What are the Policy Challenges for the Development of Research Infrastructures for Citizen Science in Europe?Last update 05 Oct 2022178 paragraphs, 69 comments
What are the Policy Challenges for the Development of Research Infrastructures for Citizen Science in Europe?
Structure of the roadmap
* Results and lessons learned from the project
* Identification of gaps
* Policy challenges
* Recommendations for follow up actions
* Bringing the identified policy interventions to implementation
Methodology to produce the roadmap
Interim Policy Objectives and Related Gaps
Policy Objective 1: to support the development and maintenance of seamless open access to free of charge services, resources and expertise for all researchers and citizens scientists
* Relevant gap: specific to the use of citizen science within research infrastructures, research and policy reflection is limited and niche, and as such, citizen science experts report that the policy challenges identified in citizen science in general also apply to the use of citizen science in research infrastructures (Cartas, 2022). Therefore, the most important gaps to be covered to this end are related to: their openness level not only for scientific organizations, but also for citizens as scientists; sustainability; interoperability; etc.
I think that this is more open science than citizen science oriented
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:23
Policy Objective 2: to support the development of open and cloud-based solution for advanced computing and data analytics in research and innovation
* Relevant gap: development of tools for data gathering, management and for knowledge extraction is fundamental to gain advantages from the large quantity of data that CS can provide. However, it implies the strict collaboration among scientists-citizens-sw developers to achieve solution that are data-centric, usable from the citizens as scientists, affordable from the economic point of view and sustainable
or use existing infrastructures
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:20
Policy Objective 3: to support the establishment and enlargement of an open-data space for scientists and citizens scientists
* Relevant gap: data openness to all, including citizens as scientists is an important issue to be addressed in CS. This is also related to data ownership, data traceability, data transparency, data quality, etc. This also include issues related to the development of low-cost tools and system of incentives for data gathering and sharing, as well as for data elaboration and for knowledge extraction
Combined with appropriate interface with which non-expert scientists can interact.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:21
Is Zooniverse such a space?
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:24
Policy Objective 4: to support definition of standards for both technological tools for data collection, data quality, and data sharing in CSs initiatives
* Relevant gap: this gap will be covered mainly as consequences of the policy actions foreseen for PO1-PO2-PO3. However, dedicated effort to this end it is necessary to accelerate the achievement of the policy objective
I think that we can receive input on that by the preliminary deliverables of REINFORCE on common data selection strategies
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:25
Policy Objective 5: to facilitate collaboration among researchers and citizens scientists to conduct world-class research and innovation better addressing societal goals
* Relevant gap: this is fundamental in case of frontier research due to its complexity for non-experts. Additionally, large research infrastructures governance is a complex network which constitutes another challenge for scientists-citizen scientists collaboration. This gap has to be tackled from two direction: on one side it requires significant effort to support the learning processes of the citizens scientists through capacity building strategies aimed at leveraging their knowledge and understanding on the research contents and on the way to conduct research activities; on the other side it requires to train the trainers as well as the researchers on how to approach CS initiatives and the interaction with the citizens. Benefits in closing this gap are several such as: empowerment and better engagement of citizens as scientists; more inclusivity of all categories of population; more quality and quantity data from scientific point of view; increase of trust in CS from both the scientific community and citizens point of views
Here, one can highlight the importance of boundary organizations which can act as the interface between the two worlrds - from one hand support the effective training of researchers and support the implementation of citizen science projects and on the other hand facilitate citizen engagement and empowerment
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:26
Policy Objective 6: to increase the AI literacy and IT capabilities of citizens interested in science
* Relevant gap: several initiatives to cover the ICT readiness and literacy gap have been organized till now to increase inclusivity of people that are low skills. However, to support CS development and scale up it is needed a specific effort in this direction to allow all segments of population to be part of the CS initiatives This is especially visible in large research infrastructures and frontier research as technical language and tools are often more demanding than in other cases.
Is AI literacy a required priority here?
Increasing ICT literacy is very important, especially in terms of online citizen science. Furthermore, citizens need to understand how their contributions will be used, therefore they should learn a few things about machine learning.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:28
Policy Objective 7: to facilitate the citizens in contributing to produce of new knowledge addressing societal problems
* Relevant gap: The characteristics of large research infrastructures -namely, the advanced knowledge-base they work with, the advanced state of research they conduct, and the vast research programmes they work with- make this objective crucial for future development of CS in large research infrastructures. A Capacity buildings action plan to address this objective would be of great importance to give citizens capabilities and knowledge to explain their societal needs into research initiatives in collaboration with scientific communities. Several benefits can be gained in covering this gap which include among the others: scientifically sound evidence-based research on societal problems closer to the needs of citizens; more effective social policies; increase of citizens participation of the public debate on societal changes and SDGs
In my opinion also the fact that many RIs relies on a huge network of research centers, located in different areas of the world, is crucial to address shared, global societal problems.
