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

‭Review Published • Versions 1 Vol 3 (1) : 136-149 2021

Katherin Wagenknecht, Tim Woods, Francisco García Sanz, Margaret Gold, Anne Bowser, Simone Rüfenacht, Luigi Ceccaroni, Jaume Piera

DOI: 10.1162/dint_a_00085

2223 41 0

Abstract & Keywords

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. 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.

Keywords: Citizen Science; Metadata; Open Science; Public participation in scientific research (PPSR)

Acknowledgements

The EU-Citizen.Science project received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 824580. The research described in this paper is partly supported by the project “Citizen Science to promote creativity, scientific literacy, and innovation throughout Europe” (COST Action), which received funding from the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 15212. The opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the COST Action or the European Commission.

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Article and author information

Cite As

Wagenknecht et al.: EU-Citizen.Science: A platform for mainstreaming Citizen Science and Open Science in Europe. Data Intelligence 3(1), 136-149 (2021). doi: 10.1162/dint_a_00085

Katherin Wagenknecht

K. Wagenknecht drafted Sections 1.1, 1.3 and 2.1. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

katherin.wagenknecht@gmail.com

Katherin Wagenknecht works and researches in the field of science communication/innovation and regional research at the Wildau University of Applied Sciences, Germany. Until 2020, she coordinated the EU-Citizen.Science project at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. With a background in sociology and cultural anthropology, her research focuses on participatory research practices and urban space.

0000-0003-4867-5050

Tim Woods

T. Woods drafted the abstract and Sections 4 and 5. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

tim.woods@mfn.berlin

Tim Woods is the communications and community officer for the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) in Berlin, Germany. He has a Master’s degree in Environment and Development from Lancaster University, UK, and specializes in science communications, conservation and international development.

0000-0002-2663-3848

Francisco García Sanz

L. Ceccaroni, J. Piera and F. Sanz García provided inputs throughout, notably regarding metadata schema, the PPSR—Common Conceptual Model and the EOSC initiative. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

Francisco García Sanz is a mathematician and holds a Master’s degree in Computational Mechanics from the University of Zaragoza, Spain. He is the Executive Director of the Ibercivis Foundation. Throughout his professional career he has combined work as an associate professor at the University of Zaragoza with research at the Institute of Biocomputation and Physics of Complex Systems (BIFI) of the University of Zaragoza.

Margaret Gold

M. Gold drafted Section 3.1. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

Margaret Gold is a mobile industry veteran now applying mobile and Web technologies to participatory science in the field of Citizen Science (CS). She is the Coordinator of the Citizen Science Lab at Leiden University, the Netherlands, which incubates CS projects and conducts research on CS as a practice.

Anne Bowser

A. Bowser drafted Sections 2.2 and 3.2. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

Anne Bowser is the Director of Innovation with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, a quasi-government think tank in Washington, DC, USA. Her work explores the intersections between science, technology, and democracy. On the science side, Anne explores opportunities for CS collaboration through the Earth Challenge 2020 project, and opportunities for open source hardware through the THING Tank Initiative. Her work on technology focuses on understanding the opportunities and challenges associated with Facial Recognition Technologies (FrT), as well as broader AI ethics.

Simone Rüfenacht

S. Rüfenacht drafted Section 1.2. All authors made meaningful and valuable contributions to revising and improving the manuscript.

Simone Rüfenacht is a project officer at the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) in Berlin, Germany. Simone has an academic background in ecology; she received a Master‘s degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in 2012 and a PhD from the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia, in 2016. She first came in contact with CS through leading the Sydney Chapter of the Society for Conservation Biology in a volunteering capacity. Before deciding to focus on CS, Simone worked as a postdoc in molecular ecology.

Luigi Ceccaroni

Luigi Ceccaroni is a scientist at Earthwatch, UK. Previously, he was founder and research lead at 1000001 Labs, where he designed and developed decision support systems in the healthcare and environment domains; a senior member of research staff at Eurecat / Barcelona Digital Technology Centre; adjunct professor of the Software Department, at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC); director of research at TMT Factory (a Spanish SME); and a member of research staff at Fujitsu Laboratories of America. He obtained a BSc degree in Environmental Sciences from the University of Bologna, an MSc degree in Information-Technology Languages and Systems, and a PhD degree in Artificial Intelligence at UPC. Luigi is the author of more than 100 publications peer-reviewed and managed more than 16 M ¤ as lead researcher in the period 2009-2021. He currently coordinates and is the principal investigator of the “MICS” European Horizon 2020 project (2019-2021) about measuring the impact of CS, and previously coordinated and was the principal investigator of the “Citclops” and the “Synergy-COPD” European FP7 projects, and wrote the winning proposal for the BackHome project, an FP7 European project about brain-neural computer interfaces.

Jaume Piera

Jaume Piera is the head of the EMBIMOS (EnvironMental and sustainaBility particIpatory inforMatiOn systemS) research group at the Institute of Marine Sciences, Spain. EMBIMOS is an interdisciplinary research group that focuses on understanding, creating and implementing participatory information systems for decision-making in favor of environmental sustainability. Citizen Observatories, as the platforms to develop CS, is one of the central research topics for the group.

Publication records

Published: May 10, 2021 （Versions1）