EU-Citizen.Science: A Platform for Mainstreaming Citizen Science and Open Science in Europe

Abstract

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 Model ① . 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.

Open digital infrastructures for bridging professional cultures: the case of extreme citizen science between journalism and research

“…It appears useful as well as offering training and support services in collaborative research for novice participants. The growing number of citizen science platforms allowing the participation in citizen science activities, or showcasing these (Liu et alii, 2021;Wagenknecht et al, 2021;Severo et al, 2022), meet this need in the digital environment, by gathering resources, sharing best practices, building cumulative knowledge about ongoing projects, how they are implemented or how they could be implemented in given situations. Some of these platforms also include training modules.…”

Open digital infrastructures for bridging professional cultures: the case of extreme citizen science between journalism and research

“…It appears useful as well as offering training and support services in collaborative research for novice participants. The growing number of citizen science platforms allowing the participation in citizen science activities, or showcasing these [30,31,32], meet this need in the digital environment, by gathering resources, sharing best practices, building cumulative knowledge about ongoing projects, how they are implemented or how they could be implemented in given situations. Some of these platforms also include training modules.…”

Mapping the State of the Art to Envision the Future of Large-Scale Citizen Science Projects: An Interpretive Review

“…Furthermore, it is intended to support people in getting knowledgeable about timely and relevant scientific issues, inspiring their decisions and actions in daily life (Sharma et al, 2019). Drawing on these considerations, citizen science, which involves both a focus on people's contribution of "...observations or efforts to the scientific enterprise" and an emphasis on "…the responsibility of science to society" (Eitzel et al, 2017: p. 6), can be understood as an umbrella concept referring to the establishment of a co-creating partnership between citizens and expert scientists for the purpose of knowledge co-production (Wagenknecht et al, 2021). This makes citizen science something more as compared to alternative approaches giving voice to citizens in the generation of scientific knowledge, such as Do It Yourself (DIY) science (Nascimento et al, 2014), which "…broadly refers to the process initiated by individuals and groups that tinker, hack, fix, and recreate objects and systems out of their own interest, curiosity or need, and openly share results and outcomes in their networks" (Ferretti, 2019: p. 4).…”