Citizen Science: Introduction

Citizen science can be described as the voluntary participation of non-professional scientists in research and innovation at different stages of the process and at different levels of engagement, from shaping research agendas and policies, to gathering, processing and analysing data, and assessing the outcomes of research. (European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, 2020)

Citizen Science encompasses a wide variety of activities and practices that recognises non-professionals as valued and empowered actors in advancing knowledge, research and innovation. (UCD’s publication Engage your Research : An Introductory Guide to Engaging & Involving the Public in Research)

Citizen science broadly refers to the active engagement of the general public in scientific research tasks. Citizen science is a growing practice in which scientists and citizens collaborate to produce new knowledge for science and society. (The Science of Citizen Science)

Citizen science projects actively involve citizens in scientific endeavour that generates new knowledge or understanding. Citizens may act as contributors, collaborators, or as project leader and have a meaningful role in the project. ECSA (European Citizen Science Association). 2015. Ten Principles of Citizen Science. Berlin.

Citizen science is a global movement where individuals, family members, friends, community groups, or anyone does science to address real-world questions. (SciStarter)

REGISTER HERE

Soil Your Scarf! A Citizen Science Research Project

Wednesday 30th April 2025

10:30 - 1:00 pm in Lab E1.52 on the 2nd floor of the O'Brien Centre for Science, Belfield, UCD  

Join ecologist Jess Leonard in a citizen science project that invites you to knit a tiny scarf (knitting is optional and all materials are provided) while talking about soil ecology and care. The tiny scarf then becomes a measuring device that can be buried within the topsoil to gauge soil life activity and health (you are welcome to take a knitted scarf home with you if you would like to do this in your own time). In the lab you'll get to look at soil life from previously buried scarves under the microscopes and talk about how to implement changes to protect and care for our soils for sustainable soil biodiversity in our own environments.

All welcome to attend - this event is open to the general public!

This is a UCD Citizen Science Community of Practice Event

 Jess is a Co-Director of Fibreshed Ireland - this is based on the soil-to-soil model, meaning that any textiles produced are grown from a biodiversity promoting, carbon farming approach and can be returned to the soil through organic material applications once a textile is composted at the end of its useful life. The Soil Your Scarf project highlights the use of compostable fibres by using 100% Irish wool while educating about the precious nature of our degraded soils and how we can better care for them.

UCD’s publication Engage your Research : An Introductory Guide to Engaging & Involving the Public in Research states:

“Citizen Science encompasses a wide variety of activities and practices that recognises non-professionals as valued and empowered actors in advancing knowledge, research and innovation.”

Citizen Science, or the participation of the general public in the scientific research process, is an important element in establishing new links between science and society. It is thus essential to implementing Open Science, can contribute to innovation tailored to the needs of society, lead to reciprocal learning and foster a scientific culture across society as a whole.

From: The LIBER Roadmap to Open Science (LIBER is the Association of European Research Libraries)