<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>Citizen science is a relatively new phenomenon in the Czech Republic and currently a general overview of existing citizen science projects is not available. This presents the challenge to uncover the ‘hidden’ citizen science landscapes. The main objective of this paper is to explore the (public) representation of citizen science (CS) projects and to describe their heterogeneity. The study aims to answer the question of what type of projects in the Czech Republic meet the definition of citizen science. Based on a specific methodological data-base search approach, we compiled a set of CS projects (N = 73). During the classification process, two general citizen science categories were identified. The first group (N = 46) consists of “pure” CS projects with a prevalence towards the natural sciences, principally ornithology, and thus corresponding to general European trends. Citizens usually participate in such research in the form of data collection and basic interpretation, and a high level of cooperation between academia and NGOs was detected. The second group of “potential” CS projects (N = 27) entails various forms of public participation in general, frequently coordinated by NGOs. Based on these results, we discuss the position of citizen science in the Czech Republic, including socially-oriented citizen science. Further research is strongly encouraged to achieve a more in-depth insight into this social phenomenon.</p></abstract>

Citizen science is a relatively new phenomenon in the Czech Republic and currently a general overview of existing citizen science projects is not available. This presents the challenge to uncover the ‘hidden’ citizen science landscapes. The main objective of this paper is to explore the (public) representation of citizen science (CS) projects and to describe their heterogeneity. The study aims to answer the question of what type of projects in the Czech Republic meet the definition of citizen science. Based on a specific methodological data-base search approach, we compiled a set of CS projects (N = 73). During the classification process, two general citizen science categories were identified. The first group (N = 46) consists of “pure” CS projects with a prevalence towards the natural sciences, principally ornithology, and thus corresponding to general European trends. Citizens usually participate in such research in the form of data collection and basic interpretation, and a high level of cooperation between academia and NGOs was detected. The second group of “potential” CS projects (N = 27) entails various forms of public participation in general, frequently coordinated by NGOs. Based on these results, we discuss the position of citizen science in the Czech Republic, including socially-oriented citizen science. Further research is strongly encouraged to achieve a more in-depth insight into this social phenomenon.

Exploring citizen science in post-socialist space: Uncovering its hidden character in the Czech Republic

Institute of Geonics of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Department of Environmental Geography

Faculty of Logistics and Crisis Management

Moravian Geographical Reports

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Citizen science is a relatively new phenomenon in the Czech Republic and currently a general overview of existing citizen science projects is not available....

Exploring citizen science in post-socialist space: Uncovering its hidden character in the Czech Republic

Online veröffentlicht: 21. Jan. 2020

Seitenbereich: 241 - 253

Eingereicht: 12. Apr. 2019

Akzeptiert: 03. Okt. 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgr-2019-0019

Schlüsselwörter
citizen science, participation science, nongovernmental organisations, academia, public engagement, natural sciences, social sciences, Czech Republic

© 2019 Barbora Duží et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Exploring citizen science in post-socialist space: Uncovering its hidden character in the Czech Republic

Online veröffentlicht: 21. Jan. 2020

Seitenbereich: 241 - 253

Eingereicht: 12. Apr. 2019

Akzeptiert: 03. Okt. 2019

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/mgr-2019-0019

Schlüsselwörtercitizen science, participation science, nongovernmental organisations, academia, public engagement, natural sciences, social sciences, Czech Republic

© 2019 Barbora Duží et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Schlüsselwörter
citizen science, participation science, nongovernmental organisations, academia, public engagement, natural sciences, social sciences, Czech Republic