Europe, Australia, South America - Citizen Science is on the rise worldwide! Networks are developing, platforms are emerging, strategy and policy papers are being drafted. One of the focal points is the question of how the anchoring of citizen science can be advanced.
An initial overview of the various developments is provided by the publication of the Center for Citizen Science: Citizen Science. Initiatives, networks, platforms, funding (2019).
Citizen Science Networks
In addition to numerous national networks, such as the Citizen Science Network Switzerland or Bürger schaffen Wissen in Germany, there are also national associations. Since December 2017, the citizen science network Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP) not only promotes the exchange between science and society, but primarily pursues the goal of networking already existing citizen science networks on a global level. Since October 2022 the official seat is located in Vienna.
For the European area, the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) was founded in 2013. It is currently located at the Natural History Museum in Berlin. Only a short time later, in 2014, the Citizen Science Association (CSA) was founded. The citizen science network Red Iberoamericana de Ciencia Participativa - RICAP is growing and counts numerous countries from Central and South America among its members. In Australia, the Australian Citizen Science Association is a central contact point for researchers and interested parties. If you look at the Asian region, you come across the citizen science network CitizenScience.Asia. In Africa, the CitSci Africa Association is in the making.
Strategy and Policy Papers
In recent years, strategy or policy papers on citizen science have been and are being published to advance the development of the citizen science concept at the (inter)national and institutional level and to anchor citizen science more firmly. A short selection:
- Bürger schaffen Wissen (2022): Weißbuch Citizen-Science-Strategie 2030 für Deutschland
- Europäische Kommission (2020): Citizen Science and Citizen Engagement - Achievements in Horizon 2020 and recommendations on the way forward.
- Science Europe (2018): Science Europe Briefing Paper on Citizen Science.
- European Marine Board (2017): Advancing Citizen Science for Coastal and Ocean Research.
- League of European Research Universities (2016): Citizen science at universities: Trends, guidelines and recommendations.
- Europäische Kommission (2014): White Paper on Citizen Science for Europe.
Policy briefs are also regularly produced within the context of EU projects, e.g.