Public citizen slams NRC on nuclear inspections

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Newman, P.

1993-01-01

Charging the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with open-quotes abandoning tough regulation of the nuclear power industry,close quotes Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy Project on Wednesday released a report asserting that NRC is shielding sensitive internal nuclear industry self-evaluations from public scrutiny. Based on their review of 56 Institute of Nuclear Power Operations reports and evaluations and comparing these to the NRC's Systematic Assessment of Licensee Performance reports for the same plants, it was concluded that the NRC failed to address issues raised in all eight areas evaluated by the INPO reports

"The Volunteer Monitor" Newsletter: A National Publication for Citizen Scientists (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Ely, E.

2009-12-01

Citizen scientists have many communication tools available, including listservs, blogs, websites, and online discussion groups. What is the role of traditional publications such as newsletters or journals in this new environment? This presentation will summarize lessons learned from the 20-year history of The Volunteer Monitor newsletter, a national publication that provides a networking and information-sharing forum for citizen scientists engaged in water quality monitoring. The presenter, who has been the editor of The Volunteer Monitor since 1990, will emphasize practical tips for editors or prospective editors. Topics will include defining the publication's mission and target audience, obtaining submissions, communicating with authors, and applying basic journalistic techniques to enhance the usefulness and readability of articles.

Citizen Perceptions of Procedural Fairness and the Moderating Roles of 'Belief in a Just World' and 'Public Service Motivation' in Public Hiring

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Mogens Jin; Stritch, Justin Michael; Taggart, Gabel

2017-01-01

rate the procedural fairness of a hiring situation much lower when the situation appears to be influenced by an applicant's social contacts. However, citizens who report stronger ‘belief in a just world’ have less concern with a hiring process marked by advocacy, whereas citizens with higher levels......This article expands our knowledge of how variation in public administrative processes affects citizen perceptions of procedural fairness (CPPF). Focusing on a specific administrative process—the selection and hiring process—we use a survey experimental design among 823 US citizens and examine...... the effect of a public hiring process involving the appearance of advocacy from an applicant's social contacts on CPPF. Moreover, we theoretically and empirically examine the moderating effects of two psychological constructs: ‘belief in a just world’ and ‘public service motivation’. We find that citizens...

Involving citizens in priority setting for public health research: Implementation in infection research.

Science.gov (United States)

Rawson, Timothy M; Castro-Sánchez, Enrique; Charani, Esmita; Husson, Fran; Moore, Luke S P; Holmes, Alison H; Ahmad, Raheelah

2018-02-01

Public sources fund the majority of UK infection research, but citizens currently have no formal role in resource allocation. To explore the feasibility and willingness of citizens to engage in strategic decision making, we developed and tested a practical tool to capture public priorities for research. A scenario including six infection themes for funding was developed to assess citizen priorities for research funding. This was tested over two days at a university public festival. Votes were cast anonymously along with rationale for selection. The scenario was then implemented during a three-hour focus group exploring views on engagement in strategic decisions and in-depth evaluation of the tool. 188/491(38%) prioritized funding research into drug-resistant infections followed by emerging infections(18%). Results were similar between both days. Focus groups contained a total of 20 citizens with an equal gender split, range of ethnicities and ages ranging from 18 to >70 years. The tool was perceived as clear with participants able to make informed comparisons. Rationale for funding choices provided by voters and focus group participants are grouped into three major themes: (i) Information processing; (ii) Knowledge of the problem; (iii) Responsibility; and a unique theme within the focus groups (iv) The potential role of citizens in decision making. Divergent perceptions of relevance and confidence of "non-experts" as decision makers were expressed. Voting scenarios can be used to collect, en-masse, citizens' choices and rationale for research priorities. Ensuring adequate levels of citizen information and confidence is important to allow deployment in other formats. © 2017 The Authors Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Public health promotion of "local food": Constituting the self-governing citizen-consumer.

Science.gov (United States)

Derkatch, Colleen; Spoel, Philippa

2017-03-01

This article explores how the recent and growing promotion of local foods by public health units in Ontario, Canada, rhetorically interpellates the "good" health citizen as someone who not only takes responsibility for personal health but, through the consumption and support of "local food," also accepts and fulfills her responsibilities to care for the local economy, the community's well-being, and the natural environment. Drawing on Charland's concept of constitutive rhetoric, we analyze a selection of public health unit documents about local food to develop a textured account of the complex, multifaceted forms of health citizenship they constitute. Our analysis reveals that, despite their appeals to environmental sustainability and community well-being, these materials primarily characterize the ideal health citizen as an informed consumer who supports the interests of the neoliberal state through individualized lifestyle behaviors, consuming goods produced and distributed through private enterprise. By exhorting individuals to "buy local," public health discourse therefore frames responsible health citizenship principally in consumerist terms that constrain the range of available options for citizens to engage in meaningful action vis-à-vis their food systems.

CIGEO public debate. Presentation of the Citizens' Conference - Press file. Presentation of the citizens panel opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hermitte, Marie-Angele; Bedu, Clemence; Besnus, Francois; Brom, Jean-Marie; Grambow, Bernd; Ruedinger, Andreas; Fourniau, Jean-Michel; Bobbio, Luigi; Blatrix, Cecile

2013-01-01

After a presentation of the organisation and implementation of the Citizens' Conference, a presentation of the members of the steering committee and of the assessment committee of this conference, this document presents the opinion of the citizen panel in the framework of the public debate on the Cigeo project of deep underground disposal of radioactive wastes. This opinion notably outlines the waste issue as an inter-generational issue, comments the calendar and condition of the Cigeo project, states the panel opinion on risks which are specific to the Cigeo project, discusses the issue of recoverability and reversibility, discusses the issue of site memory, evokes the possibility of exploitation of geothermal energy, outlines the importance of health and environmental monitoring, comments opportunities for local development, and discusses cost and financing assessments. An appendix presents the different training programmes proposed during the citizens' conference

Rethinking the Numerate Citizen: Quantitative Literacy and Public Issues

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ander W. Erickson

2016-07-01

Full Text Available Does a citizen need to possess quantitative literacy in order to make responsible decisions on behalf of the public good? If so, how much is enough? This paper presents an analysis of the quantitative claims made on behalf of ballot measures in order to better delineate the role of quantitative literacy for the citizen. I argue that this role is surprisingly limited due to the contextualized nature of quantitative claims that are encountered outside of a school setting. Instead, rational dependence, or the reasoned dependence on the knowledge of others, is proposed as an educational goal that can supplement quantitative literacy and, in so doing, provide a more realistic plan for informed evaluations of quantitative claims.

A Citizen Empowered Online Platform for Communicating Climate Science to the General Public

Science.gov (United States)

Bourqui, Michel

2014-05-01

This presentation introduces a project, currently in development, of a new online platform for the interaction between climate scientists and citizen. It consists of an open-access, multi-lingual, and peer-reviewed journal publishing climate articles in non-scientific language. It follows three main long-term objectives. The first objective is to establish an ever-growing, multi-lingual library of climate articles providing a knowledge base on climate sciences accessible for free to everyone. The targeted public includes journalists, teachers, students, local actors (e.g. in politics, economy, agriculture), and any other citizen from around the world with an interest in climate sciences. The second goal is to offer a simple and direct channel for scientists wishing to disseminate their research to the general public. A high standard of climate articles is enforced through: a) requiring that the main author is an active climate scientist, and b) an innovative peer-review process involving scientific and non-scientific referees with distinct roles. The third objective is to engage citizen into the climate science. To this aim, the journal proposes three channels. Firstly, citizens are invited to contribute to the dissemination of climate knowledge to the general public by co-authoring, peer-reviewing or translating articles. Secondly, they are offered the capacity to stimulate scientific enquiry by posting invitations for manuscripts to be written on a citizen-inspired topic. Thirdly, a match-up tool is being developed for scientists to gather non-scientists teams for conducting citizen-involving research projects. This platform is scientist-initiated and is meant to be ruled and managed by the participating individuals themselves (scientists and non-scientists) as an international association. It will be financed through country-varying flat memberships. The project is now starting. The basic ideas are drawn; a prototype internet platform has been developed and is

Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector – New Perspectives on the Role of Citizens?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika; Lund, Dorthe Hedensted

2017-01-01

Collaborative innovation in the public sector is increasingly used as a strategy for balancing citizens’ rising expectations for public services with limited public resources. This article suggests that public polices construct citizens as clients, consumers, or coproducers and thereby encourage...

Citizen expectations of 'academic entrepreneurship' in health research: public science, practical benefit.

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Fiona A; Painter-Main, Michael; Axler, Renata; Lehoux, Pascale; Giacomini, Mita; Slater, Barbara

2015-12-01

Responsiveness to citizens as users of technological innovation helps motivate translational research and commercial engagement among academics. Yet, retaining citizen trust and support for research encourages caution in pursuit of commercial science. We explore citizen expectations of the specifically academic nature of commercial science [i.e. academic entrepreneurship (AE)] and the influence of conflict of interest concerns, hopes about practical benefits and general beliefs. We conducted a cross-sectional national opinion survey of 1002 Canadians online in 2010. Approval of AE was moderate (mean 3.2/5, SD 0.84), but varied by entrepreneurial activity. Concern about conflict of interests (COI) was moderate (mean 2.9/5, SD 0.86) and varied by type of concern. An ordinary least-squares regression showed that expectations of practical benefits informed support for AE, specifically that academic-industry collaboration can better address real-world problems; conflict of interest concerns were insignificant. These findings suggest that citizens support AE for its potential to produce practical benefits, but enthusiasm varies and is reduced for activities that may prioritize private over public interests. Further, support exists despite concern about COI, perhaps due to trust in the academic research context. For user engagement in research priority setting, these findings suggest the need to attend to the commercial nature of translational science. For research policy, they suggest the need for governance arrangements for responsible innovation, which can sustain public trust in academic research, and realize the practical benefits that inform public support for AE. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Beyond public acceptance of energy infrastructure: How citizens make sense and form reactions by enacting networks of entities in infrastructure development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aaen, Sara Bjørn; Kerndrup, Søren; Lyhne, Ivar

2016-01-01

This article adds to the growing insight into public acceptance by presenting a novel approach to how citizens make sense of new energy infrastructure. We claim that to understand public acceptance, we need to go beyond the current thinking of citizens framed as passive respondents to proposed projects, and instead view infrastructure projects as enacted by citizens in their local settings. We propose a combination of sensemaking theory and actor–network theory that allows insight into how citizens enact entities from experiences and surroundings in order to create meaning and form a reaction to new infrastructure projects. Empirically, we analyze how four citizens make sense of an electricity cable project through a conversation process with a representative from the infrastructure developer. Interestingly, the formal participation process and the materiality of the cable play minor roles in citizens' sensemaking process. We conclude that insight into the way citizens are making sense of energy infrastructure processes can improve and help to overcome shortcomings in the current thinking about public acceptance and public participation. - Highlights: •Attention to citizens' sensemaking enables greater insight into the decision-making process. •A combination of sensemaking and actor-network theory (ANT) is relevant for studies of public acceptance. •Sensemaking explains why citizens facing similar situations act differently. •Complexity of citizens' sensemaking challenges the predictability of processes.

Towards Citizen Co-Created Public Service Apps.

Science.gov (United States)

Emaldi, Mikel; Aguilera, Unai; López-de-Ipiña, Diego; Pérez-Velasco, Jorge

2017-06-02

WeLive project's main objective is about transforming the current e-government approach by providing a new paradigm based on a new open model oriented towards the design, production and deployment of public services and mobile apps based on the collaboration of different stakeholders. These stakeholders form the quadruple helix, i.e., citizens, private companies, research institutes and public administrations. Through the application of open innovation, open data and open services paradigms, the framework developed within the WeLive project enables the co-creation of urban apps. In this paper, we extend the description of the WeLive platform presented at , plus the preliminary results of the first pilot phase. The two-phase evaluation methodology designed and the evaluation results of first pilot sub-phase are also presented.

The role to the citizen participation in public policies, under the current scenario of governance: theoretical reflections

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Monica Castillo Cubillos

2017-09-01

It is necessary to involve thinking about public policy, as one of the roles in which citizens may or may not make such effective participation. Taking into account, that public policy instruments can encourage and strengthen governance, in scenarios where there is a real participation of citizens. Let us see how true this is.

Attribution of Regional Responsibilities for Public Services and Citizen Support of Decentralisation: Evidence from Spain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

JULIO LÓPEZ LABORDA

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Probit/logit techniques are applied to the data from Barometer No. 2,829 published by the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas to examine three problems related with public sector decentralisation. The paper concludes, first, that citizens? perception of efficiency gains from decentralisation have a positive effect on their support for decentralised government. Second, that citizens are more likely to perceive the efficiency gains from decentralisation if they correctly ascribe responsibility for education and health services to regions. And third, that citizens who most accurately identify regional responsibility for the provision of those services tend to be better educated, older, engaged in paid work or public employment, concerned about regional politics and resident in one region with higher initial level of devolved powers.

Embedded Assessment as an Essential Method for Understanding Public Engagement in Citizen Science

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Becker-Klein

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Citizen science is an important way of engaging a broad range of audiences in science inquiry by participating in research that asks novel questions and unearths new knowledge and new questioning. Though citizen science projects are quite diverse in their scientific pursuits, all projects share the common element of involving volunteers directly in some aspect of science inquiry. Thus, it is essential for citizen science projects to determine their participants’ capacity to learn and successfully perform science inquiry skills, such as making scientific observations, collecting and analyzing data, and sharing findings. Such skill gains are essential to (a ensure high quality data that can be used in meaningful scientific research, and (b achieve broader goals such as developing a participant’s identity as a contributor to science. However, we do not yet fully understand how improvement in participants’ inquiry skills through citizen science advances our knowledge of public engagement with science. In this essay, we offer embedded assessment as an effective method to capture participant skill gains, and encourage citizen science leaders, evaluators, and researchers to develop authentic methods that address the complexities of measuring skill development within the context of citizen science.

The citizen as datasupplier in E-government

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Arleth, Mette; Schrøder, Anne Lise; Staunstrup, Jan K.

2006-01-01

This paper reports on an ongoing study of how to mobilise and utilize the citizen as data supplier in e-government. The role of the citizen is seen in the context of public participation, and a number of possible application areas for online tools where the citizen can serve the public administra......This paper reports on an ongoing study of how to mobilise and utilize the citizen as data supplier in e-government. The role of the citizen is seen in the context of public participation, and a number of possible application areas for online tools where the citizen can serve the public...

Citizen Satisfaction: Political Voice and Cognitive Biases

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Morten Hjortskov

in the first place? Do irrelevant influences affect the citizens’ evaluations of performance? Can we raise the representativeness of citizen satisfaction surveys by engaging citizens in the production of the public services? The dissertation addresses these questions using a wide range of experimental......Citizen satisfaction is increasingly being used as a measure of public service performance. It offers a performance measure that potentially encompasses many of the important attributes of the services that public managers would like to evaluate, some of which are not easily captured by other...... performance measures. At the same time, citizen satisfaction represents a citizen-centered approach to public management. But is citizen satisfaction in fact strongly related to performance and are satisfaction surveys representative of the citizens? By drawing on theories from classic public administration...

Towards Citizen Co-Created Public Service Apps †

Science.gov (United States)

Emaldi, Mikel; Aguilera, Unai; López-de-Ipiña, Diego; Pérez-Velasco, Jorge

2017-01-01

WeLive project’s main objective is about transforming the current e-government approach by providing a new paradigm based on a new open model oriented towards the design, production and deployment of public services and mobile apps based on the collaboration of different stakeholders. These stakeholders form the quadruple helix, i.e., citizens, private companies, research institutes and public administrations. Through the application of open innovation, open data and open services paradigms, the framework developed within the WeLive project enables the co-creation of urban apps. In this paper, we extend the description of the WeLive platform presented at , plus the preliminary results of the first pilot phase. The two-phase evaluation methodology designed and the evaluation results of first pilot sub-phase are also presented. PMID:28574460

Re-establishing the relationship with the public: Regional journalism and citizens' involvement in the news

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hermans, E.A.H.M.; Schaap, G.J.; Bardoel, J.L.H.

2014-01-01

Public journalism is viewed by many as a solution to the decreasing media presence and public involvement in regional news media. Core values in this approach are public deliberation, participation, and connectedness. This study investigates the added value of a citizen-centred approach to

Compensating citizens for poor service delivery: experimental research in public and private settings

OpenAIRE

Thomassen, JP; Leliveld, MC; Van de Walle, Steven; Ahaus, K

2017-01-01

After a service failure, citizens expect a recovery strategy that restores perceived justice and places a reasonable value on their loss. Offering monetary compensation is a strategy commonly used in private settings, but less so in public settings. To date compensation effects have not been researched in public settings. To investigate citizens’ evaluations of perceived justice, negative emotions and post-recovery satisfaction we used a 2 (sector: public, private) by 2 (compensation promised...

Introducing citizen inquiry

OpenAIRE

Herodotou, Christothea; Sharples, Mike; Scanlon, Eileen

2017-01-01

The term ‘citizen inquiry’ was coined to describe ways that members of the public can learn by initiating or joining shared inquiry-led scientific investigations (Sharples et al., 2013). It merges learning through scientific investigation with mass collaborative participation exemplified in citizen science activities, altering the relationship most people have with research from being passive recipients to becoming actively engaged, and the relationship between scholarship and public understa...

JPC Vol 3 No1

African Journals Online (AJOL)

). This paper sets out to exam- ine the participatory methods used in a project” Citizen- ship, Participation and Accountability” by the Theatre. For Development Centre (TFDC), Ahmadu Bello Uni- versity, Zaria Nigeria and The Nigerian Popular ...

