Journal
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
Volume 64, Issue 12, Pages 2089-2113Publisher
ROUTLEDGE JOURNALS, TAYLOR & FRANCIS LTD
DOI: 10.1080/09640568.2020.1853507
Keywords
citizen science; volunteer motivation and retention; expectation management; sustainability of CS projects; tools for citizen science
Categories
Funding
- Slovenian Research Agency/Javna Agencija za Raziskovalno Dejavnost Republike Slovenije (ARRS) [P1-0143]
- ERA-PLANET, trans-national project SMURBS under the EU Horizon 2020 Framework Programme [689443]
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Citizen Science projects vary greatly in terms of goals, resources, and tools, with volunteer involvement often requiring information and communication technology. To enhance long-term participation and project sustainability, the use of tools with functional features that align with volunteer motivations is essential.
Citizen Science (CS) projects vary greatly. The aims and goals of a CS project determine the type of citizen involvement and the tools to be used, which in most cases also entail information and communication technology (ICT) that facilitates public participation in scientific research. Resource limitations in CS projects often require adopting suboptimal tools, which, however, may come with hidden costs stemming from poor usability and underwhelming functionality, thus reducing volunteers' motivation. Meeting the volunteers' expectations by designing or using existing tools with functional features which fulfill and nurture their motivations, will foster long-term participation and contribute to project sustainability. This paper reviews the types of CS projects, volunteer motivation and retention strategies from the literature and classifies them thematically. This is distilled into guidance that can help CS practitioners to design and implement CS tools and plan and manage CS projects, which better serve their scientific and volunteer-related goals.
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