What is citizen science and how does it relate to other participatory methods? (CS Co-labs discussion 1)

In this session we will cover:

• the history and varying definitions, terminology and use of citizen science as a method;
• similarities to, difference from, and overlap with other participatory methods; and
• how to determine whether citizen science is the best methodology for your project.

How the session will run

The session will be online only, via Zoom. Please join the CS Co-labs mailing list to receive joining details. 

Slides will be made available and a short summary shared after the session. The session will not be recorded. This is so that the discussion sessions can be a safe space to ask questions and share challenges. 

Also for the purposes of data protection, we request that AI-based note-taking software is only used if needed for accessibility, not simply for convenience. If you do need to use it, please do not share the output with anyone else, including other participants in the session.

Optional pre-reads 

You can find a range of resources on the CSUK website, including these accessible reads:

• Citizen science: what’s it all about? (a short perspective by SEI)
• Ten principles of citizen science (a summary & link to full SEI research paper)
• The ECSA Characteristics of Citizen Science (a summary & link to full SEI research paper)
• History of citizen science (a short perspective by UCL)

Some key journal papers include:

• Eitzel et al (2017) Citizen science terminology matters: exploring key terms 
• Heigl et al (2019) Toward an international definition of citizen science 
• Hacklay et al (2021) What is Citizen Science? The Challenges of Definition