Observation of a $J^{PC} = 1^{-+}$ exotic resonance in diffractive dissociation of 190 GeV/c $\\pi^{-}$ into $\\pi^- \\pi^- \\pi^+$

CERN Document Server

Alekseev, M.; Alexandrov, Yu.; Alexeev, G.D.; Amoroso, A.; Austregisilio, A.; Badelek, B.; Balestra, F.; Ball, J.; Barth, J.; Baum, G.; Bedfer, Y.; Bernhard, J.; Bertini, R.; Bettinelli, M.; Birsa, R.; Bisplinghoff, J.; Bordalo, P.; Bradamante, F.; Bravar, A.; Bressan, A.; Brona, G.; Burtin, E.; Bussa, M.P.; Chapiro, A.; Chiosso, M.; Chung, S.U.; Cicuttin, A.; Colantoni, M.; Crespo, M.L.; Dalla Torre, S.; Dafni, T.; Das, S.; Dasgupta, S.S.; Denisov, O.Yu.; Dhara, L.; Diaz, V.; Dinkelbach, A.M.; Donskov, S.V.; Doshita, N.; Duic, V.; Dunnweber, W.; Efremov, A.; Eversheim, P.D.; Eyrich, W.; Faessler, M.; Ferrero, A.; Finger, M.; Finger, M., jr.; Fischer, H.; Franco, C.; Friedrich, J.M.; Garfagnini, R.; Gautheron, F.; Gavrichtchouk, O.P.; Gazda, R.; Gerassimov, S.; Geyer, R.; Giorgi, M.; Gobbo, B.; Goertz, S.; Grabmuller, S.; Grajek, O.A.; Grasso, A.; Grube, B.; Gushterski, R.; Guskov, A.; Haas, F.; von Harrach, D.; Hasegawa, T.; Heckmann, J.; Heinsius, F.H.; Hermann, R.; Herrmann, F.; Hess, C.; Hinterberger, F.; Horikawa, N.; Hoppner, Ch.; d'Hose, N.; Ilgner, C.; Ishimoto, S.; Ivanov, O.; Ivanshin, Yu.; Iwata, T.; Jahn, R.; Jasinski, P.; Jegou, G.; Joosten, R.; Kabuss, E.; Kang, D.; Ketzer, B.; Khaustov, G.V.; Khokhlov, Yu.A.; Kisselev, Yu.; Klein, F.; Klimaszewski, K.; Koblitz, S.; Koivuniemi, J.H.; Kolosov, V.N.; Komissarov, E.V.; Kondo, K.; Konigsmann, Kay; Konopka, R.; Konorov, I.; Konstantinov, V.F.; Korzenev, A.; Kotzinian, A.M.; Kouznetsov, O.; Kowalik, K.; Kramer, M.; Kral, A.; Kroumchtein, Z.V.; Kuhn, R.; Kunne, F.; Kurek, K.; Lauser, L.; Le Goff, J.M.; Lednev, A.A.; Lehmann, A.; Levorato, S.; Lichtenstadt, J.; Liska, T.; Maggiora, A.; Maggiora, M.; Magnon, A.; Mallot, G.K.; Mann, A.; Marchand, C.; Marroncle, J.; Martin, A.; Marzec, J.; Massmann, F.; Matsuda, T.; Meyer, W.; Michigami, T.; Mikhailov, Yu.V.; Moinester, M.A.; Mutter, A.; Nagaytsev, A.; Nagel, T.; Nassalski, J.; Negrini, S.; Nerling, F.; Neubert, S.; Neyret, D.; Nikolaenko, V.I.; Olshevsky, A.G.; Ostrick, M.; Padee, A.; Panknin, R.; Panzieri, D.; Parsamyan, B.; Paul, S.; Pawlukiewicz-Kaminska, B.; Perevalova, E.; Pesaro, G.; Peshekhonov, D.V.; Piragino, G.; Platchkov, S.; Pochodzalla, J.; Polak, J.; Polyakov, V.A.; Pontecorvo, G.; Pretz, J.; Quintans, C.; Rajotte, J.-F.; Ramos, S.; Rapatsky, V.; Reicherz, G.; Reggiani, D.; Richter, A.; Robinet, F.; Rocco, E.; Rondio, E.; Ryabchikov, D.I.; Samoylenko, V.D.; Sandacz, A.; Santos, H.; Sapozhnikov, M.G.; Sarkar, S.; Savin, Igor A.; Sbrizza, G.; Schiavon, P.; Schill, C.; Schlüter, Tobias; Schmitt, L.; Schopferer, S.; Schroder, W.; Shevchenko, O.Yu.; Siebert, H.-W.; Silva, L.; Sinha, L.; Sissakian, A.N.; Slunecka, M.; Smirnov, G.I.; Sosio, S.; Sozzi, F.; Srnka, A.; Stolarski, M.; Sulc, M.; Sulej, R.; Takekawa, S.; Tessaro, S.; Tessarotto, F.; Teufel, A.; Tkatchev, L.G.; Uman, I.; Venugopal, G.; Virius, M.; Vlassov, N.V.; Vossen, A.; Weitzel, Q.; Windmolders, R.; Wislicki, W.; Wollny, H.; Zaremba, K.; Zavertyaev, M.; Zemlyanichkina, E.; Ziembicki, M.; Zhao, J.; Zhuravlev, N.; Zvyagin, A.

2010-01-01

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has studied the diffractive dissociation of negative pions into the pi- pi- pi+ final state using a 190 GeV/c pion beam hitting a lead target. A partial wave analysis has been performed on a sample of 420000 events taken at values of the squared 4-momentum transfer t' between 0.1 and 1 GeV^2/c^2. The well-known resonances a1(1260), a2(1320), and pi2(1670) are clearly observed. In addition, the data show a significant natural parity exchange production of a resonance with spin-exotic quantum numbers J^PC = 1-+ at 1.66 GeV/c^2 decaying to rho pi. The resonant nature of this wave is evident from the mass-dependent phase differences to the J^PC = 2-+ and 1++ waves. From a mass-dependent fit a resonance mass of 1660 +- 10+0-64 MeV/c^2 and a width of 269+-21+42-64 MeV/c^2 is deduced.

Mundane science use in a practice theoretical perspective: Different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public communication initiatives build on scientific claims.

Science.gov (United States)

Halkier, Bente

2015-08-13

Public communication initiatives play a part in placing complicated scientific claims in citizen-consumers' everyday contexts. Lay reactions to scientific claims framed in public communication, and attempts to engage citizens, have been important subjects of discussion in the literatures of public understanding and public engagement with science. Many of the public communication initiatives, however, address lay people as consumers rather than citizens. This creates specific challenges for understanding public engagement with science and scientific citizenship. The article compares five different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public issue communication involving science, where the first four types are widely represented in the Public Understanding of Science discussions. The fifth understanding is a practice theoretical perspective. The article suggests how the public understanding of and engagement in science literature can benefit from including a practice theoretical approach to research about mundane science use and public engagement. © The Author(s) 2015.

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

van Vliet, Arnold J H; Bron, Wichertje A; Mulder, Sara

2014-05-01

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature's Calendar has been successful in communicating to the general public via numerous newspaper articles, television appearances, presentations, websites and social media. We refer to these publications as societal publications. Due to active communication to mass media, we frequently reach millions of people. This communication helped us to involve thousands of volunteers in recording the timing of phenological events like the start of flowering, leaf unfolding and bird migration, but also several health-related events like hay fever symptoms and tick bites. In this paper, we analyse and present our experiences with the Nature's Calendar project regarding societal publications. Based on this analysis, we explain the importance of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists in general, and we show how scientists can increase the news worthiness of scientific information and what factors and activities can increase the chances of media paying attention to this news. We show that societal publications help phenological networks by facilitating the recruitment, retention and instruction of observers. Furthermore, they stimulate the generation of new ideas and partners that lead to an increase in knowledge, awareness and behavioural change of the general public or specific stakeholders. They make projects, and scientists involved, better known to the public and increase their credibility and authority. Societal publications can catalyse the production of new publications, thereby enforcing the previous mentioned points.

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists

Science.gov (United States)

van Vliet, Arnold J. H.; Bron, Wichertje A.; Mulder, Sara

2014-05-01

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature's Calendar has been successful in communicating to the general public via numerous newspaper articles, television appearances, presentations, websites and social media. We refer to these publications as societal publications. Due to active communication to mass media, we frequently reach millions of people. This communication helped us to involve thousands of volunteers in recording the timing of phenological events like the start of flowering, leaf unfolding and bird migration, but also several health-related events like hay fever symptoms and tick bites. In this paper, we analyse and present our experiences with the Nature's Calendar project regarding societal publications. Based on this analysis, we explain the importance of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists in general, and we show how scientists can increase the newsworthiness of scientific information and what factors and activities can increase the chances of media paying attention to this news. We show that societal publications help phenological networks by facilitating the recruitment, retention and instruction of observers. Furthermore, they stimulate the generation of new ideas and partners that lead to an increase in knowledge, awareness and behavioural change of the general public or specific stakeholders. They make projects, and scientists involved, better known to the public and increase their credibility and authority. Societal publications can catalyse the production of new publications, thereby enforcing the previous mentioned points.

Petitioning the FDA to Improve Pharmaceutical, Device and Public Health Safety by Ordinary Citizens: A Descriptive Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Brian K; Yang, Y Tony; Cheng, Xi; Bian, John; Bennett, Charles L

2016-01-01

The United States Constitution protects the right of citizens to petition the government for "a redress of grievances." This right has important implications for citizens desiring to advance the public health by petitioning administrative agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration, to take safety actions. We examined a total of 1,915 petitions filed between 2001 and 2013 to investigate the outcomes of citizen petitions that address public health concerns. We found that most petitions were filed by manufacturers against other manufacturers. Only 346 (18%) of all petitions were submitted by individuals and non-profit organizations, and 178 (87.3%) of these petitions with a final response were denied. On average, these petitions required 2.85 years for a final agency decision, and many decisions remain pending 10-13 years after their initial submission. The great majority of the approved requests included some form of risk communication, such as labeling changes, boxed warnings or placement of a drug into a Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy. As a policy instrument to improve the safety of medical and food products, the citizen petition process requires sophisticated legal and scientific expertise, and may not represent a viable route for ordinary citizens to petition the FDA to "redress grievances."

Compensating citizens for poor service delivery : Experimental research in public and private settings

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Thomassen, Jean Pierre; Leliveld, Marijke C.; Van de Walle, Steven; Ahaus, Kees

2017-01-01

After a service failure, citizens expect a recovery strategy that restores perceived justice and places a reasonable value on their loss. Offering monetary compensation is a strategy commonly used in private settings, but less so in public settings. To date, compensation effects have not been

Citizen Goals Online

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin Vrabie

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give to public institution Web designers a better understanding of the citizens’ objectives when accessing a Web page. Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets to the heart of what the public institution website should or could “do.” Approach: The challenge for e-marketers is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizens could come to the website. For example, a national theatre website might be very effective for people who have already been there, they know effectively what place is the best, who are the actors, etc. Research limitations: The nature of a public institution activity almost dictates the different types of goals that consumers have when visiting the site. It is clear that a citizen has a different goal when accessing a theatre Web page or when he’s accessing a municipality Web page. This is the biggest impediment for drawing a good conceptual model for a public institution Web page. Practical implications: there are likely to be many other goals that could lead people to visit the site, like receiving customer service or leaving a remark. Value: Since citizen online goals represent the starting point for Web design efforts (for public institutions, this article has attempted to highlight the nature and types of goals that e-marketers might consider when planning what their website should do in order to create. Findings: The goal a site visitor has when arriving at a website tends to be very action oriented. If the visitor has never visited the site before, the goal may simply be to evaluate the website and figure out what the site is and if it will help him. On the other hand, if the visitor has reached the site as the result of a directed search or is a repeat visitor, the user goal is likely to be specific and functional. If important citizen goals are not supported by the website, the public

Citizen Goals Online

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Catalin Vrabie

2012-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to give to public institution Web designers a better understanding of the citizens’ objectives when accessing a Web page. Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets to the heart of what the public institution website should or could “do.”Approach: The challenge for e-marketers is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizens could come to the website. For example, a national theatre website might be very effective for people who have already been there, they know effectively what place is the best, who are the actors, etc.Research limitations: The nature of a public institution activity almost dictates the different types of goals that consumers have when visiting the site. It is clear that a citizen has a different goal when accessing a theatre Web page or when he’s accessing a municipality Web page. This is the biggest impediment for drawing a good conceptual model for a public institution Web page.Practical implications: there are likely to be many other goals that could lead people to visit the site, like receiving customer service or leaving a remark.Value: Since citizen online goals represent the starting point for Web design efforts (for public institutions, this article has attempted to highlight the nature and types of goals that e-marketers might consider when planning what their website should do in order to create.Findings: The goal a site visitor has when arriving at a website tends to be very action oriented. If the visitor has never visited the site before, the goal may simply be to evaluate the website and figure out what the site is and if it will help him. On the other hand, if the visitor has reached the site as the result of a directed search or is a repeat visitor, the user goal is likely to be specific and functional. If important citizen goals are not supported by the website, the public

Who are the citizens in public participation GIS

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Henning Sten; Reinau, Kristian Hegner

2006-01-01

to face discussions between the citizens. Equal opportunities to express their opinions and an open debate between people are the basic foundation for democracy. Therefore the design of participatory processes must take outset in the citizens and their knowledge and commitment concerning the issue...... stakeholders among a broader group of citizens, and ask for their opinion. Especially women and younger generations are much more needed in the participatory process. Therefore the county administration must consider these findings to make the participation tools more targeted in the future....

Citizens United, public health, and democracy: the Supreme Court ruling, its implications, and proposed action.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiist, William H

2011-07-01

The 2010 US Supreme Court Citizens United v Federal Election Commission 130 US 876 (2010) case concerned the plans of a nonprofit organization to distribute a film about presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. The Court ruled that prohibiting corporate independent expenditures for advocacy advertising during election campaigns unconstitutionally inhibits free speech. Corporations can now make unlimited contributions to election advocacy advertising directly from the corporate treasury. Candidates who favor public health positions may be subjected to corporate opposition advertising. Citizen groups and legislators have proposed remedies to ameliorate the effects of the Court's ruling. The public health field needs to apply its expertise, in collaboration with others, to work to reduce the disproportionate influence of corporate political speech on health policy and democracy.

Do Digital Systems and Concept in Modern Public Service Production Have a Negative Impact on Citizens as End-Users?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, John Storm; Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

Do digital systems and concepts in modern public service production have a negative impact on citizens as end-users? To answer this research question, we shall first present our theoretical framework ‘the institutional logics perspective’ and show how we deploy this on modern public service...... production. Second, we claim that digital systems and concepts develop a new institutional logic within modern public service production: the ‘digital logic’. Third, we analyze and discuss the new logic´s possible impact on citizens as end-users. Fourth, we discuss the ethical dimensions of values and ethics...... in relation to public service production and digitizing....

Power station design and public relations - association with the citizen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eiteneyer, H.

1977-01-01

The series of questions concerning public relations, connected with the realization of power plant construction projects will be discussed before the background of the public requirement of electricity supply corporations. It will be explained that public relation cannot be seen as an instrument, having the purpose to inform about 'good or bad' of power plant designs and construction intentions. PR is more a constitutive element of economy policy. Transparent, clear information of the citizen about power plant projects, and power plant related procedures should be their targets. This signifies a distance from just technical presentation. PR must develop in the direction to active corporational strategy, taking psychological- and social psychological influences into consideration. Statements will be made in regard to the dialogue between power plant advocates and power plant opponents. The special responsibility of the public electricity supply corporations for an always sufficient, safe and economical supply to the consumer, will be pointed out. Better information of the public in this regard is a necessary requirement. (orig.) [de

NASA Citizen Science: Putting Real Data, Observations, and Analysis Methods in the Hands of the Public

Science.gov (United States)

Mayo, L.

2014-12-01

The ability for the general public, science attentive public, educators, and amateur scientists to obtain and use data from remote instrumentation in authentic research / citizen science activities has grown enormously in the past decade due to the internet, increasing bandwidths, easy translation of data formats, and an expanding population of web based acquisition, display, analysis, and publishing tools. The impact of this new and rapidly growing capability is both evolutionary and paradigm changing. At no other time in history have we had the ability to marshal planetary scale resources to educate large populations across socio economic and geographical boundaries and to push the envelope of science discovery through long baseline observing campaigns, crowd sourcing, and the like. This talk will focus on some of NASA's authentic research and citizen science campaigns and discuss opportunities for future public collaborations.

CITIZEN PROTECTION IN FRONT OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION. COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

POPESCU Maria

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to analyze the legal instruments available to the citizen to fight against government abuses. These tools, some of them published and recently developed, is a natural part of the evolution of government and the relationship between administration and citizens. Increasing citizen involvement in administration is reflected precisely by giving increasing importance in legal research to this phenomenon.

Public reactions to nuclear waste: Citizens' views of repository siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rosa, E.A.

1993-01-01

This book presents revised and updated papers from a panel of social scientists, at the 1989 AAAS meetings, that examined the public's reactions to nuclear waste disposal and the repository siting process. The papers report the results of original empirical research on citizens' views of nuclear waste repository siting. Topics covered include the following: content analysis of public testimony; sources of public concern about nuclear waste disposal in Texas agricultural communities; local attitudes toward high-level waste repository at Hanford; perceived risk and attitudes toward nuclear wastes; attitudes of Nevada urban residents toward a nuclear waste repository; attitudes of rural community residents toward a nuclear waste respository. An introductory chapter provides background and context, and a concluding chapter summarizes the implications of the reports. Two additional chapters cover important features of high-level waste disposal: long term trends in public attitudes toward nuclear energy and nuclear waste policy and assessment of the effects on the Los Vegas convention business if a high-level nuclear waste depository were sited in Nevada

Sticker Shock: How Information Affects Citizen Support for Public School Funding.

