Application of co-created citizen science in environmental epidemiology

Abstract

Background and aim: Scientists and scientific institutions are adopting more extensive participatory models, hoping to bridge the gap between institutionalized science and society. Though citizen science has become more common in environmental monitoring, it is seldom utilized in environmental epidemiology. In the Cities-Health study, we co-created epidemiological studies with citizens in five European cities. The aim of this paper is to provide methodological insight into the application of co-created citizen science strategies in environmental epidemiology. Methods: We applied the CitieS-Health framework for citizen science, which is a framework that allows citizens to be involved throughout all the phases of the research projects, in five environmental epidemiology studies. Studies covered diverse environmental issues (e.g. urban air pollution, wood smoke, noise) in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Lithuania. Among other aspects this included co-identifying the research question, co-designing and submitting the research protocol for ethical clearance, co-collecting data, co-analyzing data, co-authoring scientific articles and further communication of results to diverse audiences. Results: Together with citizens, we were able to design and conduct environmental epidemiology studies reflecting their concerns and knowledge. Involvement of citizens occurred in all of the research phases with different levels of participation depending on the needs and characteristics of each pilot. Examples of citizens’ impact on research done in the Dutch pilot study was the inclusion of an additional health outcome, exposure period analysis and interpretation of exposure settings. Online communication was a major component, affecting the number of citizens involved, but also study quality. Citizens remained interested and invested time throughout the duration of the projects, some even becoming pilot "community champions”. Conclusions: Integration of citizen science in environmental epidemiology is feasible and has the potential to improve the quality of research and civic trust in research and results. Keywords: Co- creation, citizen science, Participatory Epidemiology