Citizen science and participatory science communication: an empirically informed discussion connecting research and theory

Giardullo, Paolo; Neresini, Federico; Magalhães, Joana; Vega‐Pla, J. L.; Marín‐González, Esther; Arias, Rosa

doi:10.22323/2.22020201

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Criticism about the configuration (Mackenzie, 2006) of online users through protocols (Van Dijck, 2013) as well as accusations about exploiting unpaid labour through platforms (Gandini, 2021) apply also in the case of Citizen Science platforms and related online portals; Mahr and Dickel (2019) critically consider how data collection by non-experts is actually a sort of unpaid labour with some consequences, undermining the promises for democratisation and opportunities for the openness of technoscience (Mirowski, 2018). Also international surveys reported how main activity for non-experts invited to join Citizen Science project consist in accomplishing tasks for data collection, often through dedicated apps (Giardullo et al, 2023;Hecker et al, 2018) Although they enable processes of participation under certain conditions, ICTs can be part of a reiterated distancing between experts and non-experts. Most recent research on Citizen Science digital platforms has dealt with the use of data collected by non-experts (Giardullo, 2022;Ponti et al, 2022): many Citizen Science platforms use data to train machine learning algorithms for automated classification of data.…”

Section: (P 225)mentioning

confidence: 99%

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Non‐experts’ participation in processes of scientific knowledge creation: The case of Citizen Science

Giardullo

2023

Sociology Compass

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Public participation in science and technology, is currently being encouraged in order to fulfil the calls for a more engaging, transparent, and ethical way of governing technoscientific innovation. Several institutional documents argue for the need to enrol non‐scientists into research programs; funding schemes devoted to public engagement seem to be paving the way for new baselines for knowledge creation and innovation paths that include the contributions of citizens. Citizen Science stands out as an opportune movement to lead non‐scientists to contribute to scientific research projects and technological innovation, and it has given rise to a broad debate intersecting many sociological aspects linked to participation and community empowerment. However, the participation of non‐scientists in data collection, analysis, and interpretation is not totally new; yet it has not had the same value across time, nor has it always been considered desirable. Indeed, volunteers' engagement and amateurs' contributions have been regulated differently compared to the current rhetoric of participation. This paper gives an account of the evolution of participation of non‐experts through the lens of Science and Technology Studies, investigating its desirability, how it is governed, and whether it matches the promises of Citizen Science practitioners.

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Section: (P 225)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…How to cite this article: Giardullo, P. (2023). Non-experts' participation in processes of scientific knowledge creation: The case of Citizen Science.…”

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confidence: 99%

Non‐experts’ participation in processes of scientific knowledge creation: The case of Citizen Science

Giardullo

2023

Sociology Compass

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“…This led to more than 2,000 media reports throughout the lifetime of the program, including newspaper articles, online articles, radio features and contributions on national television channels (however, due to a lack of data of these media reports we were unable to evaluate the success of these measures in regards to recruiting participants). A study by Giardullo et al (2023) has shown that 85.3 % of citizen science projects surveyed in the EU, United Kingdom and Switzerland used social media as communication medium for their projects, indicating the importance of digital communication tools to reach large target groups (Giardullo et al, 2023).…”

Section: Phase 1: Communication To Recruit and Motivate A Sufficient ...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sharing communication insights of the citizen science program Plastic Pirates—best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research

Dittmann,

Kiessling,

Mederake

et al. 2023

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Engaging the general public in research processes through citizen science allows for innovative scientific studies and makes science accessible to the general public. Effective communication strategies are crucial for the success of such initiatives. The citizen science program Plastic Pirates investigated the plastic pollution of rivers and implemented a variety of communication strategies with participating schoolchildren, teachers, and youth groups (e.g., sport associations, scouts or educational vacation programs, representing approximately 6% of participating groups). These were continuously revised and adapted since its start in 2016. Without time-efficient communication and strategies to keep track of conversations, it would not have been possible to achieve the scientific and educational goals of the program, i.e., to help teachers increase the environmental awareness and scientific literacy of their schoolchildren, and to produce peer-reviewed articles based on the collected citizen science data. Communication within the Plastic Pirates program was divided into four distinct phases: 1) recruiting and motivating participants, 2) coordination and guidance of participants, 3) data reception and revision, and 4) sharing updates and results. Some of the obstacles that had to be overcome to achieve successful communication were e.g., time constraints to obtaining scientific data from the participants, the time lag between the active involvement of the participants and the actual data analysis and publication of results, and limited personnel resources available for communication efforts. Our recommendations for other citizen science practitioners include regular and transparent communication with the participants regarding their contribution, the use of adequate and various communication channels, shifting the workload from the participants to the coordinating team of a citizen science initiative, as well as offering feedback on the research findings to the citizen scientists, thereby disseminating the results of the program.

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“…In this sense, CS offers great potential for science communication, because in CS projects research and communication are not separate processes, but closely intertwined (Wagenknecht et al, 2021). Through interactions between scientists and citizens, the target audience essentially becomes involved in the communication process itself (Giardullo et al, 2023), thus moving communication beyond mere dissemination of project results (Gascoigne et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

We want you! Recruitment strategies for the success of a citizen science project on urban wildlife ecology

Schumann,

Greving,

Bruckermann

et al. 2024

Front. Environ. Sci.

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In this case study, we report on the recruitment of participants for a citizen science (CS) project on urban wildlife monitoring (about 860 participants), and the consequences of recruitment strategies for achieving the project goals. We describe the approach that we used to identify our target audience and to design the core message for the recruitment campaign. We searched for participants who were interested in wildlife and in the scientific research process. We based the recruitment campaign on the appeal of discovering wildlife in people’s immediate surroundings. Recruitment was successful in terms of the number of applications we received. Participants’ interests reflected their focus on wildlife, and we discuss how this was reflected in their engagement. We use this case study to highlight the importance of deliberately designing recruitment strategies for CS projects. Such strategies will have implications for participants’ motivation and ultimately may influence their contributions to the project.

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Citizen science and participatory science communication: an empirically informed discussion connecting research and theory

Cited by 10 publications

References 44 publications

Non‐experts’ participation in processes of scientific knowledge creation: The case of Citizen Science

Non‐experts’ participation in processes of scientific knowledge creation: The case of Citizen Science

Sharing communication insights of the citizen science program Plastic Pirates—best practices from 7 years of engaging schoolchildren and teachers in plastic pollution research

We want you! Recruitment strategies for the success of a citizen science project on urban wildlife ecology

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