Science.gov (United States)

Schueler, Beth E; West, Martin R

2016-01-01

This study examines the role of information in shaping public opinion in the context of support for education spending. While there is broad public support for increasing government funding for public schools, Americans tend to underestimate what is currently spent. We embed a series of experiments in a nationally representative survey administered in 2012 ( n = 2,993) to examine whether informing citizens about current levels of education spending alters public opinion about whether funding should increase. Providing information on per-pupil spending in a respondent's local school district reduces the probability that he or she will express support for increasing spending by 22 percentage points on average. Informing respondents about state-average teacher salaries similarly depresses support for salary increases. These effects are larger among respondents who underestimate per-pupil spending and teacher salaries by a greater amount, consistent with the idea that the observed changes in opinion are driven, at least in part, by informational effects, as opposed to priming alone.

Problems raised by participation of foreign citizens in national licensing procedures - aspects of public international law

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pelzer, N.

1983-01-01

In western Europe persons living in border areas increasingly ask for participation in national licensing procedures for nuclear installations to be erected close to the border in neighbouring countries. National practices vary in this matter. Whilst many countries concede rights of participation to foreign citizens in the border areas, the Federal Republic of Germany, e.g., denies foreign citizens direct participation. The paper enquires into the connected problems of public international law and pertinent international treaties and international customary low are examined. (NEA) [fr

CosmoQuest MoonMappers: Citizen Lunar Exploration

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, P. L.; Antonenko, I.; Robbins, S. J.; Bracey, G.; Lehan, C.; Moore, J.; Huang, D.

2012-09-01

The MoonMappers citizen science project is part of CosmoQuest, a virtual research facility designed for the public. CosmoQuest seeks to take the best aspects of a research center - research, seminars, journal clubs, and community discussions - and provide them to a community of citizen scientists through a virtual facility. MoonMappers was the first citizen science project within CosmoQuest, and is being used to define best practices in getting the public to effectively learn and do science.

Our Light or Starlight? Citizen Science, Public Involvement and You

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.

2010-10-01

With half of the world's population now living in cities, many urban dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies and maybe never will. Light pollution is obscuring people's long-standing natural heritage to view stars. The GLOBE at Night program (www.globeatnight.org) is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by encouraging everyone everywhere to measure local levels of night sky brightness and contribute observations online to a world map. In the last 5 years, GLOBE at Night has been the most productive public light pollution monitoring campaign, collecting over 52,000 observations in a two-week period annually. This year, during the moonless two weeks in March, the campaign set a record high of over 17,800 measurements from people in 86 countries. Foundational resources are available to facilitate the public's participation in promoting dark skies awareness. The GLOBE at Night website explains clearly the simple-to-participate-in 5 step program and offers background information and interactive games on key concepts. The program has been expanded to include trainings of the general public, but especially educators in schools, museums and science centers, in unique ways. Education kits for dark skies awareness have been distributed at the training workshops. The kit includes material for a light shielding demonstration, a digital Sky Quality Meter and ``Dark Skies Rangers'' activities. The activities are on how unshielded light wastes energy, how light pollution affects wildlife and how you can participate in a citizen-science star-hunt like GLOBE at Night. In addition, projects are being developed for what to do with the data once it is taken. The GLOBE at Night data from different years can be compared to look for trends over time or with population density maps. The data can also be used to search for dark sky oases or to monitor lighting ordinance compliance. Most recently

Online Citizens - Does the Net Add Something New to the Local Public and Local Politics?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Torpe

2006-09-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the skeptical view that on-line forms of politial participation have thus far had only little importance for democracy. Based on an analysis of the interplay between the supply of, and the demands for, e-tools for political informaiton and deliberation at the local level in Denmark, it is concluded that the skeptical view is con- firmed to some extent; however, It is also shown that something more - as well as something new - is added to the local political public, both in terms of the citizens involved and the topics discussed. Further- more, the case study indicates that online deliberations have had a number of minor effects on local political opinionformation and deci- sion-making. Thus, the overall conclusion is that a local forum of digital deliberations has the potential to form an alternative channel for raising issues and forming a vehicle for involving more citizens in politics, including citizens with weak resources.

Citizens in sustainable transitions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hoffmann, Birgitte; Agger, Annika

2013-01-01

The paper explores how local public authorities can support and facilitate citizens’ participa-tion and learning in sustainable transition in urban neighbourhoods, by supporting local in-termediaries. The role of intermediaries can be performed by a variety of actors such as public housing...... associations; NGO´s, or semi public institutions. Our claim is that intermediary actors have the potential to facilitate new platforms for citizens’ participation in urban sustainable transition due to their particular role in between public authorities and civil society. The key question of the paper is how...... the intermediary actors facilitate citizens' participatory processes in sustainable urban transitions, and the paper explores the concept of institutional capacity building as a way to develop learning processes and new practises? The aim is to analyse approaches of creating platforms for involving citizens...

Observation of a J(PC)=1-+ exotic resonance in diffractive dissociation of 190   GeV/c π- into π- π- π+.

Science.gov (United States)

Alekseev, M G; Alexakhin, V Yu; Alexandrov, Yu; Alexeev, G D; Amoroso, A; Austregesilo, A; Badełek, B; Balestra, F; Ball, J; Barth, J; Baum, G; Bedfer, Y; Bernhard, J; Bertini, R; Bettinelli, M; Birsa, R; Bisplinghoff, J; Bordalo, P; Bradamante, F; Bravar, A; Bressan, A; Brona, G; Burtin, E; Bussa, M P; Chapiro, A; Chiosso, M; Chung, S U; Cicuttin, A; Colantoni, M; Crespo, M L; Dalla Torre, S; Dafni, T; Das, S; Dasgupta, S S; Denisov, O Yu; Dhara, L; Diaz, V; Dinkelbach, A M; Donskov, S V; Doshita, N; Duic, V; Dünnweber, W; Efremov, A; El Alaoui, A; Eversheim, P D; Eyrich, W; Faessler, M; Ferrero, A; Finger, M; Finger, M; Fischer, H; Franco, C; Friedrich, J M; Garfagnini, R; Gautheron, F; Gavrichtchouk, O P; Gazda, R; Gerassimov, S; Geyer, R; Giorgi, M; Gobbo, B; Goertz, S; Grabmüller, S; Grajek, O A; Grasso, A; Grube, B; Gushterski, R; Guskov, A; Haas, F; von Harrach, D; Hasegawa, T; Heckmann, J; Heinsius, F H; Hermann, R; Herrmann, F; Hess, C; Hinterberger, F; Horikawa, N; Höppner, Ch; d'Hose, N; Ilgner, C; Ishimoto, S; Ivanov, O; Ivanshin, Yu; Iwata, T; Jahn, R; Jasinski, P; Jegou, G; Joosten, R; Kabuss, E; Kang, D; Ketzer, B; Khaustov, G V; Khokhlov, Yu A; Kisselev, Yu; Klein, F; Klimaszewski, K; Koblitz, S; Koivuniemi, J H; Kolosov, V N; Komissarov, E V; Kondo, K; Königsmann, K; Konopka, R; Konorov, I; Konstantinov, V F; Korzenev, A; Kotzinian, A M; Kouznetsov, O; Kowalik, K; Krämer, M; Kral, A; Kroumchtein, Z V; Kuhn, R; Kunne, F; Kurek, K; Lauser, L; Le Goff, J M; Lednev, A A; Lehmann, A; Levorato, S; Lichtenstadt, J; Liska, T; Maggiora, A; Maggiora, M; Magnon, A; Mallot, G K; Mann, A; Marchand, C; Marroncle, J; Martin, A; Marzec, J; Massmann, F; Matsuda, T; Maximov, A N; Meyer, W; Michigami, T; Mikhailov, Yu V; Moinester, M A; Mutter, A; Nagaytsev, A; Nagel, T; Nassalski, J; Negrini, T; Nerling, F; Neubert, S; Neyret, D; Nikolaenko, V I; Olshevsky, A G; Ostrick, M; Padee, A; Panknin, R; Panzieri, D; Parsamyan, B; Paul, S; Pawlukiewicz-Kaminska, B; Perevalova, E; Pesaro, G; Peshekhonov, D V; Piragino, G; Platchkov, S; Pochodzalla, J; Polak, J; Polyakov, V A; Pontecorvo, G; Pretz, J; Quintans, C; Rajotte, J-F; Ramos, S; Rapatsky, V; Reicherz, G; Reggiani, D; Richter, A; Robinet, F; Rocco, E; Rondio, E; Ryabchikov, D I; Samoylenko, V D; Sandacz, A; Santos, H; Sapozhnikov, M G; Sarkar, S; Savin, I A; Sbrizzai, G; Schiavon, P; Schill, C; Schlüter, T; Schmitt, L; Schopferer, S; Schröder, W; Shevchenko, O Yu; Siebert, H-W; Silva, L; Sinha, L; Sissakian, A N; Slunecka, M; Smirnov, G I; Sosio, S; Sozzi, F; Srnka, A; Stolarski, M; Sulc, M; Sulej, R; Takekawa, S; Tessaro, S; Tessarotto, F; Teufel, A; Tkatchev, L G; Uhl, S; Uman, I; Venugopal, G; Virius, M; Vlassov, N V; Vossen, A; Weitzel, Q; Windmolders, R; Wiślicki, W; Wollny, H; Zaremba, K; Zavertyaev, M; Zemlyanichkina, E; Ziembicki, M; Zhao, J; Zhuravlev, N; Zvyagin, A

2010-06-18

The COMPASS experiment at the CERN SPS has studied the diffractive dissociation of negative pions into the π- π- π+ final state using a 190  GeV/c pion beam hitting a lead target. A partial wave analysis has been performed on a sample of 420,000 events taken at values of the squared 4-momentum transfer t' between 0.1 and 1  GeV2/c2. The well-known resonances a1(1260), a2(1320), and π2(1670) are clearly observed. In addition, the data show a significant natural-parity exchange production of a resonance with spin-exotic quantum numbers J(PC)=1-+ at 1.66  GeV/c2 decaying to ρπ. The resonant nature of this wave is evident from the mass-dependent phase differences to the J(PC)=2-+ and 1++ waves. From a mass-dependent fit a resonance mass of (1660±10(-64)(+0))  MeV/c2 and a width of (269±21(-64)(+42))  MeV/c2 are deduced, with an intensity of (1.7±0.2)% of the total intensity.

Old citizens, new logics: Digital literacy and elderly citizens in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stald, Gitte Bang

2016-01-01

and The Danage Association. Theoretically, the article discusses definitions of digital literacy respectively digital citizenship; and it draws on theories on mediatization, media ecologies, and digital governance. REFERENCES (selected) Borchorst, D.S. et al (2016). ”Digitalisering af ældre menneskers hverdag......Old citizens, new logics: Digital literacy and elderly citizens in Denmark Many my age have problems with IT. We are now reasonably informed and we have had computers for many years but our competences are still not tiptop and that is definitely a problem. This 79-year old man talks about...... the challenges he encounters with mastering IT in general and NemID in particular. NemID is the Danish, digital system for interaction between public institutions and citizens. The system was implemented by law in December 2015. The paper focuses on the relation between age, digitization, and citizen self...

A linked open data and semantic citizen vocabulary for public administration : a first exploration and implementation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M.W. (Martijn) Hartog; A.W. (Bert) Mulder

2017-01-01

Citizen participation and structural involvement in a participatory society and public administration becomes more extensive in The Netherlands as digital developments are vastly implemented. The difference in language and definitions from the system-world of professionals and the life-world of

Citizen science: a new direction in canine behavior research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hecht, Julie; Spicer Rice, Eleanor

2015-01-01

Researchers increasingly rely on members of the public to contribute to scientific projects-from collecting or identifying, to analyzing and disseminating data. The "citizen science" model proves useful to many thematically distinctive fields, like ornithology, astronomy, and phenology. The recent formalization of citizen science projects addresses technical issues related to volunteer participation--like data quality--so that citizen scientists can make longstanding, meaningful contributions to scientific projects. Since the late 1990s, canine science research has relied with greater frequency on the participation of the general public, particularly dog owners. These researchers do not typically consider the methods and technical issues that those conducting citizen science projects embrace and continue to investigate. As more canine science studies rely on public input, an in-depth knowledge of the benefits and challenges of citizen science can help produce relevant, high-quality data while increasing the general public's understanding of canine behavior and cognition as well as the scientific process. We examine the benefits and challenges of current citizen science models in an effort to enhance canine citizen science project preparation, execution, and dissemination. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled: Canine Behavior. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Risk perceptions of public health and food safety hazards in poultry husbandry by citizens, poultry farmers and poultry veterinarians

Science.gov (United States)

Poortvliet, P M; Ekkel, E D; Kemp, B; Stassen, E N

2018-01-01

Abstract Differences in risk perceptions of public health and food safety hazards in various poultry husbandry systems by various stakeholder groups, may affect the acceptability of those husbandry systems. Therefore, the objective was to gain insight into risk perceptions of citizens, poultry farmers, and poultry veterinarians regarding food safety and public health hazards in poultry husbandry systems, and into factors explaining these risk perceptions. We surveyed risk perceptions of Campylobacter contamination of broiler meat, avian influenza introduction in laying hens, and altered dioxin levels in eggs for the most commonly used broiler and laying hen husbandry systems in Dutch citizens (n = 2,259), poultry farmers (n = 100), and poultry veterinarians (n = 41). Citizens perceived the risks of the three hazards in the indoor systems higher and in the outdoor systems lower than did the professionals. Citizens reported higher concerns regarding aspects reflecting underlying psychological factors of risk perception compared to professionals. Professionals indicated a relatively low level of personal control, which might imply risk denial. Of the socio-demographic characteristics, gender and childhood residence were associated with risk perceptions. The influence of other factors of risks perception are discussed. It is suggested that risk perceptions of all stakeholder groups are influenced by affect, stigma, and underlying values. To adapt current or new husbandry systems that can count on societal support, views of key stakeholders and multiple aspects such as animal welfare, public health, food safety, and underlying values should be considered integrally. When trade-offs, such as between animal welfare and public health have to be made, insight into underlying values might help to find consensus among stakeholders. PMID:29161444

DEVELOPING CITIZEN SAFETY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VRABIE Catalin

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Is it possible to involve citizens in the process of increasing public safety? Police used, even from its beginnings, the help of citizens, otherwise they would encounter problems in performing its duty - many of its successes were due to the unification of Police forces with the citizens. How citizens get involved? (1 They may be directly asked by the Police officers (a time consuming method because many police officers needs to go on the field to speak with the potential witnesses or (2 by using the mass-media channels (television can address to a large number of potential witnesses in a very short time. We still can see on TV portraits of missing persons, or some other kind of images with which the Police is trying to solve some of its cases (thieves, robbers or burglars surprised by surveillance cameras – why not Internet software application?!

ICTs, Openness and Citizen Perceptions of Government: How Civic Technologies Can Facilitate External Citizen Efficacy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Rumbul

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines whether civic technologies deliver an effective technique for developing the political efficacy of citizens and altering their perceived accountability of governments. Employing a survey-based methodology, a quantitative analysis was performed on the users of civic technology sites in the USA, UK, Kenya and South Africa. The primary question posed is whether the specific citizen monitoring actions facilitated by these sites cause a related effect in altering the extent to which citizens believe that governments are responsive to citizen-audit. The results indicate an enhancement in citizen efficacy and perceptions of government accountability. Notable differences detected in the user demographics between the countries studied demonstrate a wide spectrum of citizen usage; however, with common confidence displayed by respondents in the efficacy of the ICT. The findings indicate that the publication and citizen-audit of government information through civic technologies in developed and developing countries increases feelings of external efficacy and perceived government accountability.

The Educated Citizen and Global Public-Health Issues: One Model for Integration into the Undergraduate Curriculum

OpenAIRE

Caron, Rosemary M.

2016-01-01

The Educated Citizen Initiative proposes that an understanding of public health issues is a core component of an educated citizenry and is essential to developing one’s societal responsibility. This initiative supports the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that all undergraduates should have access to education in public health. Furthermore, the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) framework developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities supports the integ...

Citizen and Resident Satisfaction with Public Services in Qatar : And the impact on quality of life

OpenAIRE

Benmansour, Nada Abdelkader , [بن منصور، ندى عبد القادر

2016-01-01

In Qatar notable differences in public service satisfaction exist across individual state services, across nationality groupings, and across demographic categories. Among all citizens and residents, however, there is an empirical link between satisfaction with state services and overall perceptions of quality of life. Policymakers should thus study efforts to collect regular and systematic data on the performance of key public institutions, including through the collection of consumer feedbac...

Citizen participation in nuclear waste repository siting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Howell, R.E.; Olsen, D.

1982-12-01

The following study presents a proposed strategy for citizen participation during the planning stages of nuclear waste repository siting. It discusses the issue from the general perspective of citizen participation in controversial issues and in community development. Second, rural institutions and attitudes toward energy development as the context for developing a citizen participation program are examined. Third, major citizen participation techniques and the advantages and disadvantages of each approach for resolving public policy issues are evaluated. Fourth, principles of successful citizen participation are presented. Finally, a proposal for stimulating and sustaining effective responsible citizen participation in nuclear waste repository siting and management is developed

Prospect Theory and Public Service Outcomes: When do Citizen Prefer Risky Reforms to Reforms with Certain Outcomes?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bækgaard, Martin

Prospect theory (Kahneman and Tversky 1979; Tversky and Kahneman 1992) has been widely acknowledged in the social sciences as a potential frame for understanding how people deal with uncertainty. Yet, little is known about whether key expectations from prospect theory also hold in a complex public...... service setting with outcomes in multiple dimensions. In this paper I draw on prospect theory to examine under what conditions citizens prefer uncertain – but potentially advantageous – reforms to reforms with more certain outcomes. Using a population based survey experiment with participation of 1......,395 Danish citizens I find support for some of the expectations derived from prospect theory while the evidence is in outright opposition to the expectations in other instances. Most notably, I find that that citizens are more willing to take risks if reforms are associated with gains than...

