Research and analysis

How can policy making be improved by citizen science?聽HTML

Published 21 November 2023

Meeting note from roundtable chaired by Ian Diamond, National Statistician聽(21 April 2023).

Key points聽聽

• Citizen Science (CS) means doing science with citizens rather than for them. It is more than data collection, and more than 바카라 사이트減ublic engagement바카라 사이트�.바카라 사이트�聽

• CS can advance science: new fields of research have directly emerged from citizen science studies, as have refined methodologies and protocols.바카라 사이트�聽

• Genuine participation in CS has proven impacts on individuals and communities. Using new CS models may allow involvement of groups previously unengaged with civic processes.바카라 사이트�聽

• There are significant hurdles in commissioning CS work from the policy professional perspective. Policy makers are often not aware of how to engage with communities or organisations. There is risk aversion towards CS.听

• To ensure policy impacts, CS projects must be designed to that end. Efforts should be made to improve collaborative opportunities between citizen scientists and policy makers.바카라 사이트�聽

1. On scientific understanding聽聽

• CS expands the definition of what science is, rather than just 바카라 사이트渇eeding into it바카라 사이트�. It builds trust and understanding in science.바카라 사이트�聽

• CS can advance science: new fields of research have directly emerged from citizen science studies, as have refined methodologies and research protocols, such as in mental health research.바카라 사이트�聽

• CS allows both quantitative and qualitative data to be gathered in a single 辫谤辞箩别肠迟.바카라 사이트�聽

• CS can provide a wide temporal and geographic scale that 바카라 사이트榩rofessional바카라 사이트� scientists alone often cannot deliver, allowing for high-quality data collection which is often essential to policy development.바카라 사이트�聽

• There is value in thinking of CS projects involving a range of actors pulling together to achieve something: professional scientists, citizen scientists and policy makers. This enables multidisciplinary approaches.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

• CS is already important in environmental and biodiversity policy making in the UK. It has potential to augment data collection in other areas, e.g. through farmer-led schemes.바카라 사이트�聽

• Citizen scientists often want action, demonstrating to scientists more broadly how science can lead to change. Action is at the core of how CS research questions are pursued, as in CS air pollution research.바카라 사이트�聽

2. On individuals and communities:聽

• CS means doing science with citizens rather than for them, yet citizen scientists often belong to limited demographic groups not representative of wider society. CS may not be inherently democratising: it requires effort to involve citizen scientists without existing skills and privilege 바카라 사이트� including to build trusted relationships.바카라 사이트�聽

• More time and energy are also needed to undertake complex projects (e.g. on mental health) compared to collecting data on wildlife, which leads to these areas being dominated by certain groups of people.바카라 사이트�聽

• Participation of highly educated people is not a bad thing (there is knowledge to gain from these groups) and there is clear value in mass participation exercises. However, there is also clear value in involving underprivileged people.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

• Enthusiastic and widespread participation in CS has proven impacts. However, there is need for additional evidence and research on where these impacts happen, such as in the digital realm. It is often easier to see local impacts of CS; localised policies may be easier to affect. The scale of policy challenge should be considered in any CS 辫谤辞箩别肠迟.바카라 사이트�聽

• Through CS, science is happening in new spaces. Using new CS models may allow involvement of groups previously unengaged with civic processes.바카라 사이트�聽

• Understanding why people and communities collect data presents opportunities for co-creation of CS projects and understanding public priorities.바카라 사이트�聽

• Technology should be used to help strengthen contacts between scientific and volunteering constituencies, helping CS grow and empower communities.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

3. Barriers and solutions to involving citizen scientists in policy making聽聽

3.1 Barriers聽

• Some scientists and engineers may regard CS as a threat to their status.바카라 사이트�聽

• Officials and ministers may regard CS purely as a method of data collection and/or바카라 사이트痓e sceptical about the quality of data generated by CS, not recognising that qualitative data collected by cheap instrumentation can still have significant value.听聽

• Policy making is complicated and occurs through a range of formal and informal processes. Policy makers are not just policy professionals, but also special advisers, lobbyists etc. Citizen scientists will mostly be unfamiliar with knowledge hierarchies and processes of policy implementation (e.g. the use of quantitative vs qualitative data).바카라 사이트�聽

• Citizen scientists may themselves turn to lobbying as the most feasible way to achieve change, potentially causing scepticism about their motives. They are unlikely to think of policy reform as the primary aim of their efforts.바카라 사이트�聽

• There are significant hurdles in commissioning CS work from the policy professional perspective. Policy makers are often not aware how to engage with communities or organisations. There is risk aversion towards CS, where the processes are unfamiliar and outcomes uncertain.听

• CS can바카라 사이트檛 have transformative policy impacts without proper funding.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

3.2 Solutions聽聽

• Education is needed in 바카라 사이트 to overcome misconceptions and risk aversion around CS, such as learning & development for policymakers to experience CS.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

• Before involving citizen scientists, policymakers should look at their own processes to ensure they are realistic and pragmatic.听

• To ensure policy impacts, CS projects must be designed to that end. Efforts should be made to improve collaborative opportunities between citizen scientists and policymakers, perhaps through a CS centre for excellence, where the respective motivations of citizen scientists and policy makers can be explored, as well as discussions around types of evidence.听

• Co-created projects can find ways to negotiate challenges around unequal power dynamics between policy makers and citizen scientists, including the handling of data. They can address time/resource/skills barriers affecting certain citizens. False promises about 바카라 사이트渕aking a difference바카라 사이트� should be avoided.听

• The language and framing of CS is important. For example, 바카라 사이트渦ncertainty바카라 사이트� is a familiar issue for trained scientists, but less so for communities. This requires discussion in community partnered projects. Also, the term 바카라 사이트渃itizen바카라 사이트� isn바카라 사이트檛 inclusive enough (it doesn바카라 사이트檛 include non-UK citizens that are UK residents).听

• CS is more than data collecting, but a key issue is knowing what data policy makers actually need. The Sustainable Development Goals could be a sensible route to get necessary CS data into policy making.听

• Data systems require alignment so that citizen scientists and policy makers can use, share and interpolate the same data sets.바카라 사이트�舛寞聽

笔补谤迟颈肠颈辫补苍迟蝉听听

Ian Diamond (National Statistician; Chair), Ben Williams (University of West England), Jennifer Gabrys (University of Cambridge), Kathy Gill (Natural England), Kayla Schulte (Imperial College London), Lucy Robinson (Natural History Museum), Mark Wilson (Civil Service Policy Profession), Muki Haklay, (University College London), Olamide Todowede (University of Nottingham), Sarah West (University of York).听