A key tool for citizen participation in science

Scientists from the Science, Communication and Society Study Centre at UPF gain insight into how citizen participation in science is practised in Spain and propose a series of recommendations for its improvement. Researchers from UPF have analysed the way citizen science is practised in Spain. The paper, produced by Carolina Llorente and Gema Revuelta , from UPF's Science, Communication and Society Studies Centre ( CCS-UPF ) and Mar Carrió , from the University's Health Sciences Educational Research Group ( GRECS ), has been published in the Journal of Science Communication (JCOM). Based on the study, a series of recommendations have been put forward to improve how citizen science is carried out. Firstly, they suggest efforts be stepped up regarding the training given for assessing these initiatives or the creation of multi-disciplinary teams with a broad range of knowledge areas to organise this kind of assessment. They also highlight the importance of keeping in mind the activities' reproducibility. The aims of the study were to identify citizen science participants in Spain, define what role communication plays and analyse to what extent the key requirements for undertaking citizen science are integrated in its practice.