A co-created citizen science solution mapping
What it does.
This co-created citizen science solution mapping allows you to:
- Acknowledge the social importance of participation in citizen science initiatives, covering a wide and heterogeneous range of stakeholders.
- Identify, characterize, and make visible existing initiatives and shared patterns to produce inputs for public policies, promoting a bottom-up approach and new coordination possibilities.
- Promote the production of evidence on the initiatives developed to create products for different purposes that may result in digital repositories of different types of information, collaborative maps, materials to work in the classroom, among others.
The data is collected through the leaders of each of the science initiatives by cards that include details of the solution organized by predefined categories, systematizing the information, and enabling comparisons.
Value proposition for the government/other partner.
This methodology will allow your governmental partner to gain a clear view of the ecosystem of people-powered solutions that emerge in response to specific development challenges. This paves the way for better public policymaking. With this tool, your governmental partner gains the ability to pinpoint essential collaborators for tackling development issues. Additionally, it helps identify available resources, patterns, spot any gaps, and uncover success stories that are ready to be scaled.
Regarding other partners, such as leaders of grassroots initiatives, this tool allows them to gain a better understanding of who else is working on the same issues. This tool facilitates the formation of alliances and networking opportunities, making it easier for them to connect and work together effectively.
Why and when to use it.
This tool is most useful when there is a gap in the information available regarding citizen science projects due to a lack of acknowledgement of people-powered initiatives. Moreover, since the mapping efforts involve establishing a direct contact with the citizen science initiatives, this model is most useful when you not only are interested in gathering data but also in fostering citizen participation and in creating community.
Known issues and troubleshooting.
This tool may not be the most suitable choice for you if: 1) your country, region, or community already has an initiative that documents people-powered solutions, 2) you do not have supportive partners to assist you with the co-design of the data gathering instruments, and later on, the co-systematization of the information, or 3) you have difficulties for, or no have the means to, bonding with the citizen science initiatives.
Context.
Within its citizen science initiative, the Argentina Accelerator Lab collaborated with the national Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MINCYT, by its Spanish acronym), utilizing this tool to map citizen science initiatives. In 2021, the first edition of this solutions mapping effort was published, encompassing information from 30 projects. This number increased to 55 in the second edition of the mapping. The forthcoming edition, scheduled for publication at the end of 2023, will include information on 100 projects. Moreover, these solutions mapping efforts not only contributed to the development of a new national federal policy aimed at promoting citizen science initiatives but also had a transformative impact on the overall citizen science ecosystem.
Cost to implement.
You will need a budget between USD 4,000 and USD 6,000 to hire the team needed to plan, design the deliverables, and implement the project. The AccLab has already created a visual identity to complement the methodology, and it’s accessible for anyone looking to replicate this tool. Thus, the design of the visual aspects for the project is an item you can leave out of your budget.
Time
The time required to implement this tool can vary depending on several factors such as the desired scope of your solutions mapping, the accessibility of information, and the availability of the mapping team’s time. Possibly, the iteration process might be the most time-consuming aspect. The effort for mapping 30 to 50 grassroot solutions could take between 6 to 8 months.
People.
Your team may consist of 3 members with the following roles:
- A project coordinator who advocates for the initiative with partners and in the best-case scenario forms a joint team with a public institution.
- A collaborator for managing all logistics and coordinating the implementation process
- A person responsible for style editing and English translation (if it is not the national language).
Focal point.
Country, year, and language.
Argentina, 2021 – ongoing, Spanish and English.
Resources.
- Report (English) – Citizen Science. Solutions Mapping. Second Edition
- Report (Spanish) – Ciencia Ciudadana Mapeo de iniciativas nacionales. Segunda Edición
- Report (English) – Lessons Learned from the First Edition of the Environmental Citizen Science Solutions Mapping
- Report (Spanish) – Aprendizajes de la primera edición del mapeo en ciencia ciudadana ambiental
- Blog (Spanish) – Ciencia Ciudadana Ambiental: Mapeo de iniciativas nacionales.
- Report (Spanish) – Ciencia Ciudadana Mapeo de iniciativas nacionales. Primera Edición
- Blog (English) – Environmental citizen science in Argentina: mapping as an enhancement.
- Blog (Spanish) – Ciencia ciudadana ambiental en Argentina: el mapeo como puesta en valor.
- Blog (English) – People are not datasets. Citizen science and collective intelligence.
- Blog (Spanish) – Las personas no son bases de datos. Ciencia ciudadana e inteligencia colectiva.