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Francesca Spagnuolo
- 05 Oct 2022 12:44
This requires sustained engagement and to achieve this it is proposed that the series of recommendations provided in D8.3 are included.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:30
Policy Objective 8: to make citizens science more inclusive and promoting gender balance
* Relevant gap: education and training, together with empowerment strategies will help to close this gap. Several initiatives are already funded to this end, some more are needed to increase the number of citizens which can experience CS initiatives
It could be useful to know if the initiatives already funded here have common features and if there are some lesson learnt to share.
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Francesca Spagnuolo
- 05 Oct 2022 12:47
In D8.3 we show that the citizen science projects of REINFORCE achieve to build a core community which does the most effort while people who participate in events contribute some effort but are "refreshed" over time. D9.4 (final report) of REINFORCE discusses these topics and provides some insight on gender, age distribution as well as educational background of a sample of the citizens participating in REINFORCE. I believe that REINFORCE can help shed some light in the question: "who are the potential citizen scientists?", "how do they contribute?" and "what motivates them?"
Also, one needs t
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:35
Policy Objective 9: to support Citizens Scientists in contributing closing the gap between Science and Society
* Relevant gap: this gap will be covered mainly as consequences of the policy actions foreseen for PO5-PO6-PO7-PO8-PO10. This is also related to PO12 and with the definition of education frameworks and pathways helping citizens to increase their knowledge and capabilities in more structured ways, and, at the same time, facilitating researchers who practice CS to conduct research initiatives in more effective way. Citizen science has a proven role in strengthening research infrastructures. The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures recommends the use of participatory methods - such as citizen science - to bring science and citizens closer together (ESFRI, 2020)
To achieve this, one could highlight the relevant framework developed by REINFORCE (inform- involve- collaborate- consult - empower) and indicative activities organized to this end.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:36
Policy Objective 10: to instill the culture of democratization in science and to increase society’s science capital
* Relevant gap: this gap will be covered mainly as consequences of the policy actions foreseen for PO5-PO6-PO7-PO8-PO9
We can discuss here the role of forums and continuous interaction between reserarchers and society as well as how citizens' feedback was used to support researchers (e.g discovery of a new set of glitches etc)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:37
Policy Objective 11: to support the definition and establishment of New Governance models and model of operation making CS a sustainable institutional practice
* Relevant gap: this is an important gap, and it is one of the most difficult to be closed. To support CS development and scale up, scientific communities need to change their behaviour and increase the trust about the value added of CS data from the scientific point of view. However, without a significant change in the governance models of the research organizations as well as in their operation processes these goals would be rather difficult to achieve. This change encompasses the development of an infrastructure for CS that establishes capacity for CS initiatives and affirms CS as a resource for scientists; the consideration of different goals of CS initiatives and how they can benefit the research programmes and the research infrastructure. It also includes the definition of career pathways for scientists who want to develop research though CS initiatives
To make CS a sustainable practice one needs to identify its benefits for research (scientific output), for research infrastructures (opening up to society), and for society.
This requires allocation of funds and personeffort by researchers, the collaboration with boundary organizations etc. A great step here would be for funded research projects to be required to have a work package (CSR - inspired) on citizen science.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:41
Policy Objective 12: to support the development of Impact Assessment framework showing effectiveness of CS in evidence-based research initiatives especially for societal challenges
* Relevant gap: in a scientific community there is an initial attempt to define IA framework for CS initiatives. This is also evident in some EC funded initiatives on going. However, a clear policy effort to close this gap is fundamental for several reasons: increasing the evidence that CS results are valuable for research objectives as well as for policy objectives; increase the quantitative data available for research which use AI tools; increase trust in science of the citizens as well as the trust of scientific community in citizens as scientist; etc.
what would be the gap here? is it the lack of IA frameworks for CS initiatives? it is not clear to me
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Francesca Spagnuolo
- 05 Oct 2022 13:01
The establishment of relevant KPIs is of paramount importance here. KPIs in terms of engagement and tools to monitor them have been established for example in D8.2, while KPIs for societal impact as well tools to measure them have been discussed in WP9 deliverables. The set up of such KPIs transversally for citizen science projects and the establishment of a monitoring procedure would be important to quantitatively measure impact.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:43
Policy Objective 13: to raise awareness among citizens as scientists and scientific communities about the significant contribution which citizens can provide in collecting valuable evidence for measuring impacts’ indicators (e.g. SDGs indicators)
* Relevant gap: this is consequence of the previous objectives with particular reference to PO12. However, dedicated communication and awareness creation strategies need to be designed to this end
Here we can say what REINFORCE did to raise awareness of scientific communities (publications, workshops)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:16
Policy Objective 14: to facilitate the establishment of a Community of Citizens Scientists extending from early-school classes to senior citizens
* Relevant gap: community of citizens have been in place since years. Some other are growing thanks to EC and other initiatives. However, it is important to define clear strategies to support their establishment as well as their scale up and sustainability over the time
One can refer here to the REINFORCE engagement framework (D2.1) as well as to how communities vary between thematic areas and even projects around the same thematic area.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:14
Specific measures have been proposed and implemented to grow and sustain the REINFORCE Community of practice (and can be reviewed in D8.3)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:15
Policy Objective 15: to maximising the relevance and excellence of citizen science and scaling up citizen science
* Relevant gap: this gap will be covered mainly as consequences of the policy actions foreseen for PO12-PO13-PO14
Could you explain a bit more?