Citizen (Dis)satisfaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Asmus Leth

2015-01-01

This article introduces the importance of equivalence framing for understanding how satisfaction measures affect citizens’ evaluation of public services. Does a 90 percent satisfaction rate have a different effect than a logically equivalent 10 percent dissatisfaction rate? Two experiments were...... conducted on citizens’ evaluations of hospital services in a large, nationally representative sample of Danish citizens. Both experiments found that exposing citizens to a patient dissatisfaction measure led to more negative views of public service than exposing them to a logically equivalent satisfaction...... metric. There is some support for part of the shift in evaluations being caused by a negativity bias: dissatisfaction has a larger negative impact than satisfaction has a positive impact. Both professional experience at a hospital and prior exposure to satisfaction rates reduced the negative response...

Citizens' actions and environmental impact statements

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waelde, T.

1975-01-01

Above all, two kinds of citizens' participation in environmental decisions are to be considered: on the one hand the suit for damages and compensation for the purpose of internalization of external effects, and on the other hand the actions with the aim to influence character and content of public final decision cases. This is where cooperation and contributions towards state activities with more concern for the environment come into it. This sphere is investigated. Combined are the possibility of judicially arranged citizens' participation and a modern instrument of public decision: environmental impact statements. At the moment these appear to become exclusively an instrument for internal administration management. However, it is possible - this can be confirmed in comparative law - to couple this for the purpose of administration created instrument of technology assessment with citizens' actions. Therefore, the article aims to point to a solution how modern administration management through judicial mediation can orientate itself according to citizens' interests. (orig./LN) [de

Citizen science can improve conservation science, natural resource management, and environmental protection

Science.gov (United States)

McKinley, Duncan C.; Miller-Rushing, Abe J.; Ballard, Heidi L.; Bonney, Rick; Brown, Hutch; Cook-Patton, Susan; Evans, Daniel M.; French, Rebecca A.; Parrish, Julia; Phillips, Tina B.; Ryan, Sean F.; Shanley, Lea A.; Shirk, Jennifer L.; Stepenuck, Kristine F.; Weltzin, Jake F.; Wiggins, Andrea; Boyle, Owen D.; Briggs, Russell D.; Chapin, Stuart F.; Hewitt, David A.; Preuss, Peter W.; Soukup, Michael A.

2017-01-01

Citizen science has advanced science for hundreds of years, contributed to many peer-reviewed articles, and informed land management decisions and policies across the United States. Over the last 10 years, citizen science has grown immensely in the United States and many other countries. Here, we show how citizen science is a powerful tool for tackling many of the challenges faced in the field of conservation biology. We describe the two interwoven paths by which citizen science can improve conservation efforts, natural resource management, and environmental protection. The first path includes building scientific knowledge, while the other path involves informing policy and encouraging public action. We explore how citizen science is currently used and describe the investments needed to create a citizen science program. We find that:Citizen science already contributes substantially to many domains of science, including conservation, natural resource, and environmental science. Citizen science informs natural resource management, environmental protection, and policymaking and fosters public input and engagement.Many types of projects can benefit from citizen science, but one must be careful to match the needs for science and public involvement with the right type of citizen science project and the right method of public participation.Citizen science is a rigorous process of scientific discovery, indistinguishable from conventional science apart from the participation of volunteers. When properly designed, carried out, and evaluated, citizen science can provide sound science, efficiently generate high-quality data, and help solve problems.

Priming and Context Effects in Citizen Satisfaction Surveys

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjortskov, Morten

2017-01-01

Citizen satisfaction surveys are used extensively throughout the public sector to assess the performance of public services and to inform decision-makers. Recent research points to cognitive biases that may occur in citizens’ perceptions of performance of public services, but we know little about...... possible biases in the collection of these data. This shortcoming is addressed by investigating the priming and context effects that can arise from the structure of citizen surveys—for example from the question order in the survey. Two independent experimental studies find that prior positively framed...... questions about police services affect subsequent satisfaction evaluations of other local public services. However, an informational prime about crime and unrelated questions about family-life satisfaction have little effect on the subsequent satisfaction evaluations. The results show that citizen...

Citizen Expectations and Satisfaction Over Time

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjortskov, Morten

2018-01-01

Expectations are thought to affect how citizens form their attitudes and behavior toward public services. Such attitudes may include citizen satisfaction, where expectations play a fundamental role, and relevant behaviors include choice of services and the decision to voice opinions about them....... However, there are few investigations into what drives citizen expectations and even fewer that consider these relationships across time. This article tests whether prior expectations, perceived performance, and citizen satisfaction influence future expectations, using a unique dataset that follows...... individual citizens across two subsequent school satisfaction surveys from 2011 and 2013. The results show that prior expectations have a large and consistent influence on future expectations, as predicted by the literature, whereas the influence from prior perceived performance seems less consistent. Prior...

Bridging the Expert and Citizen Divide: Integrating Public Deliberation to Inform NASA's Asteroid Initiative

Science.gov (United States)

Farooque, M.; Tomblin, D. C.; Sittenfeld, D.

2017-12-01

The demand for public engagement in upstream science and technology is fast becoming mainstream. From the National Academies to the European Commission, from geoengineering to gene editing, from artificial intelligence to synthetic biology—there is a growing recognition of the socio-technical nature of the inherent challenges and a variety of calls for earlier and sustained engagement with diverse stakeholders and the general public. Despite a significant increase in the number and sophistication of approaches, institutional and cultural barriers remain, particularly in linking techno-scientific discourse with socio-political discourse. We will report on a 2014 study to use Participatory Technology Assessment (pTA), a method for eliciting informed, deliberative, diverse, and representative citizen views prior to making decisions about science and technology, to inform upstream decisions concerning NASA's Asteroid Initiative. In partnership with NASA, the Expert and Citizen Assessment of Science and Technology (ECAST) network conducted pTA forums in Boston and Phoenix to assess citizens' preferences and values about potential options for asteroid detection, mitigation, and retrieval and the deployment of the Capability Driven Framework as a planning instrument for a journey to Mars. We describe the three-step trans-disciplinary research process applied for (a) issue framing and deliberation design, (b) content development and participant recruitment, and (c) value assessments and results integration. We present result highlights, describe how they were used, and what kind of impact they had on decisions made by NASA. We discuss the influence this project had on subsequent initiatives by NOAA for climate resilience planning and by DOE for nuclear waste management. We conclude with our thoughts on (i) a new institutional model and (ii) research, application and adaptation opportunities going forward focusing on the role pTA can play to bridge the divide between

Citizen Science: Data Sharing For, By, and With the Public

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, A.

2017-12-01

Data sharing in citizen science is just as challenging as it is for any other type of science, except that there are more parties involved, with more diverse needs and interests. This talk provides an overview of the challenges and current efforts to advance data sharing in citizen science, and suggests refocusing data management activities on supporting the needs of multiple audiences. Early work on data sharing in citizen science advocated applying the standards and practices of academia, which can only address the needs of one of several audiences for citizen science data, and academics are not always the primary audience. Practitioners still need guidance on how to better share data other key parties, such as participants and policymakers, and which data management practices to prioritize for addressing the needs of multiple audiences. The benefits to the project of investing scarce resources into data products and dissemination strategies for each target audience still remain variable, unclear, or unpredictable. And as projects mature and change, the importance of data sharing activities and audiences are likely to change as well. This combination of multiple diverse audiences, shifting priorities, limited resources, and unclear benefits creates a perfect storm of conditions to suppress data sharing. Nonetheless, many citizen science projects make the effort, with exemplars showing substantial returns on data stewardship investments, and international initiatives are underway to bolster the data sharing capacity of the field. To improve the state of data sharing in citizen science, strategic use of limited resources suggests prioritizing data management activities that support the needs of multiple audiences. These may include better transparency about data access and usage, and standardized reporting of broader impacts from secondary data users, to both reward projects and incentivize further data sharing.

Citizen participation and citizen initiatives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthoefer, H.

1977-01-01

Contents: Social conditions for citizen initiatives - technical change and employment - crisis behaviour - socio-psychological analysis of political planning; legitimation - presentation and criticism - conditions for citizen initiatives coming into being within the field of tension citizen : administration - legal problems of citizen initiatives - environmental protection in the energy discussion; participation; models. (HP) [de

Science experiences of citizen scientists in entomology research

Science.gov (United States)

Lynch, Louise I.

Citizen science is an increasingly popular collaboration between members of the public and the scientific community to pursue current research questions. In addition to providing researchers with much needed volunteer support, it is a unique and promising form of informal science education that can counter declining public science literacy, including attitudes towards and understanding of science. However, the impacts of citizen science programs on participants' science literacy remains elusive. The purpose of this study was to balance the top-down approach to citizen science research by exploring how adult citizen scientists participate in entomology research based on their perceptions and pioneer mixed methods research to investigate and explain the impacts of citizen science programs. Transference, in which citizen scientists transfer program impacts to people around them, was uncovered in a grounded theory study focused on adults in a collaborative bumble bee research program. Most of the citizen scientists involved in entomology research shared their science experiences and knowledge with people around them. In certain cases, expertise was attributed to the individual by others. Citizen scientists then have the opportunity to acquire the role of expert to those around them and influence knowledge, attitudinal and behavioral changes in others. An intervention explanatory sequential mixed methods design assessed how entomology-based contributory citizen science affects science self-efficacy, self-efficacy for environmental action, nature relatedness and attitude towards insects in adults. However, no statistically significant impacts were evident. A qualitative follow-up uncovered a discrepancy between statistically measured changes and perceived influences reported by citizen scientists. The results have important implications for understanding how citizen scientists learn, the role of citizen scientists in entomology research, the broader program impacts and

GLOBE at Night: Raising Public Awareness and Involvement through Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.; Sparks, R. T.

2010-12-01

With half of the world’s population now living in cities, many urban dwellers have never experienced the wonderment of pristinely dark skies and maybe never will. Light pollution is obscuring people’s long-standing natural heritage to view stars. The GLOBE at Night program (www.globeatnight.org) is an international citizen-science campaign to raise public awareness of the impact of light pollution by encouraging everyone everywhere to measure local levels of night sky brightness and contribute observations online to a world map. In the last 5 years, GLOBE at Night has been the most productive public light pollution monitoring campaign, collecting over 52,000 observations in a two-week period annually. This year, during the moonless two weeks in March, the campaign set a record high of over 17,800 measurements from people in 86 countries. Foundational resources are available to facilitate the public’s participation in promoting dark skies awareness. The GLOBE at Night website explains clearly the simple-to-participate-in 5 step program and offers background information and interactive games on key concepts. The program has been expanded to include trainings of the general public, but especially educators in schools, museums and science centers, in unique ways. Education kits for dark skies awareness have been distributed at the training workshops. The kit includes material for a light shielding demonstration, a digital Sky Quality Meter and “Dark Skies Rangers” activities. The activities are on how unshielded light wastes energy, how light pollution affects wildlife and how you can participate in a citizen-science star-hunt like GLOBE at Night. In addition, projects are being developed for what to do with the data once it is taken. The GLOBE at Night data from different years can be compared to look for trends over time or with population density maps. The data can also be used to search for dark sky oases or to monitor lighting ordinance compliance. Most

Citizen-based environmental radiation monitoring network

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Alemayehu, B.; Mckinzie, M.; Cochran, T.; Sythe, D.; Randrup, R.; Lafargue, E.

2017-01-01

This paper discusses a Citizen Radiation Monitoring project designed and implemented by the Natural Resources Defense Council . The goal of the project was to implement a radiation monitoring system that provides radiation data accessible to the public. The monitoring system consisted of usage of a radiation detector integrated with near real-time data collection and visualization. The monitoring systems were installed at five different locations and background radiation measurements were taken. The developed monitoring system demonstrated that citizen-based monitoring system could provide accessible radiation data to the general public and relevant to the area where they live. (author)

Complete Genomes of Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, Two Phylogenetically Distinct Probiotics.

Science.gov (United States)

Khatri, Indu; Sharma, Shailza; Ramya, T N C; Subramanian, Srikrishna

2016-01-01

Several spore-forming strains of Bacillus are marketed as probiotics due to their ability to survive harsh gastrointestinal conditions and confer health benefits to the host. We report the complete genomes of two commercially available probiotics, Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, and compare them with the genomes of other Bacillus and Lactobacillus. The taxonomic position of both organisms was established with a maximum-likelihood tree based on twenty six housekeeping proteins. Analysis of all probiotic strains of Bacillus and Lactobacillus reveal that the essential sporulation proteins are conserved in all Bacillus probiotic strains while they are absent in Lactobacillus spp. We identified various antibiotic resistance, stress-related, and adhesion-related domains in these organisms, which likely provide support in exerting probiotic action by enabling adhesion to host epithelial cells and survival during antibiotic treatment and harsh conditions.

Engaging the public in healthcare decision-making: results from a Citizens' Jury on emergency care services.

Science.gov (United States)

Scuffham, P A; Moretto, N; Krinks, R; Burton, P; Whitty, J A; Wilson, A; Fitzgerald, G; Littlejohns, P; Kendall, E

2016-11-01

Policies addressing ED crowding have failed to incorporate the public's perspectives; engaging the public in such policies is needed. This study aimed at determining the public's recommendations related to alternative models of care intended to reduce crowding, optimising access to and provision of emergency care. A Citizens' Jury was convened in Queensland, Australia, to consider priority setting and resource allocation to address ED crowding. Twenty-two jurors were recruited from the electoral roll, who were interested and available to attend the jury from 15 to 17 June 2012. Juror feedback was collected via a survey immediately following the end of the jury. The jury considered that all patients attending the ED should be assessed with a minority of cases diverted for assistance elsewhere. Jurors strongly supported enabling ambulance staff to treat patients in their homes without transporting them to the ED, and allowing non-medical staff to treat some patients without seeing a doctor. Jurors supported (in principle) patient choice over aspects of their treatment (when, where and type of health professional) with some support for patients paying towards treatment but unanimous opposition for patients paying to be prioritised. Most of the jurors were satisfied with their experience of the Citizens' Jury process, but some jurors perceived the time allocated for deliberations as insufficient. These findings suggest that the general public may be open to flexible models of emergency care. The jury provided clear recommendations for direct public input to guide health policy to tackle ED crowding. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

For a citizen energy transition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Geze, Patrick; Bernon, Francoise; Alphandery, Claude; Albizzati, Amandine; Ballandras, Marc; Berland, Olivier; Peullemeulle, Justine; Causse, Laurent; Olivier, Dominique; Damerval, Francois; Lepage, Corinne; Dughera, Jacques; Bouchart, Christiane; Duracka, Nicolas; Ferrari, Albert; Noe, Julien; Soulias, Emmanuel; Gaspard, Albane; Greenwood, Marianne; Guy, Lionel; Kretzschmar, Cyril; Lalu, Delphine; Naett, Caroline; Raguet, Alex; Rouchon, Jean-Philippe; Ruedinger, Andreas; Sautter, Christian; Tudor, Ivan; Vaquie, Pierre-Francois; Vernier, Christophe; Youinou, Jean-Michel; Verny, Emmanuel; Claustre, Raphael; Leclercq, Michel

2015-09-01

This publication by a think tank specialised in social and solidarity economy first outlines that energy transition means a transition from the present energy model to a new model based on three pillars: a drastic reduction of energy consumption through sobriety (energy saving, struggle against wastage), an improvement of energy efficiency, and an energy mix based on renewable and sustainable resources. A first part proposes a discussion of what 'citizen' energy transition can be: general framework of energy transition, pioneering examples in Europe, citizen empowerment, importance of a decentralised model which is anchored in territories, general interest as a priority. Each of these issues and aspects is illustrated by examples. Then, as this evolution towards a citizen-based model requires a change of scale, the authors discuss how to involve public authorities and to adapt regulation, how to develop financing tools, how to support the emergence and development of projects, and how to be part of international dynamics. The author then discuss what their think tank can do to accelerate energy transition. Proposals made in the different chapters are then summarized

Citizen Science for Traffic Planning: A Practical Example

Science.gov (United States)

Rieke, Matthes; Stasch, Christoph; Autermann, Christian; de Wall, Arne; Remke, Albert; Wulffius, Herwig; Jirka, Simon

2017-04-01

Measures affecting traffic flows in urban areas, e.g. changing the configuration of traffic lights, are often causing emotional debates by citizens who are affected by these measures. Up to now, citizens are usually not involved in traffic planning and the evaluation of the decisions that were taken. The enviroCar project provides an open platform for collecting and analyzing car sensor data with GPS position data. On the hardware side, enviroCar relies on using Android smartphones and OBD-II Bluetooth adapters. A Web server component collects and aggregates the readings from the cars, anonymizes them and publishes the data as open data which scientists, public administrations or other third parties can utilize for further analysis. In this work, we provide a general overview on the enviroCar project and present a project in a mid-size city in Germany. The city's administration utilized the enviroCar platform with the help of a traffic system consultancy for including citizens in the evaluation process of different traffic light configurations along major traffic axes. Therefore, a public campaign was started including local workshops to engage the citizens. More than 150 citizens were actively collecting more about 9.500 tracks including about 2.5 million measurements. Dedicated evaluation results for the different traffic axes were computed based on the collected data set. Because the data is publicly available as open data, others may prove and reproduce the evaluation results contributing to an objective discussion of traffic planning measures. In summary, the project illustrates how Citizen Science methods and technologies improve traffic planning and related discussions.

A Science Products Inventory for Citizen-Science Planning and Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K; Weltzin, Jake F

2018-06-01

Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science.

A science products inventory for citizen-science planning and evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K.; Weltzin, Jake F.

2018-01-01

Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science.

