1. Biodiversity
Citizen Science –
Projects in Europe
Sarah Faulwetter (HCMR)
Ed Baker (NHM)

2. citizen science
“scientific research conducted, in whole or in part, by
amateur or nonprofessional scientists, often by
crowdsourcing” [wikipedia]
● Data gathering vs. data analysis
– observations in nature vs. online recognizing patterns
of whale songs, the sea floor, galaxies...
● Single researcher vs. combined efforts
– amateurs describing new species vs. participation in
crowdsourcing projects
● “Top-down” vs. “bottom up” approaches in projects
● One day events (e.g BioBlitz) vs. ongoing initiatives

3. characteristics
● Major driver: Interest and enthusiasm of the citizen
● No commercial interest
● Cannot be “forced” - varying levels of participation, but
always volunteering!
● Broad range of level of expertise
● Individuals, teams, or networks of volunteers
● Often very localized (e.g. my local insect fauna, butterflies in
my garden)
● Varying levels of professionalism - from uploading photos to
the web to collaborations with professional scientists

4. why involve citizens?
● Professional science: not enough
resources for many projects
● Added value from mass collection /
analysis of data (detection of trends)
● Knowledge of “amateurs” often very high
● Communication between the “ivory tower”
and the “normal world”

5. why involve citizens?
● Professional science: not enough
resources for many projects
● Added value from mass collection /
analysis of data (detection of trends)
● Knowledge of “amateurs” often very high
● Communication between the “ivory tower”
and the “normal world”

6. google scholar
600
500
400
300
Google Scholar search for the
terms biodiversity “Citizen
Science” per year published
200
100
0
3
4
3
4
3
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
5
6
7
8
9
0
1
2
1 99
1 99
1 99
19 9
19 9
19 9
19 9
20 0
20 0
20 0
2 00
2 00
2 00
20 0
20 0
20 0
20 0
20 1
20 1
20 1
2 01

7. google trends

8. some examples...
● Biodiversity monitoring projects (recording a taxon at a locality
at a certain time)
● Large projects (→ what is the “recipe for success”?)
● Different aspects:
– associated to official organizations/important NGOs / used for
policy-making vs. “just for fun”
– Independent sites vs. delivering data to “official” databases
– Different tools for the user
– All are “bottom-up” approaches

9. foundation “Natuurinformatie”
● Foundation for the observation of nature
● Websites:
– http://waarnemingen.be (Belgium)
– http://waarneming.nl (Netherlands)
– http://observado.org (World)
● Data are freely usable
● Mobile applications
● Cooperation with e.g. the Global Biodiversity Information Facility
(GBIF), WorldBirds and the Dutch National Database Flora and
Fauna.
● Daily quality control by expert volunteers
● Many tools for the user

12. 12
10
8
Column 1
6 Column 2
Column 3
4
2
0
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4

13. statistics...
observado.org waarneming.nl waarnemingen.be total
observations 9,398,510 19,858,560 7,851,949 37,109,019
users 3,4345 49,861 13,837 98,043
workgroups 52 338 101 491
photos 382,875 2,742,040 881,845 4,006,760
sounds 1,515 11,424 1,043 13,982
areas 59,169 26,740 11,135 97,044

14. artportalen.se
● Swedish citizen science portal
● Run by the Swedish Species Information Centre and
Swedish Environmental Protection Agency
● Reporting systems for fish, birds, other vertebrates,
plants, fungi, insects, marine invertebrates
● Data are free for use
● Protection of “confidential” observations
● Quality control system by experts

18. statistics...

19. http://www.naturgucker.de /
http://enjoynature.net
● “Network for nature observations” (Germany, Austria, worldwide)
● Aims:
– publish data that usually would live in personal computers and notebooks
only
– Help nature conservation work
– Inspire people to observe nature
● Free data access
● Protection of “confidential” observations
● Tools for the user (“personalized data centre”)
● Community-based quality control plus additional advisory board of experts
● Cooperation with NABU (NAture and Biodiversity Conservation Union of
Germany, Birdlife Germany) and other NGOs

21. 12
10
8
Column 1
6 Column 2
Column 3
4
2
0
Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4

22. statistics...
● Observations: 3,359,715
● Photos: 222,222
● Areas: 54,701
● Users: >5200

23. let's compare...
waarnemingen.be
waarneming.nl
observado.org
artportalen.se
naturgucker.de

24. let's compare...
waarnemingen.be
waarneming.nl
observado.org
artportalen.se
naturgucker.de
76 million

25. let's compare...
waarnemingen.be
waarneming.nl
35.5 million
observado.org
artportalen.se
naturgucker.de
76 million

26. let's compare...
waarnemingen.be
waarneming.nl
35.5 million
observado.org
artportalen.se
naturgucker.de
76 million
383 million

27. other projects & initiatives
● COBWEB – EU-funded project with 13 partners to enable citizens to collect
environmental data using mobile devices from UNESCO Biosphere Reserves
● Citizen Science Alliance – Collaboration of 7 partners to create online citizen
science projects to involve the public in academic research
● EveryAware - EU-funded project, with 5 partners, intending to integrate
environmental monitoring, awareness enhancement and behavioural change by
creating a new technological platform combining sensing technologies, networking
applications and data-processing tools.
● Zooniverse - framework to support and host citizen science projects, as well as a
committed and enthusiastic host of volunteers.
● anymals+plants: funded by German government, develops mobile apps &
provides social network for nature observations
● Naturewatch/EyeOnEarth: collaboration between the European Environmental
Agency and communities of voluntary citizen scientists in pilot European Countries

28. food for thought...
● Role of ViBRANT / Scratchpads
● Functionality of software
● Collaborations / interoperability between projects
● How to unlock / reuse the data → GBIF / BDJ / … ?
● Quality control
● Target communities / user analysis
● Outreach
● Possibilities for funding?