Both scholars and practitioners have emphasised the role of citizen science as a means to provoke sustainable change – through increased spatial and temporal data, as well as awareness-raising and policy impacts. While these visions may seem ambitious, scholars also emphasise that the positive effects of citizen science on outputs, outcomes and impacts, may depend on the design of citizen science projects (e.g., types of citizens involved, institutions organising citizen science projects, and the design of process mechanisms). It is ambiguous as to how citizen science projects should be designed for the purpose of achieving change along the results chain.
The overarching goal of the topic ‘Citizen Science’ is to strengthen and advance the role of citizens to support the accomplishment of the SDGs. The focus is on the successful design of Citizen Science projects for various research outputs (quantitatively and qualitatively), outcomes (e.g., awareness raising) and impacts (better monitoring and achievement of SDGs).
