Postponed: University approaches to Citizen Science in the transition to Open Science

The European University Association, the Open Air and the UOC organize a joint Workshop on Citizen Science on May 8 at the UOC's headquarters in Avenida Tibidabo to foster an understanding of the challenges and opportunities for universities that promote science and explore how citizen science can benefit and add to the transition to open science.

Citizen Science holds great potential for the future of academic research and knowledge exchange with society. Citizens can contribute in lesser or greater degree in research projects, ranging from pure data collection over data analysis to co-designing the research case. Including Citizen Science in activities can provide much added value to universities, contributing to public engagement in scientific research.

However, Citizen Science also  accentuates ethical and legal questions about ownership of the research process and outcomes and poses challenges in terms of safeguarding research quality. Addressing these challenges and using the opportunities of Citizen Science will require universities to take the lead and consider the place of Citizen Science within their institutional strategies, as well as the support they offer to research staff.

Engaging in inclusive and transparent science, Citizen Science and Open Science are becoming increasingly intertwined. Currently, Citizen Science is described by the European Commission as “both an aim and enabler of Open Science” in the context of “Open Science”.
The workshop aims to exchange experiences and lessons learnt, and explore challenges. To support Citizen Science the workshop will discuss tools, guidelines and good practices from Open Science experiences as well. Participating universities will have the opportunity to share expertise, coordinate efforts and exchange advice on services, tools and legal and ethical issues.
This joint workshop will be relevant to a number of debates on themes around institutional support for Citizen Science, and offers an opportunity to transfer and share knowledge.

We hope the workshop will contribute to following concrete outcomes:

• Support universities in the development of institutional strategies on Citizen Science in the transition to Open Science.
• Foster a deeper understanding of how universities can use the opportunities and address the challenges of Citizen Science as part of their mission.
• Understand how Open Science practices and infrastructure, OpenAIRE in particular, can facilitate and support Citizen Science.