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Rachel Pateman introduced the theme by exploring findings from the paper ‘Citizen Science: Pathways to Impact and why Participant Diversity Matters’, which explores the significance of participant diversity in citizen science and its impact on the overall success of scientific endeavors.
Each panelist then shared their first hand experiences of pathways and barriers to fostering diversity and inclusivity in their citizen science research. Rhys Archer explored inclusive youth citizen science through two recent projects: SAMHE and Youth LIVES, showcasing the approaches utilized, and the challenges of involving youth citizen scientists in collaborative research. Luke Gooding explained how the Ecological Citizens project is connecting individuals and organizations committed to environmental stewardship and empowering them to lead and participate actively in shaping their communities’ environmental futures. Sagarmoy Phukan discussed the diversity challenges in citizen science projects, noting gender and ethnic disparities in the Global North and emphasizing the need for further research in the Global South to comprehensively address socioeconomic, cultural, and religious factors impacting participation.
By exploring these individual narratives, the session aimed to emphasize the importance of embracing diversity and inclusivity in citizen science. Panelists argued that a more inclusive approach both enhances the scientific process and fosters a collaborative and empowered society.
Citizen science, the participation of the public in conducting real world scientific research, claims to be a mechanism for democratizing and increasing the societal relevance of science. But for whom is this the case? It is increasingly well established that citizen science, particularly mass participation projects, struggles to engage the already disempowered in society. Participants’ demographics tend to mirror those of the scientific workforce and other positions of power. This calls into question the extent to which citizen science democratizes science and, worse still, raises the possibility that it can further engrain existing inequalities.
In this talk we presented the state of the evidence of inequalities in citizen science participation. We then explored in detail the consequences of this, for science, for the people participating, and for wider society and the environment. Finally, we gave an overview of the strategies that have been used to overcome the barriers that marginalized groups face to participate in citizen science.
This talk explored the journey of inclusive youth citizen science through two research projects: SAMHE (Schools Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education) and Youth LIVES (Youth Lived experience of Evidence Synthesis).
SAMHE, funded by the Department for Education and EPSRC, is a co-designed project that deployed over a thousand air monitoring devices in UK schools, empowering pupils to actively record and analyze classroom air quality data. Pupils were also given access to a Web App to provide real-time data visualizations, and activities, fostering a sense of environmental stewardship and scientific engagement among students. In parallel, Youth LIVES, a UKRI-funded Citizen Science Collaboration award, addressed the challenge of prioritizing youth mental health by embedding young people as partners and leaders in mental health research. Through collaborative workshops and research meetings, young citizen scientists with lived experiences actively co-create research proposals, contributing unique perspectives and insights into the process.
Both projects exemplify the potential of inclusive youth citizen science, not only by involving young individuals in data collection but by fostering genuine collaboration and leadership throughout the research process. This talk considered both the inclusive approaches used, and addressed the challenges inherent in using inclusive citizen science within traditional research structures, illustrated through discussion of these two case studies.
In today’s world, it is crucial that we promote diversity and inclusivity alongside fostering ecological citizenship in order to build resilient communities and ensure a sustainable future. The Ecological Citizens project seeks to embody this dual approach by connecting individuals and organizations committed to environmental stewardship. Through collaborative efforts, the project engages in activities that raise awareness about environmental issues, promote conservation efforts, and advocate for responsible consumption practices. By pooling resources and expertise, the network maximizes its impact, making significant strides towards addressing pressing environmental challenges.
Traditionally, ‘participation’ has been defined as simply attending and engaging. Post-participation, however, extends beyond initial involvement by fostering ongoing, self-directed contributions and community-led initiatives for responsible change. This approach, fostered by the project, seeks to empower individuals to take ownership of sustainability efforts, encouraging them and their groups to lead and participate actively in shaping their communities’ environmental futures. As such, individuals not only attend events but also initiate local projects, advocate for policy changes, and inspire others to adopt sustainable practices.
A lack of participant diversity is a major challenge for citizen science, impacting participation rates, data generation, and overall project impact. An understanding of diversity patterns and barriers to participation is needed to introduce measures to increase diversity. However, most of the current research comes from the Global North (GN) and an understanding of diversity and inclusivity in citizen science in the Global South (GS) is lacking.
This talk explored why lessons learnt from the GN do not directly translate to the GS, drawing in particular on the case of India. Barriers to participation may differ compared with the GN; including, for example, poorer access to technologies, lower literacy rates and political concerns. Understanding and identifying marginalized groups and indigenous populations is also different compared with GN; for example, marginalization in GS includes factors such as culture, religion, tribes, and caste within the same ethnicity. Examples from India show barriers to women’s participation arise from rural patriarchy and restrictions on physical movement for women wearing sarees for field data collection; although participation in projects focused on household activities is higher. Religious conditioning has also affected participation in data collection.
This study concludes that a significant knowledge gap persists concerning the diversity and inclusivity of CS projects in India. This underscores the need for further studies based on socioeconomic, caste, tribe and religious contexts to comprehensively address the challenges and opportunities for fostering diversity in CS initiatives in the GS.
The Science in Public Research Network (SiP) is for anyone involved with or is interested in research about ‘Science in Public’ in the broadest sense. It aims to foster cross-disciplinary discussion and debate between researchers across the many disciplines which address this topic, including science and technology studies, history of science, geography, psychology, cultural studies, media and communication studies, sociology, development studies, English literature, policy and political studies, and more.
Founded in 2006, its annual conference is a central point of contact for UK practitioners and research communities that consider the relationship between science, technology, and the public sphere.
Registration for the conference is now closed.
SEI York’s Citizen Science Research Group has been designing, running, evaluating, and consulting on citizen science projects on a wide range of topics since 2008, as well as publishing impactful research on Citizen Science theory.
Project / A citizen science project monitoring indoor air, created with and for UK schools.
Project / SEI's Ecological Citizens project cultivates trans-disciplinary collaboration and research to enable a digital sustainable society for positive climate action.
Project / Working with young people to co-design relevant mental health research by identifying priority research questions and addressing these.
Feature / In this Q&A, Rachel Pateman, a Research Fellow at SEI York, discusses the importance of inclusivity in volunteer biological recording.
Journal article / This article advocated for greater understanding of barriers to participation in citizen science projects and suggested methods for improving impact.
Past event / Rachel Pateman shared methods and lessons from a co-created project to understand unhoused people's access to water, sanitation, and hygiene in Mexico City.
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