Abstract
Citizen science is increasingly upheld with the potential to underpin all aspects of the environmental policy process. However, to date, contributions of citizen science to environmental decision-making remain sparse and not well understood. Evidence points to a gap between the potential relevance of citizen science for policy and its actual implementation. We lack a comprehensive assessment of the current impacts of citizen science projects on environmental policy, and an identification of the scientific, engagement, and governance characteristics of projects that facilitate successful contributions to policy. This paper addresses that knowledge gap through identifying the characteristics of citizen science projects that support policy. We present an inventory of 503 citizen science projects with environmental policy relevance, and an in-depth analysis of 45 case examples with quantitative assessment of characteristics of the citizen scientist, scientific, socio-economic, and policy dimensions. Our results demonstrate that citizen science can underpin all steps of the environmental policy process, and that a diversity of approaches can be used to achieve this. However, governmental support, scientific excellence, and NGO-leadership facilitate policy linkages. We discuss the main challenges and opportunities identified by project leaders in linking citizen science and policy and present a set of recommendations for promoting the better integration of citizen science in the different phases of the policy cycle. Central among these are clarifying policy needs, facilitating access to citizen science data, and improving their evaluation and recognition by decision-makers. Publisher's Note: A corrigendum relating to this article has been published and can be found at http://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.308 .
Highlights
Decision makers in the 21st century are faced with the responsibility of addressing new and increasingly complex environmental challenges to protect ecological and public health
We compiled an inventory of European citizen science projects having environmental policy relevance, from which we selected a set of case studies for in-depth analysis of the integration of citizen science into environmental policy
Most air and water-related projects were based on top-down monitoring activities (63% and 69%, respectively), whereas the majority of projects related to land use and soil used more bottom-up forms of citizen science (Figures 3 and 4)
Summary
Decision makers in the 21st century are faced with the responsibility of addressing new and increasingly complex environmental challenges to protect ecological and public health. Environmental problems occur at different spatial extents, typically unfold over long temporal scales, and have possible global implications. They require holistic, trans-disciplinary approaches, because efforts to solve one aspect may reveal or create other problems (Burke et al 2017). Decision making must address the goals and values of stakeholders and incorporate public input in crafting the solutions (Weichselgartner and Kasperson 2010; McKinley et al 2017). Decision makers need new ways to extend the scientific knowledge base, engage citizens, and support the different steps of the policy process
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