We are delighted to announce that the article entitled “An analytics approach to health and healthcare in citizen science communications on Twitter” written by Fernando Martínez-Martínez, David Roldán-Álvarez, Estefanía Martín, and H Ulrich Hoppe has been published in the Digital Health journal. Their findings suggest that the most addressed topics by Twitter users are sustainable development goals, technologies and health, and COVID-19. Other topics represented in the data are cancer, public health, mental health, and health and well-being of sea and earth-living creatures related to sustainable development goals.

Continue reading CS Track paper published in Digital Health at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

We are delighted to announce that the article entitled “Inclusion and exclusion in citizen science: A matter of context” written by Michael Strähle and Christine Urban has been published in the conference proceedings of the STS Conference Graz 2022 that took place from 2-4 May 2022.

Continue reading CS Track paper published in conference proceedings of the STS Conference Graz 2022 at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

One of the main objectives of CS Track project has been to realise an explorative study of CS projects in Europe, with the aim to categorize, cluster and build a database of CS projects that would allow an analysis of them. This has allowed: (1) to compile of a database of CS projects (and their corresponding CS activities) in the European Union and Associated Countries; (2) to document of a collection of these projects to explore their availability of data for further analysis following the knowledge gaps identified by the literature review.

Continue reading Research Areas in Citizen Science: One analysis of the CS Track database at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

A CS Track team of researchers including Reuma De-Groot, Yaela N Golumbic, Fernando Martínez Martínez and H. Ulrich Hoppe recently published a paper entitled “Developing a framework for investigating Citizen Science through a combination of web analytics and social science methods – the CS Track perspective”. This article presents the project’s framework which aims to complement existing methods for evaluating CS, address gaps in current observations of the citizen science landscape and integrate findings from multiple studies and methodologies.

Continue reading CS Track framework for investigating citizen science at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

A CS Track team of researchers including Reuma De-Groot, Yaela N Golumbic, Fernando Martínez Martínez and H. Ulrich Hoppe recently published a paper entitled “Developing a framework for investigating Citizen Science through a combination of web analytics and social science methods - the CS Track perspective”. This article presents the project’s framework that aims to complement existing methods for evaluating CS, address gaps in current observations of the citizen science landscape and integrate findings from multiple studies and methodologies.

Continue reading <strong>CS Track publishes paper about developing a novel framework for investigating Citizen Science</strong> at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

Educational impacts of participation, such as the development of scientific skills or increased awareness about biodiversity and conservation, are one of the most widely discussed aspects of CS. Whereas most existing studies investigate perceived or observed learning gains of citizen scientists, this study took an alternative perspective by examining learning-related aspects in textual self-representations of CS projects—namely in project descriptions posted online. The aim was to determine which dimensions of learning are reflected most prominently in CS project descriptions.

Continue reading <strong>Identifying learning dimensions in CS project descriptions</strong> at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

The biannual ECSA conference organised under the theme Citizen Science for Planetary Health got off to a great start in Berlin on 5 October with a welcome reception in the Museum of Natural History. The surroundings, dominated by dinosaurs and other fossils was a fine reminder of the importance of protecting the environment, the theme that runs through so many Citizen Science projects. The agenda over the following two days was intense with presentation and discussion sessions involving the almost 500 participants in debate about the best ways to organise Citizen Science activities to have the most impact.

Continue reading Citizen Science Community meets in force in Berlin at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

Over the past 18 months, several research groups within the CS Track consortium have analysed project descriptions stored in the CS Track database from different perspectives (focusing for instance on research area, correlation with the SDG framework, educational aspects etc.).

Continue reading How to write project descriptions that spark interest and attract volunteers – a 10-step guide at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

Online Workshop on Thursday, 8 December 2022, 14:00 – 15:00 CET

Explanation of the grid. How it was developed and why., e. g. voluntary work versus influencing policies versus education versus making. How to place a CS activity. Obvious differences in potential (ethical) guidelines depending on where activity is placed. 

„Look & feel“ of the Grid. Learning how to apply it to become aware of potential caveats and ethical issues will help to organise citizen science activities in a way that creates a better cost-benefit-ratio and that systematically takes ethical issues and other challenges into account.

Continue reading Coming to terms with the multiple possible meanings of the term CS. The Activities-Dimensions-Grid of Citizen Science, online seminar, 8 December at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.

Gitte Kragh is a postdoc at Aarhus University, ecologist at NORDECO, co-founder of the Danish Citizen Science Network, and a Board member of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).

Continue reading What are the most pressing concerns of those working with Citizen Science in a post-pandemic world – an interview with Gitte Kragh at Citizen Science | CS Track Project.