Citizen Science Application in Times of War, Crises, and Catastrophes
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Date
2024
Authors
Kozak, Olena
Sviezhentseva, Ilona
Boldyriev, Oleksiy
Shavanova, Kateryna
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Abstract
During wars, natural disasters, and other crises, when scientific infrastructure is being destroyed, the lives and well-being of scientists are in danger, there may be a need to relocate scientists to other regions, and with decreasing funding for research facilities and projects decreases, science in general faces negative consequences. Here, citizen science may help. It has proven to be an efficient tool for executing projects in biology and biodiversity, astronomy, agriculture, public health, and energetics. There are currently many successful online platforms, for example, OpenStreetMap, iNaturalist, Geo-Wiki, SitSci.org, Zooniverse, Globe at Night, and others, that help scientists collect, verify, analyze, and reuse data to do research. Citizen science can be used during catastrophes and renewal after wars. Besides, citizen science projects have demonstrated effectiveness in fighting COVID-19 during the pandemic and facilitating remote field practices during the quarantine. In different countries that have suffered from wars and catastrophes, various practices involve usingcitizen science, usually for monitoring the environment and evaluating damage to nature. However, the question of citizen science utilization during wars and catastrophes remains open. Although citizen science isn’t well developed in Ukraine, during the Russian full-scale invasion, certain scientists have started to collaborate with citizens in gathering data about the environmental impact of the war.t. For instance, scientists from the NASU I. I. Schmalhausen Institute of Zoology are collecting data about dead dolphins, the Ukrainian Ecological Club “Green Wave” nonprofit organization is conducting an inventory of green areas, and Ukrainian naturalists continue to document biodiversity findings in iNaturalist. The public is also actively involved in documenting environmental crimes with the help of such initiatives as SaveEcoBot and EcoDanger. Despite the great potential of citizen science, Ukrainian researchers still don’t fully use its instruments for collecting scientific information, and citizens are not aware of the impact (contribution) they could make by joining the research. There are still not enough practices of citizen science utilization as well as lack of knowledge about its possibilities and potential during wars, crises, and catastrophes. The mechanisms forintegrating and engaging the public are still developing, and scientists lack awareness of effective utilization of citizen science as well as the ways to engage the public effectively. That’s why the goals of this research are: 1. Analyze the utilization of citizen science during wars, crises, and catastrophes. 1.1. Form a database of citizen science projects forimplementation during wars, crises, and catastrophes. 1.2. Compare successful Ukrainian and world citizen science projects to identify the main tools of raw data collection, verification, and storage. 1.3. Understand data policies in other countries and proposed solutions for Ukraine. 2. Study barriers and obstacles and propose overcoming strategies for citizen science 2.1. Determine and outline the main risks for citizens and determine preventive measures. Study the reasons behind utilization and non-utilization of citizen science among researchers in Ukraine and offer efficient ways to overcome these obstacles. 2.2. Explore methods and values researchers use to encourage citizens to engage in scientific research. 2.3. Define channels and educational methods to ensure the best quality of data collection among interested citizens. This research is based on quantity and quality research methods, including desk research, expert interviews, and a public survey. The authors express gratitude to Pavlo Gol’din, Yuriy Khalavka, Mykola Yunakov, Tamara, Mykyta Perehrym, Natalia Atamas, Vadym Zhulenko, Alina Frolova, Oleksiy Vasyliuk, Lilia Kazantseva, Natalia Matushkina, Yevhen Synytsia, Azby Brown, and Eddie von Wachenfeld for their time, participation in interviews, and valuable information.
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Keywords
relocating scientists to other regions during war, citizen science, Russian full-scale invasion, environmental impact of the war, article
Citation
Citizen Science Application in Times of War, Crises, and Catastrophes : White Paper, January 2024 / Olena Kozak, Ilona Sviezhentseva, Oleksiy Boldyriev, Kateryna Shavanova - [S. l. : s. n.], 2024. - 52 p. - https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.25548.22404 - The project is supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.