“Highlights
Data sharing policies should consider to whom benefits do and do not accrue.
Community Engaged Research Principles would increase community benefit.
Funders should develop mechanisms to ensure community benefit from data sharing.
Funders should track impact of data sharing on community-relevant outcomes….”
Citizen science (CS), as an enabler of open science (OS) practices, is a low-cost and accessible method for data collection in biodiversity monitoring, which can empower and educate the public both on scientific research priorities and on environmental change. Where OS increases research transparency and scientific democratisation; if properly implemented, CS should do the same. Here, we present the findings of a systematic review exploring “openness” of CS in biodiversity monitoring. CS projects were scored between???1 (closed) and 1 (open) on their adherence to defined OS principles: accessible data, code, software, publication, data management plans, and preregistrations. Openness scores per principle were compared to see where OS is more frequently utilised across the research process. The relationship between interest in CS and openness within the practice was also tested. Overall, CS projects had an average open score of 0.14. There was a significant difference in open scores between OS principles (p?=??<?0.0001), where “open data” was the most adhered to practice compared to the lowest scores found in relation to preregistrations. The apparent level of interest in CS was not shown to correspond to a significant increase in openness within CS (p?=?0.8464). These results reveal CS is not generally “open” despite being an OS approach, with implications for how the public can interact with the research that they play an active role in contributing to. The development of systematic recommendations on where and how OS can be implemented across the research process in citizen science projects is encouraged.
“Mental health is an important concern in low and middle income countries and must be addressed for sustainable development. Open science is a movement which can contribute significantly towards addressing mental health challenges. Mental health in India and other low and middle income countries faces many challenges, such as lack of resources and low investment. This policy brief proposes an intervention model using the core principles of open science to transform the mental health programmes run by local self-government institutions in India. The model can co-opt key stakeholders involved in the data collection, programme implementation, and monitoring for standardisation. Kerala’s participatory development experience is employed as a case to describe the model. By empowering frontline health workers, accredited volunteers, and officials of the childcare system, and implementing open science principles, this model could help address mental health challenges with minimal resource allocation through the streamlining of the data management process. It could also encourage increased participation in open science through the citizen science model, opening scientific research to non-specialists. Open science principles such as collective benefit, equity, participation, sustainability, and inclusiveness can also be promoted.”
“Prior to the emergence of professional researchers, amateurs without formal training primarily made contributions to science in what is known as ‘citizen science.’ Over time, science has become less accessible to the public, while at the same time public participation in research has decreased. However, recent progress in open and citizen science may be the key to strengthening the relationship between researchers and the public. Citizen science may also be key to collecting data that would otherwise be unobtainable through traditional sources, such as measuring progress on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, despite myriad benefits, there has been limited legislative action taken to promote open and citizen science policies. The underlying issues are incentive systems which overemphasize publication in high impact, for-profit journals. The suggested policy solutions include: 1) creating an open database for citizen science projects, 2) restricting publishers from disadvantaging citizen science, and 3) incorporating open science in researcher evaluation.”
“ROSiE is a three-year project funded by HORIZON2020. Its mission is to co-create with all related stakeholders novel practical tools to foster a responsible open science and citizen science.”
“Research Ethics and Research Integrity are also an issue in Open Science and Citizen Science. As part of their training, these topics should be taught to Doctoral Candidates at the beginning of their career. ROSiE is a three-year project funded by HORIZON2020. ROSiE project’s mission is to develop and openly share novel practical tools that ensure research ethics and research integrity in open science and citizen science. Listen to this episode of the PRIDE Podcast and find out, which tools the Rosie project has to offer for you. The 2023 PRIDE Conference is also dedicated to the subject….”
English translation via gTranslate, original posting at: https://www.nwo.nl/vacatures/programmaleider-citizen-science/societal-engagement
Do you have a passion for Open Science? Are you that ambitious connector and director with a clear vision of how Citizen Science and Public Engagement will lead to a more open, inclusive and participatory scientific practice? Then this vacancy at NWO is for you.
