Environmental citizen science practices in the ILTER community: Remarks from a case study at global scale

In the last decades, citizen science (CS) has experienced an increasing interest as a practice in which scientists and citizens collaborate to produce new knowledge for science, society and policy. Environmental and ecological sciences are among the most active in proposing CS activities and new models for citizen participation in research. In addition to environmental dimensions, these fields necessarily include social and cultural dimensions to confront the complex local and global environmental challenges. This is particularly evident in the International Long-Term Ecological Research (ILTER) network, where the integration of social sciences has become a recognized priority. ILTER offers a valuable landscape to explore common CS features across a wide range of different cultural and socio-ecological contexts, as well as worldviews of science-society interactions. In 2020, we surveyed scientists working at ILTER sites across the globe to identify key features of CS initiatives in which they are/were involved and the levels of participation of the volunteers. We consider these features in the context of the internationally-developed Ten Principles of Citizen Science by examining scientific outcomes and societal/policy impact, type of volunteers' involvement, and sharing of data/findings and feedbacks and acknowledging volunteers. Our results indicate that the ILTER community demonstrated a good predisposition toward environmentally-focused CS initiatives with diverse scientific questions including biodiversity, water quality, ecosystem services and climate change. Most of the respondents reported that the volunteers were involved mainly in collecting samples or recording data; some other activities, such as dissemination of the project conclusions and discussion and translation of the results into action, were also mentioned. Volunteers were usually trained for these initiatives and acknowledged in peer-reviewed publication, however data from the initiatives were only partially shared openly. We conclude with remarks and suggestions for expanding design and implementation of CS in the ILTER community.

Automated summary

In recent decades, there has been increasing interest in citizen science as a collaborative practice between scientists and citizens to generate new knowledge for science, society, and policy. Environmental and ecological sciences have been at the forefront of proposing citizen science activities and models for citizen participation in research. The International Long-Term Ecological Research network serves as a platform to explore common features of citizen science across diverse cultural and socio-ecological contexts. A survey conducted in 2020 among scientists working at ILTER sites worldwide revealed that the ILTER community showed a positive inclination towards environmentally-focused citizen science initiatives, with a range of scientific questions including biodiversity, water quality, ecosystem services, and climate change being addressed. The survey also highlighted the role of volunteers in data collection and acknowledged the need for improved data sharing and dissemination of project findings.