Overview of Citizen Science - Zurich November 2015
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Citizen science has grown significantly due to societal and technological trends. Increased education levels, leisure time, and sharing economies have empowered more people to engage in scientific work. Advances like broadband internet, mobile devices, and DIY electronics have also facilitated participation. Current citizen science involves collaborative problem definition and data collection between citizens and scientists. Government agencies and policies are increasingly recognizing the value of citizen science data. Further development is still needed regarding sustainable funding models, data standards, and expanding citizen science to new domains.
Overview of Citizen Science - Zurich November 2015
- 1. Citizen Science – an Overview Muki Haklay Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) research group, UCL @mhaklay
- 2. Outline • Citizen Science in a historical perspective – underlying trends • Current activities in the area of Citizen Science • Policy awareness and recognition • Where next?
- 3. Positioning Citizen Science • The usual line: ‘citizen science is not new, predating modern science’ is only partially true • Societal and technological trends reveal the difference from past public engagement in scientific research … … but also the limitations
- 4. Citizen Science (OED 2014) citizen science n. scientific work undertaken by members of the general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions. citizen scientist n. (a) a scientist whose work is characterized by a sense of responsibility to serve the best interests of the wider community (now rare); (b) a member of the general public who engages in scientific work, often in collaboration with or under the direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions; an amateur scientist.
- 5. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – early 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s)
- 6. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – earl 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s) Illiteracy Basic to High-school Higher Education
- 7. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – early 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s) Illiteracy Basic to High-school Higher Education Citizen Science as Gentlemen/ Gentlewomen science Mary Anning (1799-1847)
- 8. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – early 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s) Illiteracy Basic to High-school Higher Education Citizen Science as Gentlemen/ Gentlewomen science Citizen Science diminishing © WMO–No. 919 Volunteer rainfall observer Rick Grocke checks the rain gauge at Tanami Downs cattle station in the Northern Territory of Australia
- 9. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – early 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s) Illiteracy Basic to High-school Higher Education Citizen Science as Gentlemen/ Gentlewomen science Citizen Science diminishing Citizen Science as open & inclusive science
- 10. Why Now? • Societal trends: – Education and qualifications – Healthy aging – Leisure – Sharing economies / peer production systems • Technological trends: – Internet access (broadband) – Mobile devices – Collaborative Web – DIY electronics
- 11. Increased level of education 0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 Millions Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both sexes (number)
- 12. Source: ONSSource: DCMS Amanda Slater Stephen Matthews
- 13. Leisure Satisfaction with the amount of leisure time (2011) Source: ONS
- 14. Sharing economies • In many areas, especially in production and sharing of information
- 15. Broadband growth
- 16. Active mobile-broadband subscriptions, 2007-2013*
- 18. DIY electronics
- 19. A new era of citizen science Haklay, M., 2013, Citizen Science and Volunteered Geographic Information – overview and typology of participation in Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge Citizen Science Citizen Cyberscience Volunteer computing Volunteer thinking Long running Citizen Science Ecology & biodiversity Meteorology Astronomy Community Science Environmental Justice Community- based participatory research Civic Science
- 20. Volunteer computing You can join World Community Grid at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/
- 21. Volunteer thinking You can join Zooniverse at http://www.zooniverse.org/ www.batdetective.org
- 22. Volunteer thinking Source: Tim Causer, Faculty of Laws see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transcribe-bentham/
- 24. Community/Civic Science – Early warning system (~30 Volunteers) – Visual observations, Ash collection, Equipment maintenance – Communicate information from scientists community – Organise community response Stone., J., et al. 2014, Risk reduction through community-based monitoring: the vigías of Tungurahua, Ecuador Journal of Applied Volcanology
- 25. More information at http://publiclaboratory.org DIY Science
- 29. Community-led air quality studies
- 30. Community Maps
- 31. Participation in citizen science • Collaborative science – problem definition, data collection and analysis Level 4 ‘Extreme/ Up-Science’ • Participation in problem definition and data collection Level 3 ‘Participatory science’ • Citizens as basic interpreters Level 2 ‘Distributed intelligence’ • Citizens as sensors Level 1 ‘Crowdsourcing’ Haklay. 2013. Citizen Science and volunteered geographic information: Overview and typology of participation, Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge
- 32. Citizen Science & Science Early science (1600’s – early 1800’s) Professional science (late 1800’s – 1900’s) Opening Science (since 2000s) Illiteracy Basic to High-school Higher Education Citizen Science as Gentlemen/ Gentlewomen science Citizen Science diminishing Citizen Science as open & inclusive science
- 33. Policy response • Emergence of crowdsourcing/peer-production since 2005 created new information interactions between the public and government: – Public → Government – Government → Public → Government – Public → Government→ Public Public Government
- 34. European Environment Agency • Prof. Jacquie McGlade, head of European Environment Agency, 2008 (Aarhus + 10): ‘Often the best information comes from those who are closest to it, and it is important we harness this local knowledge if we are to tackle climate change adequately… people are encouraged to give their own opinion on the quality of the beach and water, to supplement the official information.’
- 36. EEA Work Programme 2014-18 • As Part of Strategic Area 3 activities: ‘to widen and deepen the European knowledge base by developing communities of practice and engaging in partnerships with stakeholders beyond Eionet, such as business and research communities, Civil Society Organisations (CSO), and initiatives concerning lay, local and traditional knowledge and citizen science’
- 37. Eye on Earth Alliance 2015 • An alliance with AGEDI, UNEP, GEO, WRI & IUCN : information for sustainable development. … Citizen Science was a major focus area within the Summit agenda and there was general consensus that reporting against SDGs must include citizen science data. To this end, a global coalition of citizen science groups will be established by the relevant actors and the Eye on Earth Alliance will continue to engage citizen science groups …
- 38. Policy indicators • Scotland Environmental Protection Agency strategic commitment • UK Environmental Observation Framework Working group • UK Government Tree Health Strategy • German Citizen Science Strategy 2020 • USA Federal toolkit for citizen science • USA proposed Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act • Citizen Science Association, European Citizen Science Association, Australian Citizen Science Association …
- 39. What’s next? • Sustainable funding, best practices, organisational legitimacy • Data management and curation, interoperability standards • Expanding to more knowledge domains (e.g. citizen social science) … ending the questions aoubt data quality and motivations
- 40. • Follow us: – http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites – Twitter: @UCL_ExCiteS – Blog: http://uclexcites.wordpress.com • The work of ExCiteS is supported by EPSRC, EU FP7, RGS, Esri, FPP, Forests Monitor, WRI and all the communities that we’ve worked with over the years