Testing a citizen science water monitoring approach in Tunisia

Fehri, Raed; Khlifi, Slaheddine; Vanclooster, Marnik

doi:10.1016/j.envsci.2019.11.009

Cited by 23 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…Cifelli et al (2005) reported that involvement in the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network, with over 20,000 participants across North America, facilitated acquisition of basic skills in scientific data collection and research methodology during initial training plus through receiving emails and newsletters on data use. Education following training was similarly inferred by Fehri, Khlifi, and Vanclooster (2020) for a rainfall monitoring project in Tunisia, particularly regarding IT education of older participants. A 7-year water quality monitoring program in Oregon, USA, was reported by Edwards, Shaloum, and Bedell (2018) to have educated, through authentic scientific inquiry, over 1,800 students encouraging environmental stewardship and interest in science-technology-engineering-maths (STEM) fields.…”

Section: Inferred Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 94%

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

2020

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Citizen science is proliferating in the water sciences with increasing public involvement in monitoring water resources, climate variables, water quality, and in mapping and modeling exercises. In addition to the well-reported scientific benefits of such projects, in particular solving data scarcity issues, it is common to extol the benefits for participants, for example, increased knowledge and empowerment. We reviewed 549 publications concerning citizen science applications in the water sciences to examine personal benefits and motivations, and wider community benefits. The potential benefits of involvement were often simply listed without explanation or investigation. Studies that investigated whether or not participants and communities actually benefitted from involvement, or experienced negative impacts, were uncommon, especially in the Global South. Assuming certain benefits will be experienced can be fallacious as in some cases the intended benefits were either not achieved or in fact had negative impacts. Identified benefits are described and we reveal that more consideration should be given to how these benefits interrelate and how they build community capitals to foster their realization in citizen science water projects. Additionally, we describe identified negative impacts showing they were seldom considered though they may not be uncommon and should be borne in mind when implementing citizen science. Given the time and effort commitment made by citizen scientists for the benefit of research, there is a need for further study of participants and communities involved in citizen science applications to water, particularly in low-income regions, to ensure both researchers and communities are benefitting.

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Section: Inferred Benefitsmentioning

confidence: 94%

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

2020

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“…We also found that CS data, specifically for pollen counts, showed higher dispersion than expert data. Likewise, data variability among citizen scientists was tested in Fehri et al [ 53 ], in which the volunteers were engaged and trained on using rain gauge tools. Data dispersion was slightly higher in specific situations (high rainfall events), but in contrast, other events measurements (lower precipitation) showed more consistency for the group composed of citizen scientists.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Data dispersion was slightly higher in specific situations (high rainfall events), but in contrast, other events measurements (lower precipitation) showed more consistency for the group composed of citizen scientists. More straightforward tasks performed by volunteers tend to present less data dispersion when compared to more complex ones [ 53 , 54 ]. Additionally, volunteers generally improve their accuracy as they gain experience within a project [ 8 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Data Reliability in a Citizen Science Protocol for Monitoring Stingless Bees Flight Activity

Leocadio

Ghilardi-Lopes

Koffler

et al. 2021

Insects

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Although the quality of citizen science (CS) data is often a concern, evidence for high-quality CS data increases in the scientific literature. This study aimed to assess the data reliability of a structured CS protocol for monitoring stingless bees’ flight activity. We tested (1) data accuracy for replication among volunteers and for expert validation and (2) precision, comparing dispersion between citizen scientists and expert data. Two distinct activity dimensions were considered: (a) perception of flight activity and (b) flight activity counts (entrances, exits, and pollen load). No significant differences were found among groups regarding entrances and exits. However, replicator citizen scientists presented a higher chance of perceiving pollen than original data collectors and experts, likely a false positive. For those videos in which there was an agreement about pollen presence, the effective pollen counts were similar (with higher dispersion for citizen scientists), indicating the reliability of CS-collected data. The quality of the videos, a potential source of variance, did not influence the results. Increasing practical training could be an alternative to improve pollen data quality. Our study shows that CS provides reliable data for monitoring bee activity and highlights the relevance of a multi-dimensional approach for assessing CS data quality.

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“…There is always a lack of inadequate and incomplete data and monitoring efforts by experts in the field and government agencies for public facility-related targets like 6.1 and 6.2 in developing countries. Nonprofessionals and citizen organizations from the local community, on the other hand, filled those voids all over the world (Fehri et al, 2020). First and foremost, tackling the problem of developing and maintaining a trusting connection with the community includes people with a wide range of skills and motivations for T A B L E 1 Indicators and targets related to 6.1 and 6.2.…”

Section: Formation Of Communitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Formulation of citizen science approach for monitoring Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation for an Indian city

Baskaran¹,

Velkennedy²

2022

Sustainable Development

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The United Nations acknowledges that action in one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will impact outcomes in others and that development should interact the social, economic, and environmental sustainability. Many countries have prioritized goals and targets based on their current progress and the prosperity of their people. This article focused on SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation, especially the first two (6.1 and 6.2) out of eight targets. The author has considered SDG 6, a critical goal to focus on and achieve in Tirunelveli city municipal corporation. The study area is situated in the Tirunelveli district of Tamil Nadu, India's southernmost state. Citizen science (CS), also known as community science, has emerged as an effective method of collecting data and supporting a wide range of indicators from the SDG targets. The objective of this article is to utilize the benefit of the CS approach for monitoring the targets 6.1 and 6.2 pertained to drinking water and sanitation facilities respectively in the study area. The activities suggested for this SDG 6 CS project were framing the core question, identification of citizen scientists, data analysis, and action plan. College students, ward councilors, and community volunteers, referred to as three categories of citizen scientists, will collect household data for all 55 wards in the study area. The value of the collected data to various government agencies and monitoring organizations is also discussed.

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Testing a citizen science water monitoring approach in Tunisia

Cited by 23 publications

References 7 publications

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

The benefits and negative impacts of citizen science applications to water as experienced by participants and communities

Data Reliability in a Citizen Science Protocol for Monitoring Stingless Bees Flight Activity

Formulation of citizen science approach for monitoring Sustainable Development Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation for an Indian city

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