A Science Products Inventory for Citizen-Science Planning and Evaluation

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea; Bonney, Rick; LeBuhn, Gretchen; Parrish, Julia K; Weltzin, Jake F

2018-01-01

Abstract Citizen science involves a range of practices involving public participation in scientific knowledge production, but outcomes evaluation is complicated by the diversity of the goals and forms of citizen science. Publications and citations are not adequate metrics to describe citizen-science productivity. We address this gap by contributing a science products inventory (SPI) tool, iteratively developed through an expert panel and case studies, intended to support general-purpose planning and evaluation of citizen-science projects with respect to science productivity. The SPI includes a collection of items for tracking the production of science outputs and data practices, which are described and illustrated with examples. Several opportunities for further development of the initial inventory are highlighted, as well as potential for using the inventory as a tool to guide project management, funding, and research on citizen science. PMID:29867254

Legal and institutional frameworks for government relations with citizens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Caddy, J.

2000-01-01

Unacceptably low or declining confidence in public institutions in OECD Member countries has led governments to view the issue of government-citizen relations with growing concern and to take initiatives to strengthen this fundamental relationship. Governments have begun to realize that they can better anticipate citizens' evolving and multiple needs by pro-actively involving them in the policy-making process in order to develop solutions to issues as they first appear, and not when they become pressing problems. When government succeeds in anticipating citizens' needs and aspirations, it earns currency in the form of trust. The price of failure is a loss of legitimacy. The conditions for trust in government include a well-educated citizenry, transparent processes and accountability. Government needs to establish a 'level playing field' so that citizens can see that their interests are being treated fairly. Citizens, for their part, need to learn to value fairness in government over special favours for well-connected groups. Transparency in government helps to assure citizens that they are being treated fairly. Accountability helps ensure that government failures are corrected and that public services meet expectations. Governments increasingly realize that they will not be able to conduct and effectively implement policies, as good as they may be, if their citizens do not support them. (author)

Adoption Patterns for the Digital Post System by Danish Municipalities and Citizens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Berger, Jesper B.; Hertzum, Morten

2014-01-01

The value of e-government, services to citizens by public institutions through the internet, is dependent on the mutual adoption of e-government by both the public institution and the citizens. This paper describes a longitudinal study of e-government adoption by municipalities and citizens...... Post. The adoption patterns among citizens were less distinct. We calculated the realized savings to only 20% of the anticipated savings, leading to a deficit of nearly €5 million in 2013. Municipal funding was reduced according to the anticipated savings. In addition, the variation in adoption...

Nuclear risk and citizen information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Charbonneau, S.

1999-01-01

This issue studies the citizen information relative to the nuclear risk. If the regulation about the information and the participation of the citizen on the nuclear risk is relatively complete, the industrial and administrative practice is marked by the habits of information retention. The official caution has for motive the fact to provoke the unjustified anxiety of the populations. An opposite strategy is actually experimented with the operators of nuclear industry in informing the public opinion with the slightest technical incidents. (N.C.)

Active audiencies and journalism: Involved citizens or motivated consumers?

OpenAIRE

Masip, Pere; Guallar, Javier; Peralta, Miquel; Ruiz-Caballero, Carlos; Suau, Jaume

2015-01-01

Audience participation, in any of its forms and names (public journalism, citizen journalism, participatory journalism, UGC), appears to revitalise democracy, thanks to the opportunities for public debate opened up by information and communications technology. On the other hand, however, there are many authors who question whether interactive technologies really encourage democracy or the market, empower the citizen or strengthen the consumer. In this context, we still have little information...

Active audiences and journalism: Involved citizens or motivated consumers?

OpenAIRE

Masip, Pere; Guallar, Javier; Peralta, Miquel; Ruiz, Carles; Suau, Jaume

2015-01-01

Audience participation, in any of its forms and names (public journalism, citizen journalism, participatory journalism, UGC), appears to revitalise democracy, thanks to the opportunities for public debate opened up by information and communications technology. On the other hand, however, there are many authors who question whether interactive technologies really encourage democracy or the market, empower the citizen or strengthen the consumer. In this context, we still have little information...

Web-Gis Solutions Development for Citizens and Water Companies

Science.gov (United States)

Şercăianu, M.

2013-05-01

This paper describes the development of a web-GIS solution in which urban residents, from Buzau City, could be involved in decision-support process of water companies, in order to reduce water losses, by collecting information directly from citizens. In recent years, reducing material and economic losses, recorded in the entire municipal networks management process has become the main focus of public companies in Romania. Due to problems complexity that arise in collecting information from citizens and issues identified in urban areas, more analyzes were required related to web-GIS solutions used in areas such as local government, public utilities, environmental protection or financial management. Another important problem is the poor infrastructure development of spatial databases founded in public companies, and connection to web platforms. Developing the entire communication process between residents and municipal companies has required the use of concept "citizen-sensor" in the entire reporting process. Reported problems are related to water distribution networks with the possibility of covering the entire public utilities infrastructure.

Complete Genomes of Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, Two Phylogenetically Distinct Probiotics

Science.gov (United States)

Ramya, T. N. C.; Subramanian, Srikrishna

2016-01-01

Several spore-forming strains of Bacillus are marketed as probiotics due to their ability to survive harsh gastrointestinal conditions and confer health benefits to the host. We report the complete genomes of two commercially available probiotics, Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, and compare them with the genomes of other Bacillus and Lactobacillus. The taxonomic position of both organisms was established with a maximum-likelihood tree based on twenty six housekeeping proteins. Analysis of all probiotic strains of Bacillus and Lactobacillus reveal that the essential sporulation proteins are conserved in all Bacillus probiotic strains while they are absent in Lactobacillus spp. We identified various antibiotic resistance, stress-related, and adhesion-related domains in these organisms, which likely provide support in exerting probiotic action by enabling adhesion to host epithelial cells and survival during antibiotic treatment and harsh conditions. PMID:27258038

Complete Genomes of Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, Two Phylogenetically Distinct Probiotics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Indu Khatri

Full Text Available Several spore-forming strains of Bacillus are marketed as probiotics due to their ability to survive harsh gastrointestinal conditions and confer health benefits to the host. We report the complete genomes of two commercially available probiotics, Bacillus coagulans S-lac and Bacillus subtilis TO-A JPC, and compare them with the genomes of other Bacillus and Lactobacillus. The taxonomic position of both organisms was established with a maximum-likelihood tree based on twenty six housekeeping proteins. Analysis of all probiotic strains of Bacillus and Lactobacillus reveal that the essential sporulation proteins are conserved in all Bacillus probiotic strains while they are absent in Lactobacillus spp. We identified various antibiotic resistance, stress-related, and adhesion-related domains in these organisms, which likely provide support in exerting probiotic action by enabling adhesion to host epithelial cells and survival during antibiotic treatment and harsh conditions.

RELATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC VERSUS PUBLIC RELATIONS IN LOCAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bente Florina Maria

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Concomitant with the evolution of society, public relations are socially expressed only together with the explicit articulation of public categories and public organizations, once the individual becomes a citizen whose satisfaction is at the core of the public systems preoccupations, ignoring times long gone when the ordinary citizen and the majority of the public administration representatives couldnt tell apart the concept of public relations from that of relations with the public.

Developing a Better Interaction between Citizens and the Municipality. Study Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cătălin I. Vrabie

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Understanding citizen online goals is critical because it gets at the heart of what the public institution web site should or could “do”. The challenge is that for most agencies/institutions, there are likely to be multiple goals that represent the “reason why” citizen could come to the web site. Unfortunately many public institution feel that it should have an online presence only, so, many web sites are created to offer a little more than online reproductions of its services. The purpose of this article is to provide an example of a public institution Web site, developed for a better interaction with citizens so that they may add value to their Web site. This article shows the initiative of the Brasov City Hall (central Romania to develop an online technical dispatcher. The project is consistent with initiatives undertaken at EU level - eEurope 2005, eEurope +, i2010 by adhering to the principles of interoperability, interactivity public services, trust, security, privacy, and is fully consistent with the Romanian Government strategy regarding the informatisation of the public administration. Creating a dynamic Web site that contains a dispatcher component through which citizens can address in order to provide information about a specific problem encountered in the city and by that the responsible institutions to be mobilized timely. Brasov City Hall Web site can be used as a frame of reference for this type of interaction because its providing to the citizens a wide range of electronic services, extended availability and increased efficiency in handling the citizens demands.

Public deliberation in the function of overcoming the democratic deficit, public debate and delineation from public hearing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukadinović Slobodan

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article analyses forms of direct democracy from its historical forms, in Ancient Greece, to the modern ones, in Switzerland and the USA. Pointing towards the modern flaws of representative democracy, which dominates the present world, the author explores the forms of citizen participation - from participation to influence, which assists the overcoming of the democratic deficit in practice. Besides the traditional (classical ones, the analysis also focuses on the innovative mechanisms, from informal to formal ones, from individual to collective mechanisms. The focus is on the procedures of direct citizen participation such as: elections, referendum (with its modalities, plebiscite and popular veto, citizens' initiatives, the right of legislative initiative, public meetings, as well as seeking new constructive solutions which enable the citizens not only to express their opinions through selecting the option for or against, but to actively participate and express their own opinions, positions, experiences and arguments - to participate in public deliberation. These are: public debate, public hearing, public consultations and public discussions, round tables and public presence in the form of mini-audiences, public opinion polls and participation in surveys, cooperation of state bodies with civil society organisations, public call for submission of proposals, remarks and petitions, public-private dialogue, focus groups, citizen panels, citizen conferences, citizens' advisory committees, town hall meetings, citizens juries, consensus conferences, the world cafe. In particular, the article points out that e-participation is nowadays utilised more often and gains significance, since it enables citizens to submit their proposals and remarks electronically, in the form of discussion and interaction via social networks and on-line dialogue platforms. It points towards the positive effects and advantages of direct involvement of citizens in the

Fictional citizens and real effects: accountability to citizens in competitive and monopolistic markets

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, A.J.; Schillemans, T.

2009-01-01

This paper evaluates the influence of market conditions – (semi) competitive versus monopolistic markets –on (the effects of) citizen accountability on public sector organisations. Empirical material from case studies in education, healthcare, social security and land registry in the Netherlands is

Should Law Keep Pace with Society? Relative Update Rates Determine the Co-Evolution of Institutional Punishment and Citizen Contributions to Public Goods

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daria Roithmayr

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Until recently, theorists considering the evolution of human cooperation have paid little attention to institutional punishment, a defining feature of large-scale human societies. Compared to individually-administered punishment, institutional punishment offers a unique potential advantage: the ability to control how quickly legal rules of punishment evolve relative to social behavior that legal punishment regulates. However, at what rate should legal rules evolve relative to society to maximize compliance? We investigate this question by modeling the co-evolution of law and cooperation in a public goods game with centralized punishment. We vary the rate at which States update their legal punishment strategy relative to Citizens’ updating of their contribution strategy and observe the effect on Citizen cooperation. We find that when States have unlimited resources, slower State updating lead to more Citizen cooperation: by updating more slowly, States force Citizens to adapt to the legal punishment rules. When States depend on Citizens to finance their punishment activities, however, we find evidence of a ‘Goldilocks’ effect: optimal compliance is achieved when legal rules evolve at a critical evolutionary rate that is slow enough to force citizens to adapt, but fast enough to enable states to quickly respond to outbreaks of citizen lawlessness.

An Experimental Test of the Expectancy-Disconfirmation Theory of Citizen Satisfaction

Science.gov (United States)

Van Ryzin, Gregg G.

2013-01-01

A number of prior studies have found evidence for the expectancy-disconfirmation theory of citizen satisfaction with public services, which holds that citizens judge public services not only on experienced service quality but also on an implicit comparison of service quality with prior expectations. But the evidence to date has been based on…

Examining citizen participation: local participatory policymaking and democracy revisited

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Michels, A.M.B.; de Graaf, Laurens

2017-01-01

This article discusses developments in citizen participation and its contribution to democracy since the publication of the original article. It evaluates the continued relevance of the use of a normative framework to assess different forms of citizen participation, nuances some of the conclusions

Examining Citizen Participation : Local participatory Policymaking and Democracy revisted

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Ank Michels; Laurens de Graaf

2017-01-01

This article discusses developments in citizen participation and its contribution to democracy since the publication of the original article. It evaluates the continued relevance of the use of a normative framework to assess different forms of citizen participation, nuances some of the conclusions

Citizen involvement in green transition

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Horsbøl, Anders

2017-01-01

a deficit model of public communication towards participatory ambitions of engaging citizens in more open-ended decision making (Lassen et al. 2011, Phillips et. al, 2012). However, there is often a tension between the participatory ambitions on the one hand and predetermined environmental goal...... consumption, replacement of oil-fired boilers, higher distribution of electric cars, and installation of solar panels. These goals all affect private decisions of individual citizens or families, where the municipality has no legislative competence. In a series of 4 two-day workshops in 2016, representatives...... and discussions. The current paper will focus on the process of developing a common framework and will pay particular attention to the tension between the predetermined environmental goals and the ambition of citizen participation. Applying an emic discourse perspective and drawing on Critical Discourse Analysis...

Cell broadcast trials in The Netherlands: Using mobile phone technology for citizens' alarming

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jagtman, H.M.

2010-01-01

In emergency situations authorities need to warn the public. The conventionally used method for warning citizens in The Netherlands is the use of a siren. Modern telecommunication technologies, especially the use of text-based features of mobile phones, have great potential for warning the public. In the years 2005-2007 cell broadcast was tested during several large-scale field trials with citizens in The Netherlands. One of the questions was to determine the penetration of cell broadcast for citizens' alarming. This article argues that the definition of penetration in the light of warning citizens in case of emergencies should include the citizens' responses to warning messages. In addition, the approach to determining the penetration, the data and validity issues regarding these data is discussed. The trials have shown cell broadcast has potential to become an effective citizens' alarming technology. This however requires the entire technological and organisational chain of the warning system to function correctly. Attention is required to network management, handset improvements and correct communication to the public about the conditions under which a cell broadcast message can be received. The latter includes managing realistic expectations including circumstances in which cell broadcast will not reach a citizen.

Citizen Diplomacy-New US Public Diplomacy Strategy in the Middle East under the Obama Administration

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

YU Zhaohui

2015-01-01

In the information and digital era,the international situation is becoming increasingly complicated.The construction of international relations and national image depends more on people-to-people diplomacy.During the Obama Administration,the Administration recognized the central role of public diplomacy as a tool and an essential element of the 21st century statecraft.US public diplomacy and public affairs faces the five strategic tasks:to pro-actively shape global narratives,expand and strengthen people-to-peoplerelationships,counter violent extremism and better inform policy-making as well as redeploy resources in strategic alignment with shifting priorities.It presents new features under the guidance of the perfect mechanism,such as using digital methods and social media as the core to communicate,adjusting information transmission and message control,emphasizing the inter-departmental coordination,attaching great importance to the youth and women's groups and optimizing the evaluation mechanism.This article summarizes and analyzes the striking features of public diplomacy under Obama's administration,focusing on citizen diplomacy operations in the Middle East,thus putting forth a worthy reference for the further study of China's public diplomacy.

Academics and Citizens Working Together

Science.gov (United States)

Bogen, D., Jr.

2017-12-01

Traditionally Academics and citizens have contributed to each other lives but friction has always existed between the two. When there is a hostile relationship between community members and Academics, the collection of data suffers, which in returns hurts the potential solutions to community problems. Combining Community Based Participatory Research and the BISCO Community Organizing Model, {Listens, Identify, Research, offer solution}, these frictions can be limited, creating better working environments, and producing better data. Helping create and participating in workgroups, including NGO's, Academics and Citizens leaders, have produce better working environments. Using these methods within the work groups I observed, relationships being form between Academics and Citizens. Some of the relationships were both public and private. The workgroups that created space for professional and personal stories telling produced the most relationships. Listening and understand each other, before research have proven to be successful in producing trust between Academics and Citizens. When Academics and Citizens developed trust between themselves, each party respects the other limitation. Knowing each limitation is perhaps the most key element in working together, which eliminates over promises and culture hindrance within the community. It's amazing like getting the answers to the test before you take it. The project becomes richer in design, when there is trust in the process before it begins. Working together to eliminating potential road blocks ahead of time, enhance the project chances to produce, richer data.Academics cannot produce good data if citizens withhold information and citizens cannot solve their social ills if they do not have good data, in short we need each other.

Do Digital Systems and Concept in Modern Public Service Production Have a Negative Impact on Citizens as End-Users?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, John Storm; Rendtorff, Jacob Dahl

2016-01-01

production. Second, we claim that digital systems and concepts develop a new institutional logic within modern public service production: the ‘digital logic’. Third, we analyze and discuss the new logic´s possible impact on citizens as end-users. Fourth, we discuss the ethical dimensions of values and ethics...

PubliForum 'Electricity and Society'. Citizen Panel Report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1998-06-01

In the Citizen Panel's Report on 'Electricity and Society' we present the first results of three intensive week-ends. In this document, 27 Swiss citizens have recorded their opinions on the future of our electricity supply system. Solutions are sought without making claims on having found the ultimate recipe. The recommendations are the result of an assessment made by a representative cross-section of the public - one could almost say 'the voice of the people'. They reflect not only the public's apprehensions and worries, but also their ideas and desires. (authors)

INCREASING EFFICIENCY OF ELECTRONIC PUBLIC SERVICES TO CITIZENS AND BUSINESSES IN CONNECTION WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF INTEGRATED ELECTRONIC SOLUTIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Popeangã Vasile Nicolae

2010-07-01

Full Text Available European Union enlargement, the existence of new needs and demands, requires the development of innovation and quality of public administration, which means improving public services in the global economy as a requirement of competitiveness. The European Union hopes to achieve the major objectives in what concerns the electronic government by 2010; actions necessary to achieve them are adopting solutions based on information and communication technologies in the Romanian public administration, aimed at developing modern public services. This paper presents some best experiences of e-governance in Romania and the results of e-governance in Gorj County, and the degree of implementation and use by citizens.

