Citizen Science, Open Innovation, Co-Creation, Crowdsourcing – science starts to open up: More and more citizens support researchers. They measure, observe, map. They work on a voluntary basis in scientific projects and enrich science with their special know-how and exciting new points of view.
The Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2019 will take place from 26 to 28 June in Obergurgl, a small village in the mountains of Tyrol. The event will be filled with keynotes and workshops fitting the motto of the conference: boundaries and transitions. An abstract book for the conference is already available with information on the venue, the workshops and the keynote speakers.
The aim of the new online platform http://eu-citizen.science is to strengthen and boost citizen science in Europe. It was therefore set up to become a central hub for knowledge sharing, coordination and action on a regional, national and international level. The platform is dedicated to scientists, research institutions as well as citizen scientists and policymakers and has received funding from the European Commission's Horizon 2020 program "Science with and for Society".
Citizen science has been increasingly adopted by (research) institutions worldwide. In her lecture "Achieving real outcomes for science and for education through citizen science: why and how can researchers and institutions incorporate citizen science as a core strategy?", Heidi Ballard will give an overview of useful approaches on how to involve the public and will talk about pitfalls to watch out for. She will also show how U.S. universities incorporate citizen science.
What motivates and what hinders researchers to carry out a citizen science project? How do researcheres motivate citizens scientists to participate in research projects? The next networking event for Young Science and Citizen Science contacts will take place at the Austrian Citizen Science conference in Tyrol on 27 June 2019. At the event, participants will discuss various ideas to motivate researchers and citizen scientists and also how those ideas can be implemented.
Since 1 April, school classes and individuals have been invited to participate in seven research projects. The various activities range from working with historical materials and discussing an open concept of home to bird watching and the mapping of urban green spaces and waste in nature. The most enthusiastic citizen scientists will win prizes of up to 2,000 euros at the festive award ceremony on 19 November 2019 in Vienna.
Responsible Science actively involves the civil society in research and innovation processes in order to handle current challenges more effectively and in accordance with the values, expectations and needs of society. A new video by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research and the Center for Citizen Science illustrates the research concept based on four criteria.
