Magazine | Because of the new Citizen Science hub everyone can be a scientist

Participants

Citizen science falls under the umbrella term open science, which attempts to involve the population in science in various ways — both by making publications available to the public and by allowing people to contribute ideas about research topics and data collection. They can contribute in many different ways. Unlike research in which citizens are only test subjects, citizen scientists themselves participate in the research process.

“Citizen science brings a topic much closer to people’s everyday experiences,” says Allison Moll, research coordinator at SISTEM-NL and SustainaLab, two citizen science initiatives at the UvA. “This is particularly important in scientific projects related to sustainability.”

Citizens have been involved in various research projects at the UvA for years, but there is little insight into where and how exactly. “At the UvA, we want to facilitate and stimulate citizen science more,” says Ava Irani, open science policy officer at the UvA. The overarching eXtreme Citizen Science Hub is intended to ensure this. Irani: “As an institution, we want to move away from the idea of the ivory tower.”

The intended hub is a collaboration between several Amsterdam institutions, including the UvA. Open Science NL has awarded a grant of 400,000 euros to realise this hub. Jacobs, who is closely involved with the hub, says that this money will be primarily used to appoint a “community manager” at each institution to improve collaboration and knowledge transfer between the institutions.

Microplastics

“Citizen science not only makes science more socially relevant, it also makes data available that would not have been accessible without the involvement of citizens,” says Uta Wehn, professor of citizen science and sustainability at Leiden University. Jacobs, who is involved in the UvA projects SISTEM-NL and SustainaLab, where volunteers’ daily laundry is used to collect data on microplastics in clothing, agrees. “It would simply not be possible to organise this in any other way; it would cost too much money,” says Jacobs.

In SISTEM-NL, participants are asked to place a filter on their washing machine to collect and examine the microplastics from their clothing. This contributes to knowledge about microplastic pollution in the oceans, as synthetic textiles are the main cause of this pollution.

It is not just about acquiring data on a larger scale. According to Wehn, there is also an interest in improving public knowledge of certain topics. Jacobs sees this reflected in her research. As part of SISTEM-NL, they visit schools to show children how much plastic collects on their clothing by giving them stickers to put on their clothes. Jacobs emphasises that education is an important goal of citizen science. “That initiative is not very relevant in terms of research data on microfibres, but it did give us access to other data: how old the garments are, what they’re made of from a cross-section of Dutch children. That’s also data that you don’t easily get,” explains Jacobs.

Democratic

According to Jacobs, democratisation is one of the core pillars of citizen science, alongside education. Wehn agrees: “If the research process is not limited to elite scientists, but also involves communities and gives them more say, the limits of science are being pushed and we can speak of democratic practices.”

“The most important thing about citizen science, in my opinion, is that you also give something back to the person. That is also where it differs from a regular survey,” says communication scientist Theo Araujo, who set up the UvA Digital Data Donation Infrastructure in collaboration with other universities in the Netherlands. Citizen scientists can download their own data on social media platforms and then donate it to various research projects in the Netherlands. At the same time, the participants look at their donation together, which allows them to learn about their media consumption and the data that digital platforms have on them. “It is difficult for scientists to investigate someone’s media diet or how someone is exposed to algorithms on social media at an individual level,” explains Araujo. Now it is possible.

If you haven’t spent years slogging away at university, are you qualified to acquire data or contribute substantively to research projects? According to Jacobs, it is precisely the diverse knowledge of citizen scientists that is essential. “Citizen scientists are the people who have seen microplastics in their laundry every time. So if anyone is an expert in how to reduce that, it’s them, not us,” says Jacobs.

Wehn: “The reliability of a specific dataset is often less important. With large amounts of data, you can still see the trend. That’s what matters. And it is precisely by involving citizens that you can collect larger amounts of data and insights.”

Lies Jacobs: “Citizen Science can bring about change”

Exchange of knowledge

Citizen science is a mutually beneficial interaction between science and society. Citizens enable data to be collected on a larger scale and research to be conducted that would otherwise have been out of reach. But citizens also benefit from participation. In the laundry project, they can obtain an expensive filter at a low cost, while in the data project, citizens gain insight into their media use. Wehn and Jacobs both explain that it is about an exchange of knowledge. Citizens learn more about conducting research and socially important topics. At the same time, the diversity of citizens is important for the research. “By working together with citizens, you can shift the level of scientific knowledge,” says Jacobs.

Everyone agrees that society’s contribution to science is important. But how do you ensure that the citizen scientists participating are representative of society as a whole and that it is accessible to everyone? “We see in studies that there is currently a significant bias towards white, highly educated men, often in the later stages of their lives,” says Wehn. “It’s not a question of willingness, but of opportunity. Marginalised groups are often the ones with the most socio-economic problems, but their access to citizen science initiatives remains limited. They are unable to participate or are often unaware of the existence of such initiatives. Or there are language barriers.”

“With the laundry project, we expect something from the people who participate. We ask for quite a lot of time, and they also need a washing machine to install the filter. That makes the project quite exclusive,” says Jacobs. That is why the related SustainaLab project was created: a washing machine at Science Park where anyone can do their laundry for free.

“The washing machines in my building often break down. Now I take my laundry to SustainaLab, where it is washed and dried for free, and then I can pick it up again. I just have to fill out a survey every time,’ says Nil Dogan (18, Liberal Arts and Sciences), who has been taking her laundry to SustainaLab almost every time since then. “I now know very well how they record all the data. I’ve learned a lot about the research method.”

Moll: “You enrich each other greatly with citizen science. The participants learn something about the subject you’re working on, but we also learn a lot about how to run these kinds of projects in a way that is feasible and keeps your participants enthusiastic.”

On Monday 15 June between 1.00 pm and 4.30 pm, the eXtreme Citizen Science Hub will be officially launched with a “festive kick-off” at the University Library.

Correction: the print edition of this article stated that the launch would take place on 12 June. This should be 15 June.