The Citizen Observatory: Enabling Next Generation Citizen Science

Michael O’Grady; Gregory O’Hare; Stephanie Ties; Jamie Williams

doi:10.2478/bsrj-2021-0029

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The Citizen Observatory: Enabling Next Generation Citizen Science

Business Systems Research Journal

Volume 12 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)

By: Michael O’Grady, Gregory O’Hare, Stephanie Ties and Jamie Williams

Open Access

|Apr 2022

Abstract

Background: Citizen science offers an attractive paradigm for addressing some of the complex problems facing society. However, translating the paradigm’s potential into meaningful action and sustainable impact remains a formidable challenge. Historically, the citizen science landscape was fractured into silos of activities; nonetheless, it has demonstrably delivered credible results. An innovative concept of the Citizen Observatory offers a tractable means of mitigating many of the recurring issues that historically afflicted citizen science initiatives, thus empowering a new generation of citizen scientists. Citizen Observatories may be regarded as open, standardised software platforms for community-based monitoring of any phenomenon of interest.

Objectives: This paper seeks to validate a Citizen Observatory in a traditional citizen science context, that of butterfly recording.

Methods/Approach: A case study was undertaken in a UNESCO-designated Biosphere Reserve.

Results: A community of citizen scientists successfully recorded various observations concerning butterflies, their feeding behaviours, and their habitat. The resultant dataset was made available to the local government environmental agency.

Conclusions: The Citizen Observatory model offers a realistic basis for enabling more sustainable participatory science activities. Such developments have implications for non-government organisations, businesses, and local governments.

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Articles in this issue

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/bsrj-2021-0029 | Journal eISSN: 1847-9375 | Journal ISSN: 1847-8344

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Language: English

Page range: 221 - 235

Submitted on: Nov 5, 2020

Accepted on: Jun 24, 2021

Published on: Apr 10, 2022

Published by: IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

Keywords:

citizen science,

Citizen Observatory,

open science,

participatory science

Related subjects:

Business and economics,

Business management,

Management, organization, corporate governance,

Business management, other,

Mathematics and statistics for economists,

Mathematics

© 2022 Michael O’Grady, Gregory O’Hare, Stephanie Ties, Jamie Williams, published by IRENET - Society for Advancing Innovation and Research in Economy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Volume 12 (2021): Issue 2 (December 2021)