Citizen science is a form of participation that has experienced a major upswing, particularly in recent years. This concept can be seen as a ‘new paradigm’ of science communication (NEWSERA, 2023), because citizen science is more than just communicating science to the public. In Citizen Science, citizens themselves take an active part in the research process.
In her keynote speech at the virtual ‘WissKon21’ conference, citizen science expert Susanne Hecker from the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin distinguishes between three forms of communication in relation to citizen science:
- Communication about Citizen Science: Discourse on the conceptualisation of Citizen Science
- Communication from Citizen Science: public relations; communication aimed at the public that is not actively involved in the Citizen Science project
- Communication in Citizen Science: Communication and interaction within the project with the participants or Citizen Scientists
It should not be underestimated how much time and human resources citizen science projects invest in communication in order to attract, retain, motivate and train citizen scientists and to communicate the research process and results. The Flemish Citizen Science Centre Scivil has described this in the handbook Communication in Citizen Science. A practical guide to communication and engagement in citizen science (p. 6).