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:44
Policy Objective 16: Increase the maturity level of CS in policy making processes at National level and develop an EU common approach to CS initiatives
* Relevant gap: this is a fundamental gap to be covered to make CS effective approach to address societal problems closer to the needs of the citizens. Each EU MSs has at the moment a different level of maturity in perceiving CS as valuable assets to address SDGs goals. However, increasing such level for all MSs and to reach a common understanding on what CS is and to what extent it can provide valuable contribution to society through evidence-based data and knowledge is an important step to establish a common approach to develop CS at EU level. This objective is of utmost relevance for large research infrastructures and fundamental research due to the difficulty of grasping the practical relevance of this research for non-experts
Here, I would stress out the importance of boundary organizations in order to facilitate uptake of citizen science by other infrastructures (Recommendation 9 of D8.3)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:17
Do you agree with such policy objectives and gaps? Do you want to change/add any?
Interim Policy Challenges
Data quality and management
* Large research infrastructures and domains such as astrophysics are characterised by the production and use of a massive amount of data. The creation of large datasets, thanks to activities like monitoring, observing, and crowdsourcing, create a series of implications both for citizens and for professionals
Here, the research teams of REINFORCE followed a harmonized approach which should be highlighted.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:47
* Citizens often might not have the necessary training, and much of the work falls on the professional figures (data scientists especially)
* Data harmonisation and collected for specific purposes
Administration and governance
* Fostering a supportive ecosystem for citizen science is a key task and challenge for policymakers
* In relation to funding, citizen science projects have different funding needs to traditional scientific projects
Here, one needs to identify the funding needs.
For example:
- Funding is required for the researchers who will "run the projects" and maintain continuous communication with citizen scientists.
- Funding is required for the hosting and maintenance of a project in a high profile platform (such as Zooniverse) with all relevant services.
- Funding is required to facilitate and monitor engagement activities.
among other things.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:49
Inclusion and diversity
* Depending on the topic, there are different level of barriers to participation in citizen science projects. This is especially true for minorities and underserved communities
Please refer to the bibliographic study of REINFORCE D2.1
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:49
* The development and regulation of citizen science could help to improve equity of access and participation in both science and education in informal learning environments
Maybe refer to how we attempted to integrate citizen science in informal learning practices? (section 2.2.2 pg 15 participation of REINFORCE in Athens Science Festival, Virtual Visits to Large Research infrastructures - also visible in D8.2)
Here, I would expand a bit and discuss also formal learning environments. One of the prime motivators for students is that they have a better sense of meaning in school science when citizen science is integrated (because the data they take are used somewhere). In REINFORCE, we organized a series of dedicated workshops for students
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:19
Needs and priorities
* Different actors may have different goals (students, teachers, researchers, institutions)
You are encouraged to refer to D2.1
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 14:50
* Tensions may arise due to the dissimilar interests of scientific and public stakeholder groups in the wider field of public participation in scientific research
Not so sure if I understand this one. If one focuses on the specific subject theme of a citizen science demonstrator, it has been observed that out of the people informed through outreach events, a 2% will actually collaborate and out of them, 1% will do the most effort. Usually lack of interest corresponds to dropout after a few classifications. No tensions were observed.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:21
Co-creation
* Moving beyond gathering specimens and analysing data, citizens have the capacity to be immersed in the entire scientific process in citizen science projects
This depends on the project and its nature. In some projects (e.g ecology oriented projects) we can have examples of "extreme" citizen science where citizens participate in the whole process (from design of research to analysis of results).
In citizen science projects related to Large Research Infrastructures, we have shown (and seen from the past) that it can have a contributory nature (doing classifications) and maybe also go one step further to co-created which is hindered by the knowledge gap and the way modern collaborations design their research.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:24
* The three types of citizen science are contributory, collaborative and co-created, with differing levels of citizen involvement and responsibility in each (Bonney et al., 2009)
This could be updated with more recent literature.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:57
* Co-created citizen science involves the highest degree of citizen participation and requires two-way dissemination to succeed
And it might go beyond that. Taking into account the previous relevant comment, one might want to discuss the level of co-creation that can be achieved due to that knowledge gap. This is also limited by the nature of the task itself (e.g reconstruction of particle tracks). However, citizens might be able to produce solutions (e.g a new class of glitches) or propose some new ways to tackle problems that scientists have not thought of? (not so sure about that)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:28
Managing expectations
* Not many projects reflect on the use of citizen science, but just on the challenges of the topic they are investigating from time to time
* Terminology fundamental here: “citizen science” should incorporate more aspects of public engagement in science and not be described as only “individual measurement and data collection”
* Topic is very important, too. Some topics are more suitable than others for citizen science frameworks
Here we could expand saying that for example in REINFORCE we have detector characterization projects (e.g GWitchHunters) and event reconstruction projects (e.g New Particle Search at CERN), each with its own merits.
