Innovations for Citize Science in nature and environmental conservation: How can we meet the opportunities and challenges for Citizen Science?
... this is was answered with the development and testing of the Citizen Science Center for Nature, Sustainability and Digitalization (funded by the German Environmental Foundation: DBU) at the Museum of Natural History Berlin (MFN). The aim was to create spaces for exchange, bring together and mobilise existing structures and networks and strengthen innovative forces in the course of development - based on the needs and requirements of the community.
Bridging the gaps: Strengthening potentials and innovations
A Citizen Science Centre is intended to support citizen science projects with interfaces to nature conservation, sustainability and digital innovations.
The Museum für Naturkunde Berlin counts Citizen Science as one of its core competences. We invited active and potential citizen science practitioners to share their experiences and expectations: What role could the Citizen Science Center play to increase the opportunities and face the challenges in Citizen Science? Together with you, we developed the concept for the Citizen Science Centre Nature, Sustainability, Digitalization. Therefore we encouraged the involvement of representatives from all four stakeholder groups: politics, society, academia, and industry.
Chances and challenges of the current times
Citizen Science can have a direct contribution to the goals of the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) and Global Sustainabillity Development (SDGs). As a result, it has already received much attention from policy makers and scientists. At the same time, citizen science can bridge the gap to society and open up science to an open, reflective and inclusive dialogue and discussion about sustainable living on our planet.
However, in our current "era of data" Citizen Science project initiators are facing very special challenges:
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and new technologies in Citizen Science (for example in biodiversity and species monitoring) enables us to collect and provide a great amount of data within a short time, which then can be further used for scientific questions. Societal organisations and associations as well as scientists carry great expert knowledge. However, expertise regarding digitalization, AI, and sensor technologies, as well as about how and where to retrieve that expertise, is often lacking. The need for implementation of digital and technological competences within Citizen Science projects is growing and therefore times ask for new, innovative approaches.
In the project described here, we developed a concept for establishing a transformative space with offers that are intended to ensure the potential and innovation of citizen science as well as the ability to grow in the long term.
Findings and outlook
This project ended as planned with the termination of DBU funding at the end of 2024. As a result, this project provides conceptual approaches for a Citizen Science Centre for Nature, Sustainability and Digitalisation, which have been developed and tested together with and for the community. This was based on extensive needs surveys, as well as joint discussions, new partnerships and workshops.
In this way, we provide interested stakeholders with evidence-based tools for the implementation of such a centre.
Results of the survey on needs and offers July 2023
The Citizen Science Centre for Nature, Sustainability and Digitalization is to be created for and with the Citizen Science community in nature conservation and environmental protection.
What does the Citizen Science community actually need and want?
Over the past months, we have been working on this question together with you in internal and external discussions, workshops and events.
In dialogue with you and through your responses to the survey, we have now come a good deal closer to finding the answer.
Thank you very much for your participation!
You can now find the results in the following document (language in German):
Past events
19 December 2024, 14:00 - 15:00 - online (in German)
Closing event
The project funding ended at the end of 2024. Building on the findings of the past two years and taking into account the framework conditions of the coming years, we would like to further develop our contribution to the Museum für Naturkunde and continue to strengthen Citizen Science in the future.
At the closing event, we presented the project results, important findings from the community and the planned approach at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin.
We thank the DBU for funding the project and you for your interest and participation!
28 - 29 November 2024, noon to noon
Workshop: Fit for Purpose: Citizen Science for nationwide biodiversity monitoring
in cooperation with the National Biodiversity Monitoring Centre
Biodiversity monitoring in Germany is still incomplete in many areas; this applies to many species groups, landscape types and influencing variables. In addition to the official monitoring programmes of the federal and state governments, there are numerous research initiatives and projects in the field of citizen science in Germany that make an important contribution to biodiversity monitoring and could potentially make an increasing contribution in the future if the necessary framework conditions are met.
The workshop included valuable keynote speeches by Dr Michael Pocock (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology), Moritz Müller (mit:forschen), Yannick Brenz (ArtenFinder Berlin) and Dr Saskia Schirmer (Batlas/ BATTrend). In particular, we scrutinised the potential but also the limits of citizen science for biodiversity monitoring and discussed these with the participants from the community. The results will be used to further develop the nationwide biodiversity monitoring programme and specifically strengthen citizen science. The content of the workshop was based, among other things, on the results of a Germany-wide survey that was conducted in July and is currently being analysed. We would like to thank all those who took part for their valuable feedback!
The workshop was open for: People with a connection to biodiversity monitoring, nature conservation and citizen science.
July 04, 2024
Collection Cataloguing Next Level with Citizen Science
(this event was internal for museum staff)
The work in the collection and the cataloguing of the collection are a crucial part of a museum. In today's age of digitalisation and transformation, it is also important to open up the contents of the collection to both science and society and make them accessible for participatory processes, which is in line with the Museum für Naturkunde's mission statement. However, collection staff often face major challenges in trying to keep up with the pace of change while at the same time contributing and maintaining expertise. Citizen science, i.e. the use of citizens or volunteers, can be the necessary tool to overcome these challenges and create added value for the museum, but also for society. We provided museum employees with these tools in the workshop.
September 22, 2023
Citizen Science and AI in Nature Protection
In this workshop, the Citizen Science Center for Nature, Sustainability and Digitalization, together with the KI- Ideenwerkstatt für Umweltschutz (ZUG), will explore the questions of what significance Citizen Science has for nature conservation and environmental protection and what role artificial intelligence can play in this.
March 24, 2023
Digitale Mittagspause (digital lunch break) at Bürger schaffen Wissen: "Zukunftsideen: Ein Citizen Science-Zentrum für Natur, Nachhaltigkeit, Digitalisierung" (online)
February 27, 2023
1. Kick-Off Meeting and Workshops for a Citizen Science Center at the Museum of Natural History Berlin