Marine Citizen Science: Current State in Europe and New Technological Developments

G Gorsky,K Dubsky,Gro I Van Der Meeren,S I Luna,I Kotynska-Zielinska,Patricia Mchugh,G Mannaerts,J A Busch,P Loubat,C Domegan,Jan J C Seys,Jose Carlos Baez,Oliver Zielinski,Francesca Malfatti,Carlos Garcia-Soto,P Monestiez

doi:10.3389/fmars.2021.621472

Abstract

Marine citizen science is emerging with promising opportunities for science, policy and public but there is still no comprehensive overview of the current state in Europe. Based on 127 projects identified for the North Sea area we estimate there might be as much as 500 marine and coastal citizen science projects running in Europe, i.e., one marine citizen science project per ∼85 km of coastline, with an exponential growth since 1990. Beach-based projects are more accessible and hence most popular (60% of the projects), and the mean duration of the projects is 18–20 years. Current trends, topics, organizers, aims, and types of programme in terms of participation are presented in this overview. Progress in marine citizen science is specially enabled and promoted through technological developments. Recent technological advances and best practise examples are provided here, untapping the potential of smart mobile apps, do-it-yourself (DIY) technologies, drones, and artificial intelligence (AI) web services.

Highlights

Why Citizen Science?Citizen Science promotes the collaboration between non-professionals and scientists and in a twoway process
Citizen science is in this way Marine Citizen Science in Europe increasingly viewed as a way to empower communities by involving them in research that can be used to drive forward policy changes (Rowland, 2012; Sullivan et al, 2017)
In this article we present a first analysis of the current state of marine citizen science in Europe

Summary

Introduction

Why Citizen Science?Citizen Science promotes the collaboration between non-professionals and scientists and in a twoway process. The work represents a continuation of our previous joint publication “Advancing Citizen Science for Coastal and Ocean Research” (Garcia-Soto et al, 2017) that analysed Citizen Science data quality control and modelling, Social engagement, impact and education, Citizen Science and marine policy, and the European coordination of project management networks. North Sea Citizen Science projects are enabled by a wideranging group of stakeholders (charities and foundations, governmental organisations, research institutes, partnerships, individual people).

Results

Conclusion