The topic itself may be difficult, or the tasks may be difficult to implement. On the other hand the topic may be very appealing (e.g Astronomy) and/or the tasks may be presented in a dedicated interface that makes them engaging for the public. We would like to point to sections 4 and 5 of D8.3 for a relevant discussion.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:32
Advocacy role
* Citizen science should encourage individuals to take an active role in their communities - especially on projects focusing on environmental activism and climate change
To achieve this an empowerment strategy needs to be implemented within the engagement framework.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:33
Formal and informal learning environments
* In learning environments, the learner acquires pre-determined knowledge and values
For a discussion on the design characteristics of citizen science projects for formal education I would encourage one to visit D2.1, section 2.2.3, target group educational community (pg 14) in which we stress out that one needs to balance scientific goals and learning outcomes to engage students.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:39
Also, for completeness, I copy here the framework we developed for introduction of these topics to educational settings. https://docs.google.com/presen...
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:14
* In citizen science he/she learns continuously through active citizenship, which may result in social transformations
Learning in citizen science is a complex procedure and only now we start to unravel and understand it. As an example, I would refer to :
R. Edwards et. al: “Learning and developing science capital through citizen science”, in Hecker, S., Haklay, M., Bowser, A., Makuch, Z., Vogel, J. & Bonn, A. 2018. Citizen Science: Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy. UCL Press, London. https://doi.org/10.14324 /111.9781787352339
and
https://doi.org/10.14324
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 15:44
* In citizen science activities, practitioners, and participants may not be able to retain their usual roles in some learning environments
What does this mean exactly?
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 15 Nov 2022 16:07
* Informal learning environments are still somewhat underestimated
Underestimated compared to what? Regarding their potential contribution to citizen science? E.g to act as living labs where people could do citizen science ?
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:16
Project evaluation
* Not many projects reflect on the use of citizen science, but just on the challenges of the topic they are investigating from time to time
In REINFORCE , the ZSI team developed the Logical Model and specific evaluation tools to tackle this problem (D9.1-9.2-9.3-9.4). These tools could be showcased and mainstreamed.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:15
* Terminology fundamental here: “citizen science” should incorporate more aspects of public engagement in science and not be described as only “individual measurement and data collection”
As citizen science is a nascent field (I think the first master course in citizen science was developed quite recently), definitions might still need work. However, a lot of work has been done in this field (also briefly described in the project proposal).Regarding REINFORCE, I think that it is important for us to decide what is the boundary between research, citizen science and science communication. Allow me some thoughts on that (continuing in the next comment also):
In REINFORCE, the research teams identified their needs (e.g better understand sources of transient noise in Virgo)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:21
--> After doing a task analysis, we went through data selection, data analysis methodology, production of project template and finally production of the relevenat citizen science project. Therefore, research identified their need and developed a project in which they needed support by citizens. They required a statistically significant set of classifications, classified by more than 1 people with good consensus to produce scientific output. This is more or less the need of the research team.
Citizen science here was translated as the sustained engagement of citizens with the science content
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:25
--> and the research teams in order to help produce this dataset. Therefore, the requirement there was the influx of citizens who would participate through a platform , in constant contact with researchers, learning throughout the process in order to be able to perform well in the related tasks. This is the citizen science part.
However, in order to reach out to these citizens, to inform them and involve them, communciation and training activities were required. To sustain engagement, one should go beyond scientific content and focus also on dedicated empowerment activities etc.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:29
--> The activities around, before and after the project that bring new citizens, train them, empower them etc have a big communication part within.
This schematic shows the interrelation of research, citizen science, communication and education in a citizen science project based on the relevant framework developed in REINFORCE.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:32
* Topic is very important, too. Some topics are more suitable than others for citizen science frameworks
The appeal of the topic and its content along with the engagement strategy for its implementation will eventually end up determining the relevant citizen community built around it and finally its scientific output.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:33
Do you agree with such policy challenges? Do you want to change/add any?