Minister Dijkgraaf recently announced extra investments so that Open Science really becomes the standard in scientific research in the coming years. NWO has been asked to coordinate this by setting up a temporary Open Science directing body, following the example of other directing bodies at NWO, such as SIA and NRO. A budget of € 20 million per year is available for this for the next 10 years. The coordinating body will work closely with universities, medical centres, universities of applied sciences and service organizations such as SURF, DANS, 4TUdata and the university libraries.
Making data, publications and other research products openly available alone is not enough to realize the transition to Open Science. Citizen Science and Societal Engagement contribute to making the research process itself more open, inclusive and participatory by involving social partners, including citizens. As a Citizen Science / Societal Engagement program leader, you have an important role in realizing that more open, inclusive and participatory scientific practice in which citizens and social parties are also part of the scientific process. You are the connector, director and inspirer in this area. You have a clear vision of the importance and needs of Citizen Science and Societal Engagement. You are the pivot in the web of the Dutch community or you can demonstrate that you can quickly acquire that position. You organize meetings and contribute to the development of policy and subsidy instruments so that Citizen Science and Societal Engagement become even more firmly anchored in the Dutch research landscape in the coming years.
In practice it means that you:
are responsible for the development of a Citizen Science / Societal Engagement program line along the lines of the ambitions formulated in the NPOS;
together with your colleagues, translate these ambitions into funding instruments and organize them in such a way that applicants (institutions and researchers) are challenged to make innovative proposals;
acts as community manager of the wider community in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement, contributes to activities to connect parties and stimulate cooperation, eg by organizing meetings or workshops;
closely monitors developments in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement, identifies new developments and places them on the agenda;
act as secretary in the project proposal review process;
are responsible for the further development, implementation and evaluation of NWO policy in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement in line with the strategic principles of NWO, and ensure coordination within NWO;
builds and maintains a relevant (inter)national network with organizations in this field.
You bring this
demonstrable experience and affinity with the broader Open Science agenda and a real drive to make Open Science the norm;
several years of work experience in the implementation and development of science policy, preferably in the field of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement;
an infectious enthusiasm for the potential of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement to make the scientific process more open, inclusive and participatory;
a convincing vision of the position of Citizen Science / Societal Engagement within the broader Open Science agenda and what is needed to promote that development in the Netherlands;
excellently able to organize, inspire and enthuse the community;
attention to and insight into (in)formal relationships, positions and interests within and outside NWO and the capacity to respond adequately to these;
an independent work attitude in which you also function well in a team, with a sense of proportion;
good communication skills, both orally and in writing in Dutch and English;
experience in maintaining contacts and cooperation in science and with representative national organizations such as UNL, NFU, SURF, KNAW;
knowledge of grant processes at NWO or other financiers or the willingness to develop them;
a completed academic education.
You recognize yourself in the core values ??of NWO: involved, reliable, connecting and groundbreaking.
This is where you come to work
The Open Science governing body is in the starting blocks and currently consists of a quartermaster/director and 2 policy officers. In the coming year, th
“Citizen-Enhanced Open Science in Southeastern Europe Higher Education Knowledge Hubs — is a project funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ Programme under Cooperation Partnerships in Higher Education.
The CeOS_SE project aims to raise awareness of mainstream Open Science (OS) and Citizen Science (CS) practices in Southeastern European countries specifically in countries that have been seen to perform less well in OS or CS, or where there is limited awareness of or involvement in major developments related to the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)….”
“Citizen science, a critical pillar of Open Science, advocates for greater citizen involvement in knowledge generation, research goals, and outcomes. By engaging citizens directly in data collection, drone imaging, and crowdsourcing into project design, we provide policymakers and citizens with valuable data and information they need to make informed and effective decisions.
Furthermore, abiding by the principles of citizen science, we can help communities establish a new social contract around data stewardship, grounded in the principles of value, trust, and equity, as proposed by the World Development Report 2021: Data for Better Lives. The report puts forward a vision of data governance that is multistakeholder and collaborative. It explicitly builds data production, protection, exchange, and use into planning and decision-making, and integrates participants from civil society, private sectors, and importantly, the public into the data life cycle and into the governance structures of the system.