The Educated Citizen and Global Public-Health Issues: One Model for Integration into the Undergraduate Curriculum.

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Rosemary M

2016-01-01

The Educated Citizen Initiative proposes that an understanding of public-health issues is a core component of an educated citizenry and is essential to develop one's societal responsibility. This initiative supports the Institute of Medicine's recommendation that "all undergraduates should have access to education in public health." Furthermore, the Liberal Education and America's Promise (LEAP) framework developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities supports the "integration of public-health education into general and liberal education with an aim to produce an educated citizenry." The LEAP framework is implemented by teaching about the role of social determinants in a population's health status; the significance of personal and social responsibility; and providing skills for inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving, and evaluation. This article describes one university's experience in generating an educated citizenry cognizant of comprehensive public-health conflicts, thus contributing to both a local and global perspective on learning.

Place Branding and Citizen Involvement: Participatory Approach to Building and Managing City Brands

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hereźniak Marta

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article examines the role of citizens in the process of building and managing city brands. A multidisciplinary approach is applied to explain the multifaceted nature of territorial brands and citizen involvement. To this end, theoretical concepts from marketing and corporate branding, public management, and human geography are applied. By conceptualising place branding as a public policy and a governance process, and drawing from the concept of participatory place branding, the author discusses a variety of methods and instruments used to involve citizens. Special attention is given to the importance of modern technologies for effective citizen involvement.

WEB-GIS SOLUTIONS DEVELOPMENT FOR CITIZENS AND WATER COMPANIES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Şercăianu

2013-05-01

Full Text Available This paper describes the development of a web-GIS solution in which urban residents, from Buzau City, could be involved in decision-support process of water companies, in order to reduce water losses, by collecting information directly from citizens. In recent years, reducing material and economic losses, recorded in the entire municipal networks management process has become the main focus of public companies in Romania. Due to problems complexity that arise in collecting information from citizens and issues identified in urban areas, more analyzes were required related to web-GIS solutions used in areas such as local government, public utilities, environmental protection or financial management. Another important problem is the poor infrastructure development of spatial databases founded in public companies, and connection to web platforms. Developing the entire communication process between residents and municipal companies has required the use of concept "citizen-sensor" in the entire reporting process. Reported problems are related to water distribution networks with the possibility of covering the entire public utilities infrastructure.

Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing as effective STEM Education and Engagement activities for Diverse Audiences: case studies featured in THE CROWD & THE CLOUD public TV series.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines-Stiles, G.; Abdalati, W.; Akuginow, E.

2017-12-01

Citizen science and crowdsourcing are relatively unfamiliar terms to the general public, including parents, children and teachers, as seen in focus groups convened by the NSF-funded THE CROWD & THE CLOUD public television series. Once aware, however, of the potential of today's citizen science—often relying on smartphones, apps and innovative sensors—both citizens and professional scientists become excited and seek to learn more. CROWD & CLOUD, premiering on PBS stations in April 2017, hosted by former NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati, and streaming at CrowdAndCloud.org, features a wide range of projects supported by NASA, NOAA, USGS, EPA and other Federal agencies. Some, such as EyesOnALZ, a startup which aims to accelerate research on Alzheimer's disease, adapt a crowdsourcing model first developed to help analyze data returned by NASA's Stardust spacecraft. Early results from its "StallCatchers" puzzle-game show both high quality data and have been shown to cut one year's worth of academic labor down to one month of effort by "the crowd." While longstanding citizen science projects such as Audubon's Christmas Bird Count (starting in 1900) have proven their worth, Smartfin—embedding sensors in surfboard fins—is taking advantage of recent technical innovations to track sea surface temperatures and ocean acidification, with their accuracy validated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The NASA-supported GLOBE Observer mosquito habitat mapper project uses a $6 microscope attached to a smartphone to aid in species identification. Some projects tap adult volunteers, but many, such as USGS's Nature's Notebook, also appeal to youngsters. In Albuquerque local teens track invasive species and help refuge managers, usefully supplementing the sole salaried ranger. In the Rockaways, New York, high school students plant pollinator gardens and promote ecosystem resilience following Superstorm Sandy. This presentation will feature short videos demonstrating

Citizen CATE: Evaluating Outcomes of a Solar Eclipse Citizen Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Penn, M. J.; Haden, C.

2017-12-01

On August 21, 2017, a total solar eclipse will be visible along a path of totality from Oregon to South Carolina. The Citizen Continental-America Telescopic Eclipse Experiment (CATE) will use scientists, students and volunteers to take images of the solar corona using 68 identical telescopes, software and instrument packages along the 2,500-mile path of totality. CATE partners include National Solar Observatory scientists, university faculty and students, high school students, and professional and amateur astronomers. NASA funded CATE educational components including training undergraduates and volunteers on solar imaging software and equipment. The National Science Foundation and corporations including DayStar, MathWorks, Celestron and ColorMaker funded equipment. Undergraduates participated in summer research experiences to build their capacity for gathering eclipse data, and subsequently trained volunteers across the U.S. Aligned to NASA education goals, CATE goals range from providing an authentic research experience for students and lifelong learners, to making state-of-the-art solar coronal observations, to increasing scientific literacy of the public. While project investigators are examining the wealth of scientific data that will come from CATE, evaluators are examining impacts on participants. Through mixed methods, evaluators are examining outcomes related to changes in volunteers' knowledge, skills and attitudes. Additionally, the study will examine how citizen science astronomy using CATE equipment will continue after the eclipse to sustain project impacts. Preliminary findings for undergraduates indicate that they are gaining knowledge and skills related to studying solar coronal phenomena, conducting rigorous scientific research, and interfacing with the public to conduct outreach. Preliminary findings for citizen scientists indicate a high level of engagement in the research, and that they are gaining new knowledge and skills related to solar

Citizen Participation in Deliberative Global Governance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jæger, Birgit

of the voting and the many recommendations were presented to the decision-makers at the summit as well as to the NGOs and other participants at the alternative forum running at the same time in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, the decision-makers did not listen to the ‘global citizen voice’ and in this way......The global event World Wide Views on Global Warming (WWViews), initiated by the Danish Board of Technology (DBT), took place on September 26, 2009, and was an attempt to gather a united citizen voice on a global scale. The purpose of WWViews was to pass on the opinions of ordinary citizens...... to political decision-makers at The United Nations Climate Summit, COP 15, in Copenhagen in December 2009. As such the WWViews was an innovative experiment with public engagement in science and technology, aiming to create a ‘global citizen voice’ on climate change. The deliberation took place at 44 different...

Citizen advisory groups: Improving their effectiveness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peelle, E.

1990-01-01

In an age of citizen distrust of government and intense not-in-my-backyard activity when waste management facilities are proposed, the potential of citizen advisory groups (CAGS) to aid the decision-making process is worth exploring. This paper reviews findings from case studies by the author and others to assess the various purposes, pitfalls, advantages and outcomes of CAGs in influencing decisions about controversial waste management actions and facilities. Advantages and disadvantages of the CAG are evaluated as one of several public participation mechanisms. The paper outlines ways in which CAGs can aid the waste management decision process and develop minimum requirements for the successful functioning of citizen advisory groups in decision processes with significant technical components, such as those involving nuclear and hazardous wastes

Towards a Citizen-Centered E-Government: Exploring Citizens' Satisfaction with E-Government in China

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Jianchuan

2013-01-01

E-government research has been practical and utilitarian, lacking theoretical concerns. Based on the literature of customer satisfaction with private-sector services, citizen/user satisfaction with public services, and information systems management, this study systematically investigates the following factors and their effects on citizen…

Public-Elite Gap on European Integration : The Missing Link between Discourses about EU Enlargement among Citizens and Elites in Serbia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kortenska, E.G.; Sircar, I.; Steunenberg, B.

2016-01-01

Enlargement is often regarded as an elite-driven process, which does not or not sufficiently include the views of ordinary citizens. At the same time, support for integration has been eroding over the last decade, contributing to a public-elite gap in preferences towards the process. This paper

How citizen advisory boards provide input into major waste policy decisions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rogers, E.; Murakami, L.; Hanson, L.

1995-01-01

Volunteer citizen boards, such as Site Specific Advisory Boards, can be a very important key to success for the Department of Energy's (DOE's) Waste Management program. These boards can provide informed, independent recommendations reflecting the diversity of the community and its values. A successful volunteer process requires collaboration among regulators, DOE and other Boards; knowing how and when to interface with the broader public; understanding the diversity and representational issues of a citizens group; knowing the open-quotes ins and outsclose quotes of working with volunteers; education and training and most importantly, planning. Volunteers on a citizens board were created to tackle the big picture, policy decisions. The chair of the Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board will describe her Board's successes, including the challenges in reaching consensus agreements, as well as the need for integration with other boards and the sites' on-going public involvement programs to provide the input the department is seeking. Finally, one of the greatest challenges for the boards is interfacing with the greater public-at-large, seeing how the CAB has overcome this challenge and integrating broader public input into its decisions

How citizen advisory boards provide input into major waste policy decisions

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rogers, E.; Murakami, L.; Hanson, L. [Rocky Flats Citizen Advisory Board, Westminster, CO (United States)

1995-12-31

Volunteer citizen boards, such as Site Specific Advisory Boards, can be a very important key to success for the Department of Energy`s (DOE`s) Waste Management program. These boards can provide informed, independent recommendations reflecting the diversity of the community and its values. A successful volunteer process requires collaboration among regulators, DOE and other Boards; knowing how and when to interface with the broader public; understanding the diversity and representational issues of a citizens group; knowing the {open_quotes}ins and outs{close_quotes} of working with volunteers; education and training and most importantly, planning. Volunteers on a citizens board were created to tackle the big picture, policy decisions. The chair of the Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board will describe her Board`s successes, including the challenges in reaching consensus agreements, as well as the need for integration with other boards and the sites` on-going public involvement programs to provide the input the department is seeking. Finally, one of the greatest challenges for the boards is interfacing with the greater public-at-large, seeing how the CAB has overcome this challenge and integrating broader public input into its decisions.

The educated citizen and global public health issues: One model for integration into the undergraduate curriculum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosemary M. Caron

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The Educated Citizen Initiative proposes that an understanding of public health issues is a core component of an educated citizenry and is essential to developing one’s societal responsibility. This initiative supports the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that all undergraduates should have access to education in public health. Furthermore, the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP framework developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities supports the integration of public health education into general and liberal education with an aim to produce an educated citizenry. The LEAP framework is implemented by teaching about the role of social determinants in a population’s health status; the significance of personal and social responsibility; and providing skills for inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving, and evaluation. This article describes one university’s experience in generating an educated citizenry cognizant of comprehensive public health conflicts, thus contributing to both a local and global perspective on learning.

The Educated Citizen and Global Public-Health Issues: One Model for Integration into the Undergraduate Curriculum

Science.gov (United States)

Caron, Rosemary M.

2016-01-01

The Educated Citizen Initiative proposes that an understanding of public-health issues is a core component of an educated citizenry and is essential to develop one’s societal responsibility. This initiative supports the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that “all undergraduates should have access to education in public health.” Furthermore, the Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP) framework developed by the Association of American Colleges and Universities supports the “integration of public-health education into general and liberal education with an aim to produce an educated citizenry.” The LEAP framework is implemented by teaching about the role of social determinants in a population’s health status; the significance of personal and social responsibility; and providing skills for inquiry, critical thinking, problem solving, and evaluation. This article describes one university’s experience in generating an educated citizenry cognizant of comprehensive public-health conflicts, thus contributing to both a local and global perspective on learning. PMID:26973829

Innovative forms of citizen participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Nyseth, Torill; Ringholm, Toril; Agger, Annika

in practice. Some scholars claim that a reason is due to rigid and formal procedures and that the ways citizen meetings are structured tend to appeal to a limited amount of the population. At the same time, we are witnessing a proliferation in novel and more experimental ways of how citizens and authorities...... interact within the field of urban governance. This is for example seen in urban regeneration projects in Denmark and planning experiments in Norway where we are witnessing more inclusive and bottom-up initiated interactions between public authorities and local actors. The key question in this paper is......: What characterises the new and innovative forms of citizen participation in urban planning in terms of innovation? And in what ways and to what degree is input from these processes fed into the formal planning processes? Theoretically, the paper is inspired by the concept of: ‘planning...

Public information strategies: Making government information available to citizens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meijer, A.J.; Thaens, M.

2009-01-01

New technological opportunities and increasing demands make it imperative for government agencies to make the information they gather available to citizens. How should they go about this? This paper presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the strategic options open to agencies which have

Citizen advisory groups: Improving their effectiveness

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Peelle, E.

1990-01-01

In an age of citizen distrust of government and intense NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) activity when waste management facilities are proposed, the potential of citizen advisory groups (CAGs) to aid the decision-making process is worth exploring. This paper reviews findings from case studies by the author and others to assess the various purposes, pitfalls, advantages and outcomes of CAGs in influencing decisions about controversial waste management actions and facilities. Advantages and disadvantages of the CAG are evaluated as one of several public participation mechanisms. We outline ways in which CAGs can aid the waste management decision process and develop minimum requirements for the successful functioning of citizen advisory groups in decision processes with significant technical components, such as those involving nuclear and hazardous wastes. 18 refs., 1 tab.

Risk Communication and Citizen Engagement

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Merkelsen, Henrik

2011-01-01

Despite the last few decades’ devotion to deliberative methods in risk communication, many studies point to how important challenges arise when citizens are engaged in public dialogue. Since the era of enlightenment public dialogue has occupied a position as a normative ideal for political...... governance. But ideals are social constructions that have a tendency to direct attention away from underlying conflicts. The concept of dialogue is no exception, and exemplified by the Danish solution to dealing with public scepticism in relation to technological controversies, the internationally acclaimed...

Do public programs in ‘energy regions’ affect citizen attitudes and behavior?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hatzl, Stefanie; Brudermann, Thomas; Reinsberger, Kathrin; Posch, Alfred

2014-01-01

In this paper we analyze the effect of regional and municipal measures for promoting energy transition on citizen attitudes and behavior. We compare one township that has successfully implemented a comprehensive and systematic energy-saving program (the so-called e5 program) with a township without such a program. The results indicate that despite the program's ambitious aims, e5 implementation has almost no impact on citizen attitudes and behavior. In fact, there are some signs that it might even have slight negative side effects. - Highlights: • Comprehensive and systematic municipal energy transition framework. • Implemented measures slightly impact citizen attitudes. • Implemented measures yield only marginal positive effects on behavior. • Transition framework might also be accompanied by negative behavioral side effects. • Behavioral reactions need to be considered in transition frameworks

Effective citizen advocacy of beneficial nuclear technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McKibben, J. Malvyn; Wood, Susan

2007-01-01

In 1991, a small group of citizens from communities near the Savannah River Site (SRS) formed a pro-nuclear education and advocacy group, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA). Their purpose was to: (1) counter nuclear misinformation that dominated the nation's news outlets, (2) provide education on nuclear subjects to area citizens, students, elected officials, and (3) provide informed citizen support for potential new missions for SRS when needed. To effectively accomplish these objectives it is also essential to establish and maintain good relations with community leaders and reporters that cover energy and nuclear subjects. The organization has grown considerably since its inception and has expanded its sphere of influence. We believe that our experiences over these fifteen years are a good model for effectively communicating nuclear subjects with the public. This paper describes the structure, operation and some of the results of CNTA. (authors)

Citizen-science, Geoethics and Human Niche

Science.gov (United States)

Bohle, Martin

2017-04-01

The anthropogenic biogeosphere or 'human niche' is the intersection of the biogeosphere and the sphere of human activities of social, economic, cultural and political nature. The application case for geoethics, namely "appropriate behaviours and practices, wherever human activities interact with the Earth system" [1], is about niche building. Geoethics is about the conduct of people and geoscientists, respectively their ordinary lifestyles and professional activities. Geoscience professionals notice the diverse economic, social and cultural living conditions of people, and the application cases of geosciences mirror the diversity of the global social sphere. Subsequently it is argued: A) when considering the ethical dimensions of global niche building then geosciences should feature 'citizen geoscience'; and B) when considering the functioning of a knowledge-based society under conditions of anthropogenic global change then 'citizen geoscience' facilitates applying that knowledge base. (A) Regarding 'niche building': The design of production systems and consumption patterns embeds geoscience know-how and relates it to the everyday life. Any citizen's activities purposefully interconnect to the biogeosphere for well-being, care-taking, and reproduction, although habitually without involving a geoscientist in professional capacity. In that implicit manner the everyday behaviours and practices of people influence Earth system dynamic. This renders their inherent geoscience know-how a public good as it makes their ignorance a public risk. A comfortable human niche for billions of people requires a global biogeosphere that is disrupted little by citizens' activities and exposes them to hazards that can be tamed. Quite the reverse, anthropogenic global change will disturb living conditions for many citizen. Much geoscience know-how will have to be deployed to tame disturbances in a socially sustainable manner. Sustainability in turn needs involvement of citizens in

Citizen empowerment in the domestic waste policy development in Lithuania

Science.gov (United States)

Stasiukynas, Andrius; Survila, Arvydas; Smalskys, Vainius

2017-04-01

Lithuania offers an interesting case of lagging in terms of domestic waste recycling in the European context. Despite the adoption of all relevant EU regulation, including a pricing system, which is designed to be more conducive for recycling. One important group of policy instruments which in the application of which Lithuania needs to improve, is public participation in environmental governance. The objective of this study is to relate the means of public participation and the decision-making on waste management and recycling outcomes. The study consisted of two stages. Stage one: key decision-making public agencies responsible for policy formulation and implementation of domestic waste management were identified. Later, an analysis of public available documentation covering decision-making in these institutions was conducted with the aim to measure the level of citizen engagement. Stage two: agency managers and staff responsible for citizen engagement were interviewed with the goal of evaluating their attitudes. Attitudes of officials are a crucial for a successful citizen engagement. The results showed that officials recognized very little the value of citizen engagement. They perceived contribution as an the creation of additional challenges to be tackled with, rather than help to lower service delivery costs and improve policy effectiveness. This renders the government with a depleted number of options of improving domestic waste management to "top-down" measures and imposition of financial incentives or costs.