Interim Policy Recommendations
1-Introducing citizen science in educational strategy
* Support the harmonization of educational strategies developed by research organizations across EU Member States, and continue to downstream resources to EU Member States and Regions on related policy domains and provide funding schema for educational pathways on CS
If one focuses on Large Research Infrastructures in Physics particularily, they can observe the following:
- In the European Astroparticle Physics Strategy (2017-2026) https://www.appec.org/roadmap
on page 11 - Societal Issues- one can see:
".. A combination of excitement about the mysteries of the Universe and spectacular discoveries easily spark public interest, giving rise to a surge of outreach activities that in turn capture the imagination of all kinds of people and increase the skills base for the future" -->
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:45
--> In the same document
"..Given the rapid expansion of the field of astroparticle Physics, APPEC encourages (e.g in collaboration with IPPOG) the exchange of best practice in the sphere of outreach. At its frontier research facilities, APPEC will implement more structured organisation of dedicated astroparticle physics summer schools and studentships"
These were written in the early days of citizen science in large research infrastructures, about 3 years before REINFORCE and definitely show the interest of Research Infrastructures for reaching out effectively.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:47
In the updated European Strategy for Particle Physics (https://europeanstrategy.cern/... ), one of the major recommendations is:
"Exploring the fundamental properties of nature inspires and excites. It is
part of the duty of researchers to share the excitement of scientific achievements
with all stakeholders and the public...." (pg 13)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 10:55
In the Snowmass Meeting 2022 in USA (https://indico.fnal.gov/event/... ) emphasis was given to public engagement. A paper was produced to discuss structural changes required to facilitate effective engagement between the Particle Physics community and general public in the US. (https://indico.fnal.gov/event/... )
These three documents (APPEC Roadmap, European Particle Physics Strategy and Snowmass paper) one can see the growing interest of fundamental Physics community to effectively reach out to the public. The ground seems to be fertile for citizen science.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:02
* Promote a system that values the impact of research organisations and scientists on society encompassing the engagement in CS initiatives and the collaboration with other institutions for CS initiatives, such as schools
This is very important and in line with the Snowmass 2022 paper (https://arxiv.org/ftp/arxiv/pa... ).
Proper recognition mechanisms for researchers doing citizen science as part of their work as well as funding schemes should be promoted to sustain researchers' engagement in citizen science.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:04
2-Boosting evaluation and monitoring of citizen science
* Ensure the alignment between actions taken on CS impact assessment and EU policy domains, such as environmental policy, science and technology, digital transformation, and regional development
This could be done if a boundary organization on Citizen Science (such as ECSA) with thematic branches (REINFORCE could be one of these) were established to do the long term monitoring and consultation as well as mentoring for new citizen science projects.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:05
* Define the primary goal of the CS initiative and monitor and evaluate the initiative accordingly
3-Including educators in program design
* Design and implement training activities aimed at training the trainers of citizens interested in CS. Encourage co-design of educational programs for citizens which are interested in CS. Support inclusive educational programme for CS initiatives
This has been shown to be an effective way of empowering citizens to become ambassadors of the project. Through dedicated training courses, organized by REINFORCE partner Ellinogermaniki Agogi and which REINFORCE co-organized, teachers and citizens were empowered through dedicated training activities.
(REINFOCE International Training Course 2022: http://reinforce.ea.gr/interna... , FRONTIERS Schools 2020-2021: http://reinforce.ea.gr/interna... )
See REINFORCE D8.3, section 2.2.5 (pg 23-26)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:17
4-Community establishment, scale-up, sustain and engagement
* Support the harmonization of initiatives aimed at establishing, scaling-up, sustaining, and engaging communities taken by research organizations across EU Member States. Ensure the collaboration between said initiatives toward a EU-wide community. Support the development and collection of guidelines and good practices
* Focus on understanding the background knowledge needed by citizen scientists and implement adaptive approaches to CS projects to facilitate and sustain the engagement, such as scaffolding
This depends on the subject of each project also. Maybe, one can highlight here the importance of task analysis for the production of a citizen science project (D2.1), the importance of collaboration with boundary organizations to understand the educational perspective of the demonstrator and organize one's approach accordingly, and then identify how one can proceed to balance scientific goals and educational goals. Every new citizen science project might benefit from these steps followed by REINFORCE.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:22
* Follow adaptive approaches to ensure sustained engagement and ensure collaboration with local communities to co-define how to improve the research organisation's presence in society
A very important process, in line with recommendation 8 of D8.3 (pg 45). One should monitor engagement continuously and take measures when needed to sustain and boost engagement in order to achieve the scientific goals of the project (targeted actions aiming to boost collaboration - such as challenges - D8.3 pg 19-22) as well as organize activities to reach out to larger audiences (D8.3 recommendation 3)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:28
5-Boost digital technology
* Promote the development or adoption of standards and good practices on the development of digital solutions for CS. Incentivize the development of guidelines for the development of digital solutions for CS, such as accessibility guidelines. Encourage innovation in the development of digital solutions for CS, such as new business models. Encourage the development of digital solutions for CS that are interoperable between them and with existing portals to streamline data workflows
Here we can expand a bit and discuss for example the importance of portals such as Zooniverse (>1,000,000 users, already existing online facilities etc) but also their limitations (difficulty to interface for visually impaired citizens or to produce tasks beyond classifications).
