Citizen science has grown significantly due to societal and technological trends. Increased education levels, leisure time, and sharing economies have empowered more people to engage in scientific work. Advances like broadband internet, mobile devices, and DIY electronics have also facilitated participation. Current citizen science involves collaborative problem definition and data collection between citizens and scientists. Government agencies and policies are increasingly recognizing the value of citizen science data. Further development is still needed regarding sustainable funding models, data standards, and expanding citizen science to new domains.

1. Citizen Science – an Overview
Muki Haklay
Extreme Citizen Science (ExCiteS) research group, UCL
@mhaklay

2. Outline
• Citizen Science in a historical perspective – underlying
trends
• Current activities in the area of Citizen Science
• Policy awareness and recognition
• Where next?

3. Positioning Citizen Science
• The usual line: ‘citizen science is not new, predating
modern science’ is only partially true
• Societal and technological trends reveal the difference
from past public engagement in scientific research …
… but also the limitations

4. Citizen Science (OED 2014)
citizen science n. scientific work undertaken by members of the
general public, often in collaboration with or under the direction
of professional scientists and scientific institutions.
citizen scientist n. (a) a scientist whose work is characterized by
a sense of responsibility to serve the best interests of the wider
community (now rare); (b) a member of the general public who
engages in scientific work, often in collaboration with or under the
direction of professional scientists and scientific institutions; an
amateur scientist.

5. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – early 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science
(since 2000s)

6. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – earl 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science
(since 2000s)
Illiteracy
Basic to
High-school
Higher
Education

7. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – early 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science
(since 2000s)
Illiteracy
Basic to
High-school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Mary Anning (1799-1847)

8. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – early 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science (since
2000s)
Illiteracy
Basic to
High-school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Citizen Science
diminishing
© WMO–No. 919
Volunteer rainfall observer Rick Grocke checks
the rain gauge at Tanami Downs cattle station in
the Northern Territory of Australia

9. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – early 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science
(since 2000s)
Illiteracy
Basic to
High-school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Citizen Science
diminishing
Citizen Science as
open & inclusive
science

10. Why Now?
• Societal trends:
– Education and qualifications
– Healthy aging
– Leisure
– Sharing economies / peer production systems
• Technological trends:
– Internet access (broadband)
– Mobile devices
– Collaborative Web
– DIY electronics

11. Increased level of education
0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
1400
1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Millions
Enrolment in tertiary education, all programmes, both
sexes (number)

12. Source: ONSSource: DCMS
Amanda Slater
Stephen Matthews

13. Leisure
Satisfaction with the amount of leisure time (2011) Source: ONS

14. Sharing economies
• In many areas, especially in production and sharing of
information

15. Broadband growth

16. Active mobile-broadband subscriptions, 2007-2013*

17. Collaborative Web

18. DIY electronics

19. A new era of citizen science
Haklay, M., 2013, Citizen Science and Volunteered Geographic Information –
overview and typology of participation in Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge
Citizen Science
Citizen
Cyberscience
Volunteer
computing
Volunteer
thinking
Long running Citizen
Science
Ecology &
biodiversity
Meteorology Astronomy
Community Science
Environmental
Justice
Community-
based
participatory
research
Civic Science

20. Volunteer computing
You can join World Community Grid at http://www.worldcommunitygrid.org/

21. Volunteer thinking
You can join Zooniverse at http://www.zooniverse.org/
www.batdetective.org

22. Volunteer thinking
Source: Tim Causer, Faculty of Laws see http://www.ucl.ac.uk/transcribe-bentham/

23. Biodiversity/Ecology

24. Community/Civic Science
– Early warning system (~30 Volunteers)
– Visual observations, Ash collection,
Equipment maintenance
– Communicate information from scientists
 community
– Organise community response
Stone., J., et al. 2014, Risk reduction through community-based monitoring: the vigías of
Tungurahua, Ecuador Journal of Applied Volcanology

25. More information at http://publiclaboratory.org
DIY Science

26. Jerome Lewis, ExCiteS

27. Participatory Software design

28. Recording community resources

29. Community-led air quality studies

30. Community Maps

31. Participation in citizen science
• Collaborative science – problem
definition, data collection and analysis
Level 4 ‘Extreme/
Up-Science’
• Participation in problem definition
and data collection
Level 3 ‘Participatory
science’
• Citizens as basic interpreters
Level 2 ‘Distributed
intelligence’
• Citizens as sensors
Level 1
‘Crowdsourcing’
Haklay. 2013. Citizen Science and volunteered geographic information: Overview
and typology of participation, Crowdsourcing Geographic Knowledge

32. Citizen Science & Science
Early science
(1600’s – early 1800’s)
Professional science
(late 1800’s – 1900’s)
Opening Science
(since 2000s)
Illiteracy
Basic to
High-school
Higher
Education
Citizen Science
as Gentlemen/
Gentlewomen
science
Citizen Science
diminishing
Citizen Science as
open & inclusive
science

33. Policy response
• Emergence of crowdsourcing/peer-production since 2005
created new information interactions between the
public and government:
– Public → Government
– Government → Public → Government
– Public → Government→ Public
Public Government

34. European Environment Agency
• Prof. Jacquie McGlade, head of European Environment
Agency, 2008 (Aarhus + 10):
‘Often the best information comes from those who are
closest to it, and it is important we harness this local
knowledge if we are to tackle climate change adequately…
people are encouraged to give their own opinion on the
quality of the beach and water, to supplement the official
information.’

36. EEA Work Programme 2014-18
• As Part of Strategic Area 3 activities:
‘to widen and deepen the European knowledge base by
developing communities of practice and engaging in
partnerships with stakeholders beyond Eionet, such as
business and research communities, Civil Society
Organisations (CSO), and initiatives concerning lay, local
and traditional knowledge and citizen science’

37. Eye on Earth Alliance 2015
• An alliance with AGEDI, UNEP, GEO, WRI & IUCN :
information for sustainable development.
… Citizen Science was a major focus area
within the Summit agenda and there was general
consensus that reporting against SDGs must
include citizen science data. To this end, a
global coalition of citizen science groups will
be established by the relevant actors and the
Eye on Earth Alliance will continue to engage
citizen science groups …

38. Policy indicators
• Scotland Environmental Protection Agency strategic
commitment
• UK Environmental Observation Framework Working group
• UK Government Tree Health Strategy
• German Citizen Science Strategy 2020
• USA Federal toolkit for citizen science
• USA proposed Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science Act
• Citizen Science Association, European Citizen Science
Association, Australian Citizen Science Association …

39. What’s next?
• Sustainable funding, best practices, organisational
legitimacy
• Data management and curation, interoperability
standards
• Expanding to more knowledge domains (e.g. citizen
social science)
… ending the questions aoubt data quality and motivations

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– http://www.ucl.ac.uk/excites
– Twitter: @UCL_ExCiteS
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• The work of ExCiteS is supported
by EPSRC, EU FP7, RGS, Esri, FPP,
Forests Monitor, WRI and all the
communities that we’ve worked
with over the years