The UK has a long history of volunteer involvement in environmental monitoring, but we know that the diversity of citizen science, or community science, volunteers is not reflective of the wider population. What is the impact of this for society and for monitoring data, and how can we improve?
In October 2023 a virtual symposium was hosted by the UK Environmental Observation Framework (UKEOF) Citizen Science Working Group, supported by UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC). The symposium included a series of talks focussed on inclusivity in citizen science, with UK examples from the Bat Conservation Trust, the Field Studies Council's Biolinks Project and The Rock Pool Project, as well as examplesfrom the Global South. We considered the issues from a social science perspective, and there will be time for questions and discussion.
Over 160 people attended the symposium, many of whom were involved in running or organising citizen science projects.
You can find information on the speakers and recordings of all the talks on the UKEOF webiste here.