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:30
6-Support the adoption of technical instruments
* Support initiatives increasing the level of use of technology by citizens scientists. Support awareness activities and incentives for motivating citizens interested in science in using technological instruments in CS projects. Promote actions reducing cost of technical instruments used in CS initiatives. Support initiatives increasing ICT literacy of citizens interested in science projects. Support the increase of readiness level of citizens and facilitating ICT inclusion initiatives
An aspect worth measuring in an impact study as well.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:37
* Develop training frameworks on data-sharing tools for citizen scientists, seeking funding opportunities also among digital skills programmes. Support and incentivize continuous learning among scientists focusing on using technical instruments to disseminate data in an inclusive way, for instance making use of multi-sensoriality
Maybe @Beatriz Garcia has a good input to provide here.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:38
7-Prioritising STEM in education
* Support initiatives introducing STEM in education. Promoting exchange of best practices of STEM in education. Increase the funding programme for STEM in education initiatives which are co-developed for supporting CS projects. Encourage the monitoring and assessment of STEM in education impacts. Design awareness and incentives for STEM in education initiatives providing contribution to CS scale-up. Foster the development of STEM educational resources that centre around the engagement of minorities and inclusivity
In REINFORCE and through the collaboration with the FRONTIERS network (www.frontiers-project.eu), a series of initiatives which bring the REINFORCE citizen science projects to education was organized.
- Production of educational resources and teacher guidelines:
http://reinforce.ea.gr/educato...
- Organization of dedicated workshops and courses for teachers:
e.g http://reinforce.ea.gr/educato...
http://reinforce.ea.gr/educato...
http://reinforce.ea.gr/educato...
- In-classroom Workshops for students
e.g http://reinforce.ea.gr/educato...
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:51
- Organization of informal learning activities for students
e.g virtual visits to Virgo https://ep.ego-gw.eu/tds/ql/?c...
- Organization of competitions for students
e.g Youth Art and Science Contest
https://ep.ego-gw.eu/tds/ql/?c...
- Organization of competitions for teachers
https://ep.ego-gw.eu/tds/ql/?c...
- Organization of informal learning activities for students
https://ep.ego-gw.eu/tds/ql/?c...
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:56
8-Networks and community platforms
* Stimulate collaborations in networks and communities through platforms allowing to address mutual benefits, expand capacity and leverage expertise and resources. Facilitate access to and re-use of resources on interoperability and accessibility from other domains for CS platforms
Here one could discuss the networking strategy of REINFORCE spearheaded by TRUST-IT
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 11:58
* Enhance the role of networks and community platforms for CS by seeking to establish it as key research infrastructures and attracting funds accordingly
9-New rules of attribution of scientific discoveries and merits
* Define IPR guidelines for CS projects. Promote best practices and knowledge exchange of rules and guidelines for involving citizen scientists in whole CS project life cycle. Encourage the organization of prizes and other initiatives to acknowledge the conjoint active participation of scientists and citizens interested in science in successful CS projects. Encourage the establishment of CS scientific journals
Regarding organization of prizes and other initiatives to empower citizens one can mention the work done in the framework of REINFORCE (D8.3 - section 2.2.5 pg 23-28 and recommendations in the end of the document)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:00
* Strive to include citizen scientists in the definition of guidelines on scientific recognition to allow for different mechanisms, such as closer relationships with scientists and/or research infrastructures as a form of recognition
Important to stress the importance of online spaces such as forums to achieve this goal (D8.3 recommendations in the end of the document), as well as examples of prizes offered to citizens participating in the relevant challenges (scholarships for International Training Course or trips to research infrastructures).
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:01
* Strive to include citizen scientists in the process to include their perspectives on how they prefer to be acknowledged and recognized for their contribution
Important to highlight how we did that in REINFORCE: through consultation activities (showcased in D8.3 and D8.2 - reflection workshops for example) and also discussed in detail in D9.3 and D9.4.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:02
10-Incentives to open data on the side of research infrastructures
* Support the definition of incentive schemas for data sharing and opening. Support the acknowledgement of citizen scientists’ data and encourage their provision and sharing. Support the maintenance of open data infrastructure and their interoperability degree. Support the co-design and co-development of Apps for data gathering, sharing and managing that are truly adopted by the citizen scientists
Here it might be important if the research teams of WPs 3->6 provided some feedback on the opportunities and barriers they faced.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:05
11-Boost the European Open Science Cloud
* Support the establishment of an open cloud data space for CS data at EU level. Support the development of AI and ML tools for mining and interpreting CS data available in open cloud infrastructures
A thing not very clear to me : How does EOSC connect with the interface in Zooniverse of a demonstrator? Can we provide an example?
