CS Co-labs: Collaborative Citizen Science labs

Citizen science and adjacent participatory methods are increasingly encouraged by funders and important for producing meaningful and trusted knowledge. These approaches help ensure that research reflects the needs and experiences of communities. They are central to SEI’s work on environmental and social sustainability and used widely in research across the University of York. 

Although interest in these methods is growing, researchers can find them difficult to use in practice. It can be challenging to design a project that is both inclusive and scientifically rigorous, and work with participants ethically and with sensitivity, especially within the constraints of research funding.

CS Co-labs has been set up to respond to this challenge by creating a shared space for those using, or interested in using, citizen science methods to access support, learn from experience and explore new approaches. It is run by Inclusive Citizen Science, the citizen science research group at our York centre, which has been using, evaluating and developing citizen science methodologies since 2008.

We aim to strengthen capacity, particularly across SEI and the University of York, to deliver high quality, inclusive, and robust citizen science and adjacent participatory approaches.