Active audiences and journalism: Involved citizens or motivated consumers?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pere Masip

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Audience participation, in any of its forms and names (public journalism, citizen journalism, participatory journalism, UGC, appears to revitalise democracy, thanks to the opportunities for public debate opened up by information and communications technology. On the other hand, however, there are many authors who question whether interactive technologies really encourage democracy or the market, empower the citizen or strengthen the consumer. In this context, we still have little information on the motivations that drive citizens to actively participate through the mechanisms that the media make available to them on their own websites or through social networks. There is a similar lack of information on the role that users attribute to their involvement in the functioning of the media and whether it contributes to improving their democratic function. This article aims to shed some light on this subject.

Crowdsourcing Scientific Work: A Comparative Study of Technologies, Processes, and Outcomes in Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Wiggins, Andrea

2012-01-01

Citizen science projects involve the public with scientists in collaborative research. Information and communication technologies for citizen science can enable massive virtual collaborations based on voluntary contributions by diverse participants. As the popularity of citizen science increases, scientists need a more thorough understanding of…

Dreamers, Poets, Citizens, and Scientists: Motivations for Engaging in GalaxyZoo Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Slater, S. J.; Mankowski, T.; Slater, T. F.; CenterAstronomy; Physics Education Research Caper Team

2010-12-01

A particularly successful effort to engage the public in science has been to move the nearly countless galaxies imaged by the Sloan Digital Sky Survey to citizen scientists in a project known widely as Galaxy Zoo (URL; http://www.galaxyzoo.org). To everyone’s surprise, the unexpectedly large participation in the website has caused the data set, numbering over a million images, to be classified multiple times, quicker than the project leader anticipated, and continues to boast a high hit count on the website (15 classifications per second). Within 24 hours of launch, the site was receiving 70,000 classifications an hour, and more than 50 million classifications were received by the project during its first year, from almost 150,000 people. In a parallel effort, the Galaxy Zoo forum was created to handle the flood of emails that occurred alongside the flood of classifications, the team hoping that it would encourage the participants to handle each others' questions. By examining the motivations, methods and appeal of Galaxy Zoo to the participating public, other models of citizen science might be purposefully formulated to take advantage of the success exhibited in Galaxy Zoo. In addition, we want to understand the reasons people engage in science in informal settings in order to better enhance teaching methods in formal settings. Although in the past citizen science has primarily been used as a data collection method, there are many new opportunities contained in citizen science motivations and methods that we can use in future applications. This new and innovative method of online citizen science creates data for researchers of galaxies, but there is a parallel set of underlying data that has not yet been deeply analyzed: the motivations and underlying themes within the population of citizen scientists that could lead us to improve future citizen science projects. To address this, we pursued an investigation of the underlying reasons for the success of Galaxy Zoo

Citizen science for water quality monitoring: Data implications of citizen perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Jollymore, Ashlee; Haines, Morgan J; Satterfield, Terre; Johnson, Mark S

2017-09-15

Citizen science, where citizens play an active role in the scientific process, is increasingly used to expand the reach and scope of scientific research while also achieving engagement and educational goals. Despite the emergence of studies exploring data outcomes of citizen science, the process and experience of engaging with citizens and citizen-lead groups through participatory science is less explored. This includes how citizen perspectives alter data outcomes, a critical upshot given prevalent mistrust of citizen versus scientist data. This study uses a citizen science campaign investigating watershed impacts on water quality to interrogate the nature and implications of citizen involvement in producing scientifically and societally relevant data. Data representing scientific outcomes are presented alongside a series of vignettes that offer context regarding how, why, and where citizens engaged with the project. From these vignettes, six specific lessons are examined towards understanding how integration of citizen participation alters data outcomes relative to 'professional' science. In particular, elements of participant social identity (e.g., their motivation for participation), and contextual knowledge (e.g., of the research program itself) can shape participation and resulting data outcomes. Such scientific outcomes are particularly relevant given continued concerns regarding the quality of citizen data, which could hinder scientific acceptance of citizen sciences. Importantly, the potential for meaningful engagement with citizen and participants within citizen groups - given significant capacity within the community - represents a substantial and under-realized opportunity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bridging Identity Gaps : Supporting Identity Performance in Citizen Service Encounters

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borchorst, Nikolaj Gandrup; McPhail, Brenda; Smith, Karen Louise

2012-01-01

administrative processes and the quality and swiftness of the service they receive. As we bring to light in this paper, this “fitting in” with rigid bureaucratic procedures and IT systems interestingly requires a substantial collaborative effort between the receiver(s) of the service and a complex constellation...... of surrounding stakeholders and intermediaries. This collaboration and the performing of multiple identities raises challenges for the design of e-government systems aimed at supporting physical and digital citizen service provision, as well as issues regarding privacy, citizenship, and public service quality......This paper explores in situ citizen service encounters in government offices. Drawing upon ethnographically informed fieldwork in Canada and Denmark, we discuss the challenges to supporting citizens in constructing and performing identities in public service settings. Our data suggests...

Summary report and strategy recommendations for EU citizen science gateway for biodiversity data

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Veljo Runnel

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Citizen science is an approach of public participation in scientific research which has gained significant momentum in recent years. This is particularly evident in biology and environmental sciences where input from citizen scientists has greatly increased the number of publicly available observation data. However, there are still challenges in effective networking, data sharing and securing data quality. EU BON project has analyzed the citizen science landscape in Europe with regards to biodiversity research and proposes several policy recommendations. One of the recommendations is a Pan-European citizen science gateway for biodiversity data with dedicated tools for data collection and management. The prototypes of the gateway components are part of the EU BON biodiversity portal and described in current report.

Assessing Motivations and Use of Online Citizen Science Astronomy Projects

Science.gov (United States)

Nona Bakerman, Maya; Buxner, Sanlyn; Bracey, Georgia; Gugliucci, Nicole

2018-01-01

The exponential proliferation of astronomy data has resulted in the need to develop new ways to analyze data. Recent efforts to engage the public in the discussion of the importance of science has led to projects that are aimed at letting them have hands-on experiences. Citizen science in astronomy, which has followed the model of citizen science in other scientific fields, has increased in the number and type of projects in the last few years and poses captivating ways to engage the public in science.The primary feature of this study was citizen science users’ motivations and activities related to engaging in astronomy citizen science projects. We report on participants’ interview responses related to their motivations, length and frequency of engagement, and reasons for leaving the project. From May to October 2014, 32 adults were interviewed to assess their motivations and experiences with citizen science. In particular, we looked at if and how motivations have changed for those who have engaged in the projects in order to develop support for and understandparticipants of citizen science. The predominant reasons participants took part in citizen science were: interest, helping, learning or teaching, and being part of science. Everyone interviewed demonstrated an intrinsic motivation to do citizen science projects.Participants’ reasons for ending their engagement on any given day were: having to do other things, physical effects of the computer, scheduled event that ended, attention span or tired, computer or program issues. A small fraction of the participants also indicated experiencing negative feedback. Out of the participants who no longer took part in citizen science projects, some indicated that receiving negative feedback was their primary reason and others reported the program to be frustrating.Our work is helping us to understand participants who engage in online citizen science projects so that researchers can better design projects to meet their

Complete data lifecycles and citizen science integration via The Public Laboratory

Science.gov (United States)

Griffith, A.; Dosemagen, S.; Warren, J.

2012-04-01

for use without restriction. Public Laboratory techniques are cheaper, more temporally relevant, more portable, and more accurate than other methods of remote sensing. In some cases, our spatial resolutions were 20 times better than those of Google Earth. Our integration of community members represents a bottom up approach in data collection, management, and literacy. The Public Laboratory data archives are maintained on-line with public access and all our software is open source with the source code publicly available. We believe this approach to be the new paradigm in data transparency, whether privately or publicly funded. The Public Laboratory has even initiated discussions with lawyers familiar with environmental laws to increase possible uses in litigation. But the data are collected for the public, by the public. By involving the public and any interested parties in the collection of data and tracking that data horizontally from collection to publication, we engage a larger number of people making transparency inherent in the process. We have found greater levels of interest and comprehension by citizens when they are involved in the inclusive process.

The diversity and evolution of ecological and environmental citizen science.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael J O Pocock

Full Text Available Citizen science-the involvement of volunteers in data collection, analysis and interpretation-simultaneously supports research and public engagement with science, and its profile is rapidly rising. Citizen science represents a diverse range of approaches, but until now this diversity has not been quantitatively explored. We conducted a systematic internet search and discovered 509 environmental and ecological citizen science projects. We scored each project for 32 attributes based on publicly obtainable information and used multiple factor analysis to summarise this variation to assess citizen science approaches. We found that projects varied according to their methodological approach from 'mass participation' (e.g. easy participation by anyone anywhere to 'systematic monitoring' (e.g. trained volunteers repeatedly sampling at specific locations. They also varied in complexity from approaches that are 'simple' to those that are 'elaborate' (e.g. provide lots of support to gather rich, detailed datasets. There was a separate cluster of entirely computer-based projects but, in general, we found that the range of citizen science projects in ecology and the environment showed continuous variation and cannot be neatly categorised into distinct types of activity. While the diversity of projects begun in each time period (pre 1990, 1990-99, 2000-09 and 2010-13 has not increased, we found that projects tended to have become increasingly different from each other as time progressed (possibly due to changing opportunities, including technological innovation. Most projects were still active so consequently we found that the overall diversity of active projects (available for participation increased as time progressed. Overall, understanding the landscape of citizen science in ecology and the environment (and its change over time is valuable because it informs the comparative evaluation of the 'success' of different citizen science approaches. Comparative

NASA Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program: fusing public participation and remote sensing to improve our understanding of the planet

Science.gov (United States)

Whitehurst, A.; Murphy, K. J.

2017-12-01

The objectives of the NASA Citizen Science for Earth Systems Program (CSESP) include both the evaluation of using citizen science data in NASA Earth science related research and engaging the public in Earth systems science. Announced in 2016, 16 projects were funded for a one year prototype phase, with the possibility of renewal for 3 years pending a competitive evaluation. The current projects fall into the categories of atmospheric composition (5), biodiversity and conservation (5), and surface hydrology/water and energy cycle (6). Out of the 16, 8 of the projects include the development and/or implementation of low cost sensors to facilitate data collection. This presentation provides an overview of the NASA CSESP program to both highlight the diversity of innovative projects being funded and to share information with future program applicants.

DECENTRALIZATION, ELIGIBILITY OF AUTHORITIES AND CONSULTATION OF CITIZENS - EVIDENCE OF THE OCCURRENCE OF AUTONOMY IN LOCAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ZAHARIA PETRONELA

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Being important for the proper functioning of the management activity conducted at the local public administration level, local autonomy cannot occur without the support coming from other rules of organization and functioning of local administrative system. From this perspective, in this paper we propose to analyze the content of decentralization, eligibility of authorities and consultation of citizens in solving local problems, in order to highlight how each of these principles demonstrates the efficiency of autonomy. Moving power from central public administration authorities to local authorities in the decentralization process, making authorities of administrative-territorial units eligible and the involvement of local community members in solving problems affecting them are clear evidence of the occurrence of autonomy in local public administration management.

78 FR 31633 - Meeting of Citizen Coinage Advisory Committee

Science.gov (United States)

2013-05-24

... public may attend the meeting at the United States Mint, 801 9th Street NW., Washington, DC, Conference...: Notification of Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee May 30, 2013, Public Meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to United... Advisory Committee (CCAC) public meeting scheduled for May 30, 2013. Date: May 30, 2013. Time: 1:00 p.m. to...

Energy revolution and citizens' protests. A study of the communication of citizens' initiatives concerning grid expension

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braeuer, Marco

2017-01-01

The extension of the German high voltage power grid has recently caused intense resistance in the affected regions. Publicly visible protests are mainly organised by citizen action groups. These groups act from the position of the periphery of the political system. Hence, they need to communicate their concerns and aims in order to influence the political and administrative decision-making system. In general they have the option to gain access to the mass media agenda. In addition protest groups can also create own media products (from leaflets to social media represenations). The theoretical points of departure of this study are social movement theories and the theory of the public sphere. An inclusive theoretical model, explaining the choice of protest repertories by citizen action groups, is developed. Furthermore, eight comprehensive case studies of citizen action groups in the conflict field of the extension of the German high voltage power grid were conducted. The results of the case studies reveal that the citizen action groups act strategically. They observe and assess the political and mass-mediated discourses and respectively develop their own frames. Although critical and sceptical towards the institutional practices and the actions of political representatives, the political system is perceived as legitimate and remains the main addressee. In addition, the mass media system is in general accepted, even though a (at least partially deliberate) negative bias and sometimes oven hostility against their own position is perceived. The creation of alternative media products is not a mere reaction with regard to the perceived mass media bias. It can be better understood as a result of the integration of the protest groups in local and regional communication structures (neighbourhoods, hobby networks, professional networks etc.). The study closes with recommendations for the improvement of consultation processes in the field of infrastructure protests.

PubliForum 'Electricity and Society'. Citizen Panel Report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-06-01

In the Citizen Panel's Report on 'Electricity and Society' we present the first results of three intensive week-ends. In this document, 27 Swiss citizens have recorded their opinions on the future of our electricity supply system. Solutions are sought without making claims on having found the ultimate recipe. The recommendations are the result of an assessment made by a representative cross-section of the public - one could almost say 'the voice of the people'. They reflect not only the public's apprehensions and worries, but also their ideas and desires. (authors)

Public perspectives of fire, fuels, and the Forest Service in the Great Lakes Region: a survey of citizen-agency communication and trust

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce A. Shindler; Eric Toman; Sarah M. McCaffrey

2009-01-01

Relative to the western United States, where fire and fuel management programs have received greater emphasis, few community-based studies have focused on the Great Lakes region. The present paper describes public opinion research from counties surrounding National Forests inWisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan. Survey data address citizen perspectives on (1) fuel...

#BritainBreathing: Codesigned citizen science to map seasonal allergy symptoms across the UK

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lamiece Hassan

2017-04-01

Citizen science can be more than simply crowdsourcing data. We demonstrated that paper prototyping was a feasible and useful technique for codesigning an application with members of the public. Furthermore, workshop feedback indicated a high level of support for citizen science, provided users gained simple, personalised feedback. Further research is required to determine how codesign processes influence subsequent participant recruitment and engagement in citizen science projects.

Quiet living. Challenges of citizen participation in digitized society

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Stald, Gitte Bang

Quiet living. Challenges of citizen participation in digitized society The aim of this paper is to present and address challenges that citizens may encounter in the intersecting questions of democracy, digitization, and participation. Empirically, the paper draws on findings from an extensive study......, and perceptions of citizenship. From 2011 and forwards a new digitization strategy for public systems has been implemented in Denmark. According to the strategy, all interactions between the system and the citizen in its multiple contexts are now by default digital and online. The logic is that Denmark is among...... media and media content from their private sphere as well as from their work or education. Denmark can therefore be characterized as a digital society. The following quotes from the media literacy study illustrate two different situations and experiences with digitization of citizen life: “Before .. You...

Aurorasaurus: A citizen science platform for viewing and reporting the aurora

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, E. A.; Case, N. A.; Clayton, J. H.; Hall, M. K.; Heavner, M.; Lalone, N.; Patel, K. G.; Tapia, A.

2015-09-01

A new, citizen science-based, aurora observing and reporting platform has been developed with the primary aim of collecting auroral observations made by the general public to further improve the modeling of the aurora. In addition, the real-time ability of this platform facilitates the combination of citizen science observations with auroral oval models to improve auroral visibility nowcasting. Aurorasaurus provides easily understandable aurora information, basic gamification, and real-time location-based notification of verified aurora activity to engage citizen scientists. The Aurorasaurus project is one of only a handful of space weather citizen science projects and can provide useful results for the space weather and citizen science communities. Early results are promising with over 2000 registered users submitting over 1000 aurora observations and verifying over 1700 aurora sightings posted on Twitter.

Uncertainty in Citizen Science observations: from measurement to user perception

Science.gov (United States)

Lahoz, William; Schneider, Philipp; Castell, Nuria

2016-04-01

Citizen Science activities concern general public engagement in scientific research activities when citizens actively contribute to science either with their intellectual effort or surrounding knowledge or with their tools and resources. The advent of technologies such as the Internet and smartphones, and the growth in their usage, has significantly increased the potential benefits from Citizen Science activities. Citizen Science observations from low-cost sensors, smartphones and Citizen Observatories, provide a novel and recent development in platforms for observing the Earth System, with the opportunity to extend the range of observational platforms available to society to spatio-temporal scales (10-100s m; 1 hr or less) highly relevant to citizen needs. The potential value of Citizen Science is high, with applications in science, education, social aspects, and policy aspects, but this potential, particularly for citizens and policymakers, remains largely untapped. Key areas where Citizen Science data start to have demonstrable benefits include GEOSS Societal Benefit Areas such as Health and Weather. Citizen Science observations have many challenges, including simulation of smaller spatial scales, noisy data, combination with traditional observational methods (satellite and in situ data), and assessment, representation and visualization of uncertainty. Within these challenges, that of the assessment and representation of uncertainty and its communication to users is fundamental, as it provides qualitative and/or quantitative information that influences the belief users will have in environmental information. This presentation will discuss the challenges in assessment and representation of uncertainty in Citizen Science observations, its communication to users, including the use of visualization, and the perception of this uncertainty information by users of Citizen Science observations.

Rethinking Political Legitimacy: Citizen Inclusion and Social Digital ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

documenting the practices that users of social media develop to influence the public sphere; ... political parties, and mass communication media) perceive and respond to citizen-based actions generated by social media. ... Related content ...