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:08
* Develop programs that encourage scientists to take the lead in bringing citizens closer to EOSC, such as CS projects that work with API to make citizen scientists access experiment data
* Ensure that suitable funds are harnessed by research organisations to boost EOSC, for instance facilitating access to open-data and digital skills related funds by research organisations seeking to develop training material for EOSC
12-Boosting skills on citizen science
* Develop career pathways for scientists interested in CS initiatives. Include CS topics in university curricula. Foreseen governance models of CS initiatives which are in line with the rules and regulation of the research organization in charge of the CS initiative
One could mention that gradually there are job openings (disseminated in ECSA newsletters for example) that focus on citizen science.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:09
13-Support funding
* Establish appropriate funding mechanisms, for instance including agile evaluation of CS programs and citizen observatories. Facilitate the connection to alternative funding opportunities suitable to specific CS projects’ domains. Align regional, national, and EU funding for CS on specific science and policy domains
* Align funding schema and CS initiative's primary goal
14-Involve policymakers throughout the project life cycle
* Seek to engage with CS projects throughout their life-cycle to ensure that CS projects’ outcomes are aligned with science and innovation policy. Develop programs to guide research organizations in the creation of CS projects that are in line with mission-based innovation. Establish or use existing frameworks to ensure that CS projects are iteratively designed and evaluated against mission-based innovation objectives
Here one could highlight the importance of policy oriented events such as the ones organized by LC in the framework of REINFORCE with some examples.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:27
15-Continuing to pursue and encourage inclusion and diversity
* Encourage and support the development, collection, use, and dissemination of guidelines and good practices on inclusive CS. Support knowledge sharing initiatives on inclusive CS, for instance by partnering with stakeholders seeking to pursue this goal in the organization of events
* Develop tools that foster inclusion and multidimensional data analysis as a resource to enrich and augment data exploration and data analysis and train scientists for these tools
Highlight the work done in WP7
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:29
* Allocate resources with a medium- to long-term focus to ensure continuity in the development of programmes on inclusion as they need to develop new tools, gather a wide range of documentation and resources for future uses, and train both citizen scientists and scientists to approach scientific research from this perspective
16-Foster experience design to ensure motivation, sustained engagement, and inclusivity
* Support the development of training for CS experience design. Liaise communities of practice to foster knowledge exchange between the CS and the designers communities. Provide support for capability building on CS experience design, for instance allocating fundings for specific initiatives in this field
Highlight the work done in WP8 (D8.2 and D8.3)
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:29
17-Meta-evaluation
* Foster the development of initiatives that create or enhance a continuous improvement culture among CS stakeholders. Support initiatives for the meta-evaluation of CS impact assessment frameworks and tools. Ensure that the fitness-for-purpose criteria for CS impact assessment frameworks and tools include elements regarding social innovation and other relevant policies
Important to highlight the role of ZSI
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:28
Feasibility Analysis
The feasibility analysis provides a short qualitative description of the achievement of each policy objective and assessment of REINFORCE’s contribution toward this goal, as well as a level of feasibility.PO1: to support the development and maintenance of seamless open access to free of charge services, resources and expertise for all researchers and citizens scientists
* Recommendations: 1, 10, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE stakeholders act as a gateway for access to expertise with a focus on large research infrastructures. The development of an infrastructure for scientific data open to citizens creates a space for scientists and citizens to access services and resources. Seamless access to expertise is still challenging and its completion relies on other POs as well.
Not so sure that I understand the emphasis on PO1 and PO2 but not my expertise here.
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Emmanuel Chaniotakis
- 16 Nov 2022 12:46
PO2: to support the development of open and cloud-based solution for advanced computing and data analytics in research and innovation
* Recommendations: 10, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
The development of an open infrastructure for data in research and innovation provides the basis. Models such as SonoUno’s sonification as a service pave the way for the development of open data analytics solutions.
PO3: to support the establishment and enlargement of an open-data space for scientists and citizens scientists
* Recommendations: 5, 10, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
A streamlined data flow from research infrastructures to an open-data space like EOSC provides the basis. Effective use of the open-data space is tied to interoperability, skills, and acceptance of CS data by science (PO4, PO6, PO13, PO15), REINFORCE is at the forefront in linking CS and scientists in frontier research.
PO4: to support definition of standards for both technological tools for data collection, data quality, and data sharing in CS initiatives
* Recommendations: 5, 10, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Benefits from international efforts in the same direction. Standardisation in CS kept relevant in the agenda by REINFORCE stakeholders. Open data platforms like EOSC take the role of facilitators.
PO5: to facilitate collaboration among researchers and citizens scientists to conduct world-class research and innovation better addressing societal goals
* Recommendations: 10, 11, 12, 13, 16
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE stakeholders lead the endeavour within large research infrastructures, they rely on the supporting and enabling role of community platforms (Zooniverse) and open data (EOSC), and they adopt innovative and collaborative approaches to scientific research and CS itself. The nature of societal goals makes collaboration particularly challenging hence continuous adjustments are foreseen.
