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Oct 11, 2021 Article

Investigating the process of ethical approval in citizen science research: the case of Public Health

by Antonella Ficorilli , Giovanni Maccani , Mara Balestrini , Annibale Biggeri , Bruna De Marchi , Frederique E. M. Froeling , Florence Gignac , Regina Grazuleviciene , Gerard Hoek , Tjaša Kanduč , David Kocman , Valeria Righi , Xavier Basagana

Undertaking citizen science research in Public Health involving human subjects poses significant challenges concerning the traditional process of ethical approval. It requires an extension of the ethics of protection of research subjects in order to include the empowerment of citizens as citizen scientists. This paper investigates these challenges and illustrates the ethical framework and the strategies developed within the CitieS-Health project. It also proposes first recommendations generated from the experiences of five citizen science pilot studies in environmental epidemiology within this project.

Volume 20Issue 062021Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

Oct 11, 2021 Article

Awareness, views and experiences of Citizen Science among Swedish researchers — two surveys

by Pavel Bína , Fredrik Brounéus , Dick Kasperowski , Niclas Hagen , Martin Bergman , Gustav Bohlin , Mari Jönsson , Stephen Coulson , Tim Hofmeester

In 2021 Sweden’s first national portal for citizen science will be launched to help researchers practice sustainable and responsible citizen science with different societal stakeholders. This paper present findings from two surveys on attitudes and experiences of citizen science among researchers at Swedish universities. Both surveys provided input to the development of the national portal, for which researchers are a key stakeholder group. The first survey (n=636) was exclusively focused on citizen science and involved researchers and other personnel at Swedish University of Agricultural Science (SLU). 63% of respondents at SLU had heard about citizen science (CS) prior to the survey; however a majority of these (61%) had not been involved in any CS initiative themselves. Dominant reasons for researchers choosing a CS approach in projects were to enable collection of large amounts of data (68%), improving the knowledge base (59%), improving data quality (25%), promote participants’ understanding in research (21%) and promote collaboration between the university and society (20%). The other survey (n=3 699) was on the broader topic of communication and open science, including questions on CS, and was distributed to researchers from all Swedish universities. 61% of respondents had not been engaged in any research projects where volunteers were involved in the process. A minority of the researchers had participated in projects were volunteers had collected data (18%), been involved in internal or external communication (16%), contributed project ideas (14%) and/or formulated research questions (11%). Nearly four out of ten respondents (37%) had heard about CS prior to the survey. The researchers were more positive towards having parts of the research process open to citizen observation, rather than open to citizen influence/participation. Our results show that CS is a far from well-known concept among Swedish researchers. And while those who have heard about CS are generally positive towards it, researchers overall are hesitant to invite citizens to take part in the research process.

Volume 20Issue 062021Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

Oct 11, 2021 Article

Onto new horizons: insights from the WeObserve project to strengthen the awareness, acceptability and sustainability of Citizen Observatories in Europe

by Gerid Hager , Margaret Gold , Uta Wehn , Raquel Ajates , Linda See , Mel Woods , Chrysovalantis Tsiakos , Joan Masó , Dilek Fraisl , Inian Moorthy , Dahlia Domian , Steffen Fritz

WeObserve delivered the first European-wide Citizen Observatory (CO) knowledge platform to share best practices, to address challenges and to inform practitioners, policy makers and funders of COs. We present key insights from WeObserve activities into leveraging challenges to create interlinked solutions, connecting with international frameworks and groups, advancing the field through communities of practice and practitioner networks, and fostering an enabling environment for COs. We also discuss how the new Horizon Europe funding programme can help to further advance the CO concept, and vice versa, how COs can provide a suitable mechanism to support the ambitions of Horizon Europe.

Volume 20Issue 062021Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

Oct 11, 2021 Article

Citizen science and crowdsourcing in the field of marine scientific research — the MaDCrow project

by Paolo Diviacco , Antonio Nadali , Massimiliano Nolich , Andrea Molinaro , Massimiliano Iurcev , Rodrigo Carbajales , Alessandro Busato , Alessandro Pavan , Lorenzo Grio , Francesca Malfatti

Marine research is as important as very demanding since it requires expensive infrastructures and resources. Scientific institutions, on the contrary, have very limited funding so that the seas remain, still, mostly unexplored. Another serious concern is that society at large often resonates with fake news, while scientists sometimes tend to bias research with their backgrounds and paradigms. We think that all these issues can be addressed opening the process of knowledge building to the questions and needs of stakeholders and laypeople. The MaDCrow project proposed and tested several paths to attain these goals.

