Citizen science is a method to engage citizens in contributing to data collections, giving inputs to address problems in the citizens’ local neighborhoods. The idea of citizen science is to both improve research through crowdsourcing the collection of data, and support citizen engagement, transparency, and digital literacy education. Citizen science approaches are sometimes also adopted by cities to inform problem definitions and decision-making for urban designs, service processes or future strategies.  

In 2021, Aarhus municipality created a pilot project under the citizen science initiative called “Aarhus Citizen Kit”. Aarhus Citizen Kit was designed to examine if citizen science can be used to create awareness of local climate changes and the environment to initiate civic and municipal action. The project focused on digital education and data literacy, and the project problem statement was formed in a co-creative workshop with citizens and local stakeholders.  

For the data collection, Smart Citizen Kit was used, which is a sensor kit that measures noise levels and air quality in public spaces. An open data platform was also introduced, where participants could collect and compare results with other participants. There is also a broader Citizen Science Guide with recommendations for inclusive project designs and the main stages of citizen science and citizen sensing projects (in Danish): https://projects.au.dk/fileadmin/user_upload/CitSci/aarhus-citizen-science-guide.pdf

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Literature:

Raetzsch, Christoph; Hamm, Andrea; Shibuya, Yuya (2023). “Mainstreaming Civic Tech and Citizen Sensing: A Research Agenda on Co-Creation Methods, Data Interfaces, and Impact Pathways.” Frontiers in Environmental Science 11. https://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.122848