Plenary Sessions

Unlike the parallel workshops, which require participants to choose a session, the plenary sessions will involve everyone and provide a shared learning experience.

Monday, 20 January

In these sessions, we will discuss the e-learning module and the workbook, and how it translates to the rest of the Winter School.

Katja Mayer

Openness and Participation: Building Foundations for Responsible and Inclusive Collaboration in Citizen Science

Monday, 20 January

Citizen science and open science represent participatory and transparent approaches that bring science and society closer together. In this introductory presentation, I will explain why participatory research and open science should be considered together and how they can reinforce each other.
 
The informed consent procedure serves as an illustration of the challenges, but more importantly, of the potentials and benefits of participatory processes in research, particularly within a legally established framework. It demonstrates how such processes can contribute to trust, fairness, and participation in the research process, and create a foundation for responsible collaboration.

Gesine Heinrich, Florence Mühlenbein

Collaborating for Change: Shaping Local Citizen Science Networks Through Science and Civil Society

Monday, 20 January

Whether health, the environment or mobility: the global changes of our time can be felt by everyone in the local area. Citizen Science can be a key to shaping these processes together and incorporating a variety of perspectives. Many Citizen Science projects go beyond the perspectives of scientists and citizen researchers and - in the sense of transdisciplinarity - involve cooperation between different stakeholders. These diverse perspectives have the potential to create a diversity of knowledge through collaboration and use it to find new ways to tackle the pressing questions and complex challenges of our present and future. At the same time, collaborating can be challenging. One thing is certain: Citizen Science projects stand or fall on the success of the collaboration.

Our workshop invites participants to explore the success factors of collaborations in the citizen science context learning from each other’s diverse perspectives.

In a World Café format, participants discuss and reflect on their attitudes, roles and expectations in collaborative projects and learn about methods and approaches for successful cooperation.

The speakers will also share insights and experiences from the contest in Germany “Take It to the Streets! Citizen Science in Your City” (2021-2024).

The contest focused on sustainably strengthening the exchange between academia and society by making Citizen Science visible as a format for collaboration. It promoted ideas that focused on local topics with the help of citizen science - requiring the integration of perspectives from academia, civil society organisations and local governments.

Whether health, the environment or mobility: the global changes of our time can be felt by everyone in the local area. Citizen science can be a key to shaping these processes together and incorporating a variety of perspectives. Many citizen science projects go beyond the perspectives of scientists and citizen researchers and - in the sense of transdisciplinarity - involve cooperation between different stakeholders. These diverse perspectives have the potential to create a diversity of knowledge through collaboration and use it to find new ways to tackle the pressing questions and complex challenges of our present and future. At the same time, collaborating can be challenging. One thing is certain: citizen science projects stand or fall on the success of the collaboration.

Our workshop invites participants to explore the success factors of collaborations in the citizen science context learning from each other’s diverse perspectives.

In a world café format, participants discuss and reflect on their attitudes, roles and expectations in collaborative projects and learn about methods and approaches for successful cooperation.

The speakers will also share insights and experiences from the contest in Germany "Take it to the Streets! Citizen Science in your city” (2021-2024).

The contest focused on sustainably strengthening the exchange between academia and society by making citizen science visible as a format for collaboration. It promoted ideas that focused on local topics with the help of citizen science - requiring the integration of perspectives from academia, civil society organisations and local governments.

More about Gesine Heinrich and Florence Mühlenbein on this subpage:Speakers & Trainers

Wednesday, 22 January

A Bar Camp is a participant-driven, informal conference where you lead discussions, workshops, and presentations. Instead of a fixed program set by organizers, participants shape the agenda, sharing knowledge and ideas on topics that matter to them. This will be your chance to explore and discuss whatever interests or challenges you. You might initiate a discussion on a pressing question, host a skill-sharing session, or organize a roundtable with peers from your field. The technical details will be explained during the school, but for now, start thinking about what you’d like to bring to the Bar Camp (and add it to your personal profile on Mural sent via e-mail).

Wednesday, 22 January

At the Science Fair, various local Citizen Science Projects will showcase their work and invite participants to engage in discussions around their project posters.

Maina Muniafu

Another Perspective on Citizen Science Research

Friday, 24 January

The debate on the usefulness of citizen science (CS)-generated data in society has been resolved through numerous remarkable examples across global, regional, national, and local initiatives. In many parts of the world, there remains significant potential for CS growth, which adds to the excitement of fostering its development.

In Africa, there are several successful examples of citizen science generating valuable data. Many initiatives focus on water quality, while others address air quality measurements, biodiversity, health, and social factors. For instance, in Kenya, UNESCO and the World Bank have financed biodiversity conservation and climate action projects, respectively, creating opportunities for CS research in these fields.

Several factors enable the replication and success of such initiatives. A key element is community awareness, where communities maintain strong connections to their environment, accumulating long-term knowledge that is recorded either orally or in written form. Positive policy formation pathways also play a crucial role, serving as powerful motivators for community participation. Additionally, the need for data drives the expansion of CS initiatives, particularly in areas where traditional data collection methods are prohibitively expensive or logistically challenging. Finally, the availability of resources for CS initiatives underscores the importance of innovative approaches to ensure cost-effective, accurate, and consistent data collection.

With appropriate adaptations, these successful initiatives can be replicated in other parts of the world, contributing further to the growth and impact of citizen science.