Volume 20Issue 062021Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

Oct 11, 2021 Article

Engaged Citizen Social Science or the public participation in social science research

by Rita Campos , José Monteiro , Cláudia Carvalho

Acknowledging the consolidation of citizen science, this paper aims to foster a collective debate on two visible gaps of the field. First, how to overcome the limited participation of social sciences and humanities in the broader field of citizen science, still dominated by natural sciences. Second, how to develop a citizen social science that allows for an active participation of citizens and for a critical engagement with contemporary societies. The authors coordinate a state-sponsored program of scientific dissemination within a Portuguese research institution and this paper intends to lay the groundwork for a future project of Citizen Social Science based on a new concept of “engaged citizen social science”.

Volume 20Issue 062021Special Issue: Third International ECSA Conference, Trieste 2020 (Ecsa Conference 2020)

Oct 04, 2021 Article

Co-benefits associated with public support for climate-friendly COVID-19 recovery policies and political activism

by Jagadish Thaker , Brian Floyd

Scientists highlight that actions that address environmental protection and climate change can also help with reducing infectious disease threats. Results using data from a national sample survey in New Zealand indicate that perceptions of co-benefits of actions to address environmental protection that also protect against infectious disease outbreaks such as the coronavirus is associated with policy support and political engagement. This association was partly mediated through perceived collective efficacy. Local councils with higher level of community collective efficacy were more likely to declare climate emergency. Communication about potential co-benefits is likely to shape public engagement and enact policy change.

Volume 20Issue 052021

Sep 29, 2021 Article

Understanding knowledge and perceptions of genome editing technologies: a textual analysis of major agricultural stakeholder groups

by Matthew Robbins , Christopher Calabrese , Jieyu Ding Featherstone , George A. Barnett

The promise of CRISPR-Cas9 (CRISPR) genomic editing applied to agriculture is promoted widely by scientists. We utilized textual analysis methods to compare perceptions of this innovation held by various stakeholder groups — scientists, policymakers, farmers, and the general public. Results reveal distinctions in the semantic structure and concepts emphasized across groups. Scientists and policymakers exhibited a high level of technical sophistication while emphasizing the potential societal benefits, while farmers and the general public focused on perceived personal benefits and familiarity with the issue. These results will aid development of message strategies bridging the gap between the scientific community and key publics.

Volume 20Issue 052021

Sep 27, 2021 Essay

Co-created citizen science: challenging cultures and practice in scientific research

by Jade Gunnell , Yaela Golumbic , Tess Hayes , Michelle Cooper

Co-created citizen science offers practical tools for implementing science communication theories by increasing public participation in scientific research, empowering communities and advancing situated scientific knowledge. However, delivering such an approach presents a number of key challenges around funding, fostering working partnerships between scientists and citizens and ensuring all stakeholders receive sufficient benefits from the process. In this essay we draw from science communication and citizen science literature to describe these challenges and discuss the opportunities that will enable co-created practices to prosper.

Volume 20Issue 052021

Sep 22, 2021 Conference Review

Embracing the future through science communication: the inaugural "Mr. Science" Science Communication Conference in China

by Guoyan Wang , Hepeng Jia , Jingyi Han , Yuqin Yang

The inaugural "Mr. Science" Science Communication Conference was held in Suzhou, China on July 9, 2021. It was the largest Chinese conference on science communication study since the start of the 21st century. More than 260 scholars discussed the spirit and culture of science, science communication during the COVID-19 crisis, the public understanding of science, and the ethical aspects of science communication. The conference aimed to develop a system for researching science communication within China. This review outlines the content of the conference and summarizes the key trends in science communication research in China.

Volume 20Issue 052021

Sep 20, 2021 Book Review

There is nothing new under the sun

by Erik Stengler

A novel and original take on the history of popular science showcases that making science accessible to the public has been part of scientific activity since ancient times. Under this lens, and through twenty-one case studies, current trends such as sci-art and virtual technology can be seen as part of a continuum that was already present in the use of aesthetic and rhetorical tools by the ancient Greeks. Thanks to a careful curation of the collection of texts, this volume as a whole offers more than the sum of its parts (chapters).

Volume 20Issue 052021

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