PO6: to increase the AI literacy and IT capabilities of citizens interested in science
* Recommendations: 6, 7, 12
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Collaborative approaches are used to develop educational projects and programmes. Continuous learning is encouraged such as EGO’s senior citizen science course.
PO7: to facilitate the citizens in contributing to produce of new knowledge addressing societal problems
* Recommendations: 5, 6, 12, 15, 16
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Solutions like SonoUno widen the basis of citizens contributing to the production of new knowledge while enriching data exploration capabilities. Platforms like EOSC grant access to data to multiple stakeholders facilitating collaboration for the creation of new knowledge. The recognition and acceptance of non-professionals’ contribution still impacts the complete achievement of this objective (PO12, 13, 15).
PO8: to make citizens science more inclusive and promoting gender balance
* Recommendations: 7, 15, 16
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Solutions like SonoUno’s sonification shows the effort needed to improve inclusivity and the possibility for great results. REINFORCE shows good practices of continuous monitoring and evaluation, this allows to adjust engagement activities for bias. Science in general still has a long way to go in achieving gender balance and inclusivity and complementary actions are needed (such as within PO6).
PO9: to support Citizens Scientists in contributing closing the gap between Science and Society
* Recommendations: 4, 12, 15, 16
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Muon detector exemplifies CS initiatives that link together society and science by recognising citizen scientists’. Recognising the merits of citizen scientists does not guarantee the achievement of the objective and outreach activities like senior citizen science at EGO may contribute, as well as collaborative approaches to CS and/or to bring the large research infrastructure activities closer to the community, as it is exemplified by Pierre Auger.
PO10: to instill the culture of democratisation in science and to increase society’s science capital
* Recommendations: 4, 10,11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Scientists bring citizen science closer to schools. REINFORCE leads the way by showing scientists the value of CS in large research infrastructure.
PO11: to support the definition and establishment of New Governance models and model of operation making CS a sustainable institutional practice
* Recommendations: 1, 14
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE stakeholders establish a pool of scientists expert in CS among large research infrastructures to lead the adoption of CS in frontier research. This asset offers other scientists the knowledge base to engage with CS at a lower cost. The institutionalisation of CS depends on other achievements like the broader recognition of CS as a resource for science (PO12, 13, 15).
PO12: to support the development of Impact Assessment framework showing effectiveness of CS in evidence-based research initiatives especially for societal challenges
* Recommendations: 2, 17
Short Qualitative Assessment:
Precedent efforts provide building blocks for effective impact assessment. REINFORCE retains the knowledge capital to lead the endeavour further in the establishment of a widely accepted framework focusing on large research infrastructures.
PO13: to raise awareness among citizens as scientists and scientific communities about the significant contribution which citizens can provide in collecting valuable evidence for measuring impacts’ indicators (e.g. SDGs indicators)
* Recommendations: 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE leads the way toward the acknowledgment and proof of CS as an asset for the scientific community. REINFORCE stakeholders like Zooniverse and EOSC constitute essential enablers to centralise access to distributed resources and act as repositories.
PO14: to facilitate the establishment of a Community of Citizens Scientists extending from early-school classes to senior citizens
* Recommendations: 1, 2, 4, 8, 9, 11
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE stakeholders are in an excellent position to facilitate the connection between science and citizens through CS. Large research infrastructures mediate interaction with schools and other institutions while stakeholders such as Zooniverse provide the infrastructure. The sustainability of the community is highly delicate as it relies on engagement and funding for CS initiatives and the infrastructure.
PO15: to maximising the relevance and excellence of citizen science and scaling up citizen science
* Recommendations: 1, 2, 11, 15
Short Qualitative Assessment:
REINFORCE acts as a scale-up for CS in that it brings it within large research infrastructures. The achievement still depends on continuous improvement of CS (PO12).
PO16: Increase the maturity level of CS in policy making processes at National level and develop an EU common approach to CS initiatives
* Recommendations: 2, 14,17
Short Qualitative Assessment:
The relevance of CS for policy making benefits from examples like CERN and Deep Sea Explorers. REINFORCE stakeholders bring together international actors for a common approach to CS in large research infrastructures that goes beyond the EU. The achievement depends on the amount and quality of data gathered on the impact of CS in society (PO12).
Do you agree with such policy recommendations? Do you want to change/add any?
Standing questions
* What are the bottlenecks and gaps (policy and organizational) that should be considered and addressed for mainstreaming the implementation of citizen science in research infrastructures?
* What kind of instruments and incentives are necessary to tackle these gaps?
* What are the policy measures that should exist to foster the implementation of citizen science in research infrastructure?
* What actions should be put in place in order to implement such recommendations?