Participation in Citizen Science : Insights from the CONECT-e Case Study
Benyei, Petra (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Pardo-de-Santayana, Manuel (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Cambio Global)
Aceituno Mata, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Calvet Mir, Laura (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)
Carrascosa-García, María (Red de Semillas "Resembrando e Intercambiando")
Rivera-Ferre, Marta G (Universitat de Vic - Universitat Central de Catalunya)
Perdomo-Molina, Antonio (Universidad de La Laguna. Escuela Politécnica Superior de Ingeniería)
Reyes-García, Victoria (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals)

Date:	2021
Abstract:	Citizen science (CS) is growing quickly, given its potential to enhance knowledge coproduction by diverse participants, generating large and global data sets. However, uneven participation in CS is still an important concern. This work aims to understand (1) participation dynamics in CS and (2) how they are shaped by participation barriers and drivers. We do so by examining participation in CONECT-e, a CS project that uses a wiki-like platform to document traditional ecological knowledge. More precisely, we analyze quantitative data on participants' profile and activity patterns and qualitative data on barriers and drivers of participation. Our findings suggest that overcoming the education, age, and residence participation barriers is challenging even in cocreated CS projects. This is potentially due to issues of perceived self-illegitimacy and low access to information and communication technologies. Our results also point out that participants' alliance with the project's objectives and trust relationships with the project team are important drivers of participation in CS projects. Finally, we also highlight the need to think beyond participation as single actions and rather consider participation diversity in CS as functional diversity in ecosystems, with participants performing a diverse set of interconnected tasks or functions.
Grants:	Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad CSO2014-59704-P Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad BES-2015-072155 Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad MDM-2015-0552 European Commission 771056
Note:	Unidad de excelencia María de Maeztu CEX2019-000940-M
Rights:	Aquest document està subjecte a una llicència d'ús Creative Commons. Es permet la reproducció total o parcial, la distribució, i la comunicació pública de l'obra, sempre que no sigui amb finalitats comercials, i sempre que es reconegui l'autoria de l'obra original. No es permet la creació d'obres derivades.
Language:	Anglès
Document:	Article ; recerca ; Versió acceptada per publicar
Subject:	Digital commons ; Inclusiveness ; Knowledge co-production ; Landraces ; Motivations ; Traditional ecological knowledge
Published in:	Science Technology and Human Values, Vol. 46, Issue 4 (July 2021) , p. 755-788, ISSN 1552-8251

DOI: 10.1177/0162243920948110

Postprint 38 p, 1.1 MB

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Research literature > UAB research groups literature > Research Centres and Groups (research output) > Experimental sciences > Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA)
Articles > Research articles
Articles > Published articles