Learning from successful long-term citizen science programs

Abstract

Citizen science is increasingly recognised as an important, indeed necessary, contribution to environmental research and policy, as well as for fostering stronger relationships between scientists and the broader community. Well-established citizen science projects offer valuable insights by virtue of the long-term contribution of volunteers to sustained research and monitoring activities. Here we draw on two of Australia's longest running citizen science projects, Waterwatch and the Australian Shorebird Monitoring Program (formerly Shorebirds 2020), to argue that such projects reflect successful citizen science in terms of their program persistence, reputation and impact. This success has been enabled by (1) developing a clear vision; (2) effective knowledge management; (3) relationship building; (4) meaningful volunteer engagement; and (5) a capacity to adapt to change. We recommend that new and emerging projects embed these principles in their program development, particularly those aiming to generate longitudinal datasets while building motivated, informed and connected communities.

Participatory soil citizen science: An unexploited resource for European soil research

“…The TeaComposition project is an example of increased community engagement: the number of schools engaged increased from seven in the first year of the project to 50 after 4 years (Pino et al, 2021). Citizens participating in long‐term projects are more likely to develop a sense of responsibility and act towards preserving the environment than those working on shorter‐term projects (Hansen & Bonney, 2022). Therefore, future citizen science projects will gain from a deeper understanding of the factors that influence and limit people's motivation for long‐term commitment (Phillips et al, 2019).…”

Science citizen: shifting to a “science-first” approach and recognising the trade-offs between objectives in a long-term citizen science program

“…In addition to engagement through schools, the program was also heavily involved in community awareness initiatives. The objectives associated with education and awareness arose due to increased community concern for issues associated with environmental degradation and sustainability (Hansen and Bonney, 2022).…”

“…A range of quality assurance processes and guidance on data usage were also key elements of the national program. Despite these efforts, uptake and use of data from the national Waterwatch program was inconsistent and plagued with perceptions of poor quality and limited value (Hansen and Bonney, 2022). When national support for the Waterwatch program ceased in 2012, multiple regional Waterwatch programs folded, while others were maintained by state and territory funding, or contributions from water utilities, NGOs and community groups (Bonney et al, 2020).…”

“…The Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch program was receiving requests from regional funding advisers for evidence of the water quality data uptake as a case for continued support. While community groups used the data on an ad hoc basis, with some success stories of significant pollution events being detected by volunteers, there was little evidence of systematic use of data (Hansen and Bonney, 2022). In 2013, after nearly 20 years, the Australian Government ceased to fund any Waterwatch initiatives and Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch lost its core funding.…”

“…• The current ACT Water Strategy (2014-2044 Upper Murrumbidgee Waterwatch has provided advice to other citizen science programs and contributed to a number of academic outputs, as interest grows in the program's success (Bonney et al, 2020;Hansen and Bonney, 2022). The spatial and temporal coverage of water quality data provided by the program is unmatched in the ACT region.…”