounéus

Research output: Contribution to conferenceConference abstract for conferenceResearchpeer-review

Abstract

Citizen science (CS) is currently on the rise in many countries. In 2018, Denmark was one of the first European countries to launch a national CS portal. CS platforms or portals are websites that display CS projects to an interested public, connecting CS actors and promoting CS in both science and society. They are not only multipliers for national and international CS projects and initiatives, but also for big transnational organizations such as the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA). In their work CS platforms often target scientists, citizens and policy makers, and interact with these diverse stakeholder groups to foster responsible CS (e.g., scientific integrity, inclusiveness, ethics) and to promote engagement in and recognition of CS. The coordinators of such platforms facilitate and moderate new developments and enhance connections between national CS actors and the international community.
As CS platforms (regional, national and international) are working at the interface between diverse scientific, societal and political institutions and stakeholder groups, they have to act in transparent, comprehensible and inclusive ways. A current challenge for platform coordinators in many countries is to determine which projects to include on their online portals, as this decision is crucial for the perception and practice of CS. This requires a transparent evaluation process which promotes responsible, sustainable CS; ensuring the credibility of the platforms as well as the trust in CS in general. At the same time, the selection process should not be restrictive towards new and alternative CS movements, nor should it require substantial efforts from project or platform managers. Currently, most platforms lack clear and transparent criteria to support platform managers in their decision process; or to help CS project managers understand why their projects are rejected and what they need to do to become listed.
In an attempt to tackle this challenge, the ECSA working group “Citizen Science Networks” is developing such criteria for CS platforms in an open consultation process. In the proposed dialogue roundtable the working group members invite interested project managers, researchers and other CS stakeholders at the
Engaging Citizen Science Conference to discuss the current stage of the criteria and share their needs, concerns, ideas and questions on the subject of inclusive criteria for CS portals. The discussions and outcomes will directly feed into the development process, before the final set of criteria will be presented at
the ECSA conference in autumn 2022.
Original languageEnglish
Publication date2022
Publication statusPublished - 2022
EventEngaging Citizen Science - Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
Duration: 25 Apr 202226 Apr 2022
https://conferences.au.dk/citsci2022

Conference

ConferenceEngaging Citizen Science
LocationAarhus University
Country/TerritoryDenmark
CityAarhus
Period25/04/202226/04/2022
Internet address

Keywords

  • Citizen science
  • Public engagement
  • international collaboration

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