As the experience of the Resilience Academy shows, increasing our commitment to citizen science by inviting public engagement before, during, and after development projects can help engage a wider swath of the public with the Bank’s Open Data Initiative….”
“A challenge for citizen science is getting people to provide quality data. Another is to help ensure the sustainability of platforms used to collect this data. Technological services built by and for users should overcome these two major challenges.
There is a need to make it simpler for citizen science platforms, also known as citizen observatories, to share data. This will help to enhance citizen science observatories’ interoperability, networking, data quality and secure data management. Both the scientific community and the public stand to benefit.
To achieve this, the EU-funded COS4CLOUD project is working with nine citizen biodiversity observatories, four of which are the largest in Europe: Artportalen, iSpot, Natusfera and Pl@ntNet. The services will be tested on five environmental quality monitoring platforms….”
“Citizen science aims to enable people of all ages, cultures, and skills to engage in real scientific research by collecting or analyzing data typically shared with professional scientists, while provenly increasing public understanding of science. SciStarter.org and Arizona State University, as well as LIBER, are building and scaling programs and resources to catalyze libraries as community hubs for citizen science.
As a result, libraries are supporting an evolving workforce and lifelong learners while addressing known critical barriers in citizen science infrastructure, including lack of 1) project awareness, 2) access to instruments, and 3) community connections.
LIBER Citizen Science Working Group and SciStarter are now organizing a three-part joint webinar series. In this first session, we will examine the realized and potential role of libraries in catalyzing and accelerating participatory science. Darlene Cavalier (SciStarter and Arizona State University, USA), Robin Salthouse (retired librarian and advisor to SciStarter, USA), and the Science shop/Boutique des sciences, University of Lille, France (to be confirmed) will share their experiences and resources to enable everyone to participate in this collaborative and open approach of research and science. Raphaëlle Bats (Urfist – University of Bordeaux, France) and Sara Decoster (KU Leuven, Belgium) will moderate the series….”
“One of the big advantages of citizen science is the fact that it promotes open data practices. In this way, the approach contributes to science innovation by opening science up to society and advancing collaborations between various actors, including citizens, which helps to make science more participatory and inclusive….”
Abstract: Cities around the world are struggling with environmental pollution. The conventional monitoring approaches are not effective for undertaking large-scale environmental monitoring due to logistical and cost-related issues. The availability of low-cost and low-power Internet of Things (IoT) devices has proved to be an effective alternative to monitoring the environment. Such systems have opened up environment monitoring opportunities to citizens while simultaneously confronting them with challenges related to sensor accuracy and the accumulation of large data sets. Analyzing and interpreting sensor data itself is a formidable task that requires extensive computational resources and expertise. To address this challenge, a social, open-source, and citizen-centric IoT (Soc-IoT) framework is presented, which combines a real-time environmental sensing device with an intuitive data analysis and visualization application. Soc-IoT has two main components: (1) CoSense Unit—a resource-efficient, portable and modular device designed and evaluated for indoor and outdoor environmental monitoring, and (2) exploreR—an intuitive cross-platform data analysis and visualization application that offers a comprehensive set of tools for systematic analysis of sensor data without the need for coding. Developed as a proof-of-concept framework to monitor the environment at scale, Soc-IoT aims to promote environmental resilience and open innovation by lowering technological barriers.
The European Commission recently signed grant agreements with 49 projects that successfully applied to Horizon Europe: Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I System and Research Infrastructures.
Find out more about these two funding opportunities and the upcoming projects below.
Reforming and Enhancing the European R&I System
Reforming the European R&I System is part of the Horizon Europe’s Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area call (Destination 3).
Call for funding opened on 08 June 2021 and closed on 23 September 2021.
Out of the 44 applications received, 20 projects covering 15 topics were funded, for a total of about 50.5 million euros of European Commission contribution.
Projects start between June 2022 and September 2022.
Find below an overview of the selected projects per call topic(s)/type(s) of action:
[…]
A slide presentation by Martin Boosen and Yves Vincent Grossmann.