Tools for Citizen-Science Recruitment and Student Engagement in Your Research and in Your Classroom

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah E. Council

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The field of citizen science is exploding and offers not only a great way to engage the general public in science literacy through primary research, but also an avenue for teaching professionals to engage their students in meaningful community research experiences. Though this field is expanding, there are many hurdles for researchers and participants, as well as challenges for teaching professionals who want to engage their students. Here we highlight one of our projects that engaged many citizens in Raleigh, NC, and across the world, and we use this as a case study to highlight ways to engage citizens in all kinds of research. Through the use of numerous tools to engage the public, we gathered citizen scientists to study skin microbes and their associated odors, and we offer valuable ideas for teachers to tap into resources for their own students and potential citizen-science projects.

Citizen Science: The First Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count

Science.gov (United States)

Jisming-See, Shi-Wei; Brandon-Mong, Guo-Jie; Lim, Aik-Hean; Lim, Voon-Ching; Lee, Ping-Shin; Sing, Kong-Wah

2015-01-01

Abstract Background Over the past 50 years, Southeast Asia has suffered the greatest losses of biodiversity of any tropical region in the world. Malaysia is a biodiversity hotspot in the heart of Southeast Asia with roughly the same number of mammal species, three times the number of butterfly species, but only 4% of the land area of Australia. Consequently, in Malaysia, there is an urgent need for biodiversity monitoring and also public engagement with wildlife to raise awareness of biodiversity loss. Citizen science is “on the rise” globally and can make valuable contributions to long-term biodiversity monitoring, but perhaps more importantly, involving the general public in science projects can raise public awareness and promote engagement. Butterflies are often the focus of citizen science projects due to their charisma and familiarity and are particularly valuable “ambassadors” of biodiversity conservation for public outreach. New information Here we present the data from our citizen science project, the first “Peninsular Malaysia Butterfly Count”. Participants were asked to go outdoors on June 6, 2015, and (non-lethally) sample butterfly legs for species identification through DNA barcoding. Fifty-seven citizens responded to our adverts and registered to take part in the butterfly count with many registering on behalf of groups. Collectively the participants sampled 220 butterfly legs from 26 mostly urban and suburban sampling localities. These included our university campus, a highschool, several public parks and private residences. On the basis of 192 usable DNA barcodes, 43 species were sampled by the participants. The most sampled species was Appias olferna, followed by Junonia orithya and Zizina otis. Twenty-two species were only sampled once, five were only sampled twice, and four were only sampled three times. Three DNA barcodes could not be assigned species names. The sampled butterflies revealed that widely distributed, cosmopolitan

Interpreting Community Accountability: Citizen Views of Responding to Domestic Violence (or Not)

Science.gov (United States)

Hess, Jacob Z.; Allen, Nicole E.; Todd, Nathan R.

2011-01-01

In spite of common public condemnations of domestic violence, survey research suggests that citizens aware of actual abuse often believe they cannot or should not personally respond. Through in-depth interviews with 20 local citizens across the political spectrum, we sought to explore this dynamic more carefully by better understanding community…

On the Role of Perceived Procedural Justice in Citizens' Reactions to Government Decisions and the Handling of Conflicts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kees van den Bos

2014-11-01

Full Text Available This paper examines several hundred cases in which citizens were contacted in an 'informal' way by public officials as part of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations' Fair Tracks project. In Fair Tracks, public officials engage in direct and interpersonal conversations with citizens when the officials are about to make a negative decision or upon receiving citizens' complaints or objections against government decisions. Public officials typically do so by phone and the purpose of the open communication that follows is to discuss together what the problem is and how the citizen's problem can best be handled. The current paper presents empirical evidence suggesting that why Fair Tracks works is because it activates perceived procedural justice. For example, when citizens felt they had been treated respectfully and politely by public officials and when they could voice their opinions to the public officials this led to a reliable perception of procedural justice. Furthermore, higher levels of perceived procedural justice were associated with more satisfaction about the outcome reached during the conversation with the public officials, more trust in mutual compliance with the outcome, more trust in government, and higher levels of conflict resolution. Implications and limitations are discussed.

What can Citizen Science do for Ocean Science and Ocean Scientists?

Science.gov (United States)

Best, M.; Hoeberechts, M.; Mangin, A.; Oggioni, A.; Orcutt, J. A.; Parrish, J.; Pearlman, J.; Piera, J.; Tagliolato, P.

2016-12-01

The ocean represents over 70% of our planet's surface area, over 90% of the living space. Humans are not marine creatures, we therefore have fundamentally not built up knowledge of the ocean in the same way we have on land. The more we learn about the ocean, the more we understand it is the regulatory engine of our planet…How do we catch up? Answers to this question will need to come from many quarters; A powerful and strategic option to complement existing observation programs and infrastructure is Citizen Science. There has been significant and relevant discussion of the importance of Citizen Science to citizens and stakeholders. The missing effective question is sometimes what is the potential of citizen science for scientists? The answers for both scientists and society are: spatial coverage, remote locations, temporal coverage, event response, early detection of harmful processes, sufficient data volume for statistical analysis and identification of outliers, integrating local knowledge, data access in exchange for analysis (e.g. with industry) and cost-effective monitoring systems. Citizens can be involved in: instrument manufacture and maintenance, instrument deployment/sample collection, data collection and transmission, data analysis, data validation/verification, and proposals of new topics of research. Such opportunities are balanced by concern on the part of scientists about the quality, the consistency and the reliability of citizen observations and analyses. Experience working with citizen science groups continues to suggest that with proper training and mentoring, these issues can be addressed, understanding both benefits and limitations. How to do it- implementation and maintenance of citizen science: How to recruit, engage, train, and maintain Citizen Scientists. Data systems for acquisition, assessment, access, analysis, and visualisation of distributed data sources. Tools/methods for acquiring observations: Simple instruments, Smartphone Apps

Participatory Design of Citizen Science Experiments

Science.gov (United States)

Senabre, Enric; Ferran-Ferrer, Nuria; Perelló, Josep

2018-01-01

This article describes and analyzes the collaborative design of a citizen science research project through co-creation. Three groups of secondary school students and a team of scientists conceived three experiments on human behavior and social capital in urban and public spaces. The study goal is to address how interdisciplinary work and attention…

Investing in citizen science can improve natural resource management and environmental protection

Science.gov (United States)

McKinley, Duncan C.; Miller-Rushing, Abraham J.; Ballard, Heidi L.; Bonney, Rick; Brown, Hutch; Evans, Daniel M.; French, Rebecca A.; Parrish, Julia K.; Phillips, Tina B.; Ryan, Sean F.; Shanley, Lea A.; Shirk, Jennifer L.; Stepenuck, Kristine F.; Weltzin, Jake F.; Wiggins, Andrea; Boyle, Owen D.; Briggs, Russell D.; Chapin, Stuart F.; Hewitt, David A.; Preuss, Peter W.; Soukup, Michael A.

2015-01-01

Citizen science has made substantive contributions to science for hundreds of years. More recently, it has contributed to many articles in peer-reviewed scientific journals and has influenced natural resource management and environmental protection decisions and policies across the nation. Over the last 10 years, citizen science—participation by the public in a scientific project—has seen explosive growth in the United States, particularly in ecology, the environmental sciences, and related fields of inquiry. In this report, we explore the current use of citizen science in natural resource and environmental science and decision making in the United States and describe the investments organizations might make to benefit from citizen science.

Initiating and continuing participation in citizen science for natural history.

Science.gov (United States)

Everett, Glyn; Geoghegan, Hilary

2016-07-22

Natural history has a long tradition in the UK, dating back to before Charles Darwin. Developing from a principally amateur pursuit, natural history continues to attract both amateur and professional involvement. Within the context of citizen science and public engagement, we examine the motivations behind citizen participation in the national survey activities of the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL) programme, looking at: people's experiences of the surveys as 'project-based leisure'; their motivations for taking part and barriers to continued participation; where they feature on our continuum of engagement; and whether participation in an OPAL survey facilitated their movement between categories along this continuum. The paper focuses on a less-expected but very significant outcome regarding the participation of already-engaged amateur naturalists in citizen science. Our main findings relate to: first, how committed amateur naturalists (already-engaged) have also enjoyed contributing to OPAL and the need to respect and work with their interest to encourage broader and deeper involvement; and second, how new (previously-unengaged) and relatively new participants (casually-engaged) have gained confidence, renewed their interests, refocussed their activities and/or gained validation from participation in OPAL. Overall, we argue that engagement with and enthusiasm for the scientific process is a motivation shared by citizens who, prior to participating in the OPAL surveys, were previously-unengaged, casually-engaged or already-engaged in natural history activities. Citizen science has largely been written about by professional scientists for professional scientists interested in developing a project of their own. This study offers a qualitative example of how citizen science can be meaningful to participants beyond what might appear to be a public engagement data collection exercise.

Conference: photovoltaic energy - local authorities - Citizen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Belon, Daniel; Witte, Sonja; Simonet, Luc; Waldmann, Lars; Fouquet, Doerte; Dupassieux, Henri; Longo, Fabio; Brunel, Arnaud; Kruppert, Andreas; Vachette, Philippe

2012-01-01

The French-German office for Renewable energies (OFAEnR) organised a conference on the role of photovoltaic energy, local authorities and Citizens as pillars of the energy transition. In the framework of this French-German exchange of experience, about 100 participants exchanged views on the role of local authorities and Citizens in the implementation of the energy transition. This document brings together the available presentations (slides) made during this event: 1 - Solar photovoltaics, local communities and citizens - Cornerstones of the energy revolution. Franco-German viewpoints (Daniel Belon); 2 - Structure and management of the distribution system operators in Germany. efficient, innovative and reliable: Local public enterprises in Germany (Sonja Witte); 3 - Photovoltaic energy: technical challenges for power grids - A distribution network operator's (DNO) point-of-view (Luc Simonet); 4 - The sun and the grid - challenges of the energy transition (Lars Waldmann); 5 - The role of local public authorities in the networks management: legal situation in France, Germany and in the EU (Doerte Fouquet); 6 - Towards energy transition: challenges for renewable energies - Urban solar planning tools (Henri Dupassieux); 7 - The local energy supply as a municipal task - solar land-use planning in practice in Germany (Fabio Longo); 8 - Supporting and facilitating the financing of photovoltaic projects at a community level (Arnaud Brunel); 9 - Photovoltaics in the municipality VG Arzfeld (Andreas Kruppert); 10 - For the energy revolution to be a success: Invest into renewable energy. Local, controllable and renewable 'shared energy' that is grassroots (Philippe Vachette)

A Citizen's guide to climate refugees

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boyd, T.

2005-06-01

Friends of the Earth Australia is commemorating World Refugee Day in 2005 by publishing a 'Citizens Guide to Climate Refugees'. This publication gives the basic facts on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions; why people could become climate refugees, how many and where are they likely to come from; and what can be done about it

Fuel reprocessing: Citizens' questions and experts' answers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1982-10-01

In connection with the intention of DWK to erect a fuel reprocessing plant in the Oberpfalz, citizens have asked a great number of questions which are of interest to the general public. They have been collected, grouped into subject categories and answered by experts. (orig./HSCH) [de

Project Citizen: Promoting Action-Oriented Citizen Science in the Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Green, Carie; Medina-Jerez, William

2012-01-01

In recent years, citizen science projects have emerged as a means to involve students in scientific inquiry, particularly in the fields of ecology and environmental science. A citizen scientist is "a volunteer who collects and/or processes data as part of a scientific inquiry" (Silverton 2009, p. 467). Participation in citizen science…

Energy policy - dialogue with the citizen

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zillessen, H.

1977-01-01

The attempt made by the Federal government to enter a dialogne with the citizen on prerequisites and objectives of energy policy has met with a conflicting response. On the one hand a lot of citizens have welcomed the fact that the sector of energy policy being socially as relevant as that is being discussed in detail and in public. On the other hand, especially representatives of citizens' initiatives fear that the dialogne will be degradaded to a mere hearing unless it leads to a bitter participation of the citizen in the process of will formation concerning decisions being socially obligatory. The confrontations on energy policy have clearly shown that new forms of the formation of political will are being demanded with an increasing emphasis. In the meantime risks involved in industrial civilization are being recognized as being dangerous to their lives by many people, and doubts concerning the ability of traditional institutions and procedures to meet present and future challenges are increasing. Simultaneously there is resistance against bureaucratic patronizing as well as against party dependence being too strong and dependent interest of the state. Many of those who are affected by a faulty development and by unbearable things - due to the way in which governmental and private economic problems are tackled - demand new forms of will formation concerning the mediation of social needs and political responsibilities. (orig.) [de

CosmoQuest: A Glance at Citizen Science Building

Science.gov (United States)

Richardson, Matthew; Grier, Jennifer; Gay, Pamela; Lehan, Cory; Buxner, Sanlyn; CosmoQuest Team

2018-01-01

CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility focused on engaging people - citizen scientists - from across the world in authentic research projects designed to enhance our knowledge of the cosmos around us. Using image data acquired by NASA missions, our citizen scientists are first trained to identify specific features within the data and then requested to identify those features across large datasets. Responses submitted by the citizen scientists are then stored in our database where they await for analysis and eventual publication by CosmoQuest staff and collaborating professional research scientists.While it is clear that the driving power behind our projects are the eyes and minds of our citizen scientists, it is CosmoQuest’s custom software, Citizen Science Builder (CSB), that enables citizen science to be accomplished. On the front end, CosmoQuest’s CSB software allows for the creation of web-interfaces that users can access to perform image annotation through both drawing tools and questions that can accompany images. These tools include: using geometric shapes to identify regions within an image, tracing image attributes using freeform line tools, and flagging features within images. Additionally, checkboxes, dropdowns, and free response boxes may be used to collect information. On the back end, this software is responsible for the proper storage of all data, which allows project staff to perform periodic data quality checks and track the progress of each project. In this poster we present these available tools and resources and seek potential collaborations.

The Citizen Science Landscape: From Volunteers to Citizen Sensors and Beyond

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Christina L. Catlin-Groves

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Within conservation and ecology, volunteer participation has always been an important component of research. Within the past two decades, this use of volunteers in research has proliferated and evolved into “citizen science.” Technologies are evolving rapidly. Mobile phone technologies and the emergence and uptake of high-speed Web-capable smart phones with GPS and data upload capabilities can allow instant collection and transmission of data. This is frequently used within everyday life particularly on social networking sites. Embedded sensors allow researchers to validate GPS and image data and are now affordable and regularly used by citizens. With the “perfect storm” of technology, data upload, and social networks, citizen science represents a powerful tool. This paper establishes the current state of citizen science within scientific literature, examines underlying themes, explores further possibilities for utilising citizen science within ecology, biodiversity, and biology, and identifies possible directions for further research. The paper highlights (1 lack of trust in the scientific community about the reliability of citizen science data, (2 the move from standardised data collection methods to data mining available datasets, and (3 the blurring of the line between citizen science and citizen sensors and the need to further explore online social networks for data collection.

Combining Public Health Education and Disease Ecology Research: Using Citizen Science to Assess Chagas Disease Entomological Risk in Texas.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel Curtis-Robles

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Chagas disease is a zoonotic parasitic disease well-documented throughout the Americas and transmitted primarily by triatomine 'kissing bug' vectors. In acknowledgment of the successful history of vector control programs based on community participation across Latin America, we used a citizen science approach to gain novel insight into the geographic distribution, seasonal activity, and Trypanosoma cruzi infection prevalence of kissing bugs in Texas while empowering the public with information about Chagas disease.We accepted submissions of kissing bugs encountered by the public in Texas and other states from 2013-2014 while providing educational literature about Chagas disease. In the laboratory, kissing bugs were identified to species, dissected, and tested for T. cruzi infection. A total of 1,980 triatomines were submitted to the program comprised of at least seven species, of which T. gerstaeckeri and T. sanguisuga were the most abundant (85.7% of submissions. Triatomines were most commonly collected from dog kennels and outdoor patios; Overall, 10.5% of triatomines were collected from inside the home. Triatomines were submitted from across Texas, including many counties which were not previously known to harbor kissing bugs. Kissing bugs were captured primarily throughout April-October, and peak activity occurred in June-July. Emails to our dedicated account regarding kissing bugs were more frequent in the summer months (June-August than the rest of the year. We detected T. cruzi in 63.3% of tested bugs.Citizen science is an efficient approach for generating data on the distribution, phenology, and infection prevalence of kissing bugs-vectors of the Chagas disease parasite-while educating the public and medical community.

Getting the full picture: Assessing the complementarity of citizen science and agency monitoring data

OpenAIRE

Hadj-Hammou, Jeneen; Loiselle, Steven; Ophof, Daniel; Thornhill, Ian

2017-01-01

While the role of citizen science in engaging the public and providing large-scale datasets has been demonstrated, the nature of and potential for this science to supplement environmental monitoring efforts by government agencies has not yet been fully explored. To this end, the present study investigates the complementarity of a citizen science programme to agency monitoring of water quality. The Environment Agency (EA) is the governmental public body responsible for, among other duties, man...

Activating social strategies: Face-to-face interaction in technology-mediated citizen science.

Science.gov (United States)

Cappa, Francesco; Laut, Jeffrey; Nov, Oded; Giustiniano, Luca; Porfiri, Maurizio

2016-11-01

The use of crowds in research activities by public and private organizations is growing under different forms. Citizen science is a popular means of engaging the general public in research activities led by professional scientists. By involving a large number of amateur scientists, citizen science enables distributed data collection and analysis on a scale that would be otherwise difficult and costly to achieve. While advancements in information technology in the past few decades have fostered the growth of citizen science through online participation, several projects continue to fail due to limited participation. Such web-based projects may isolate the citizen scientists from the researchers. By adopting the perspective of social strategy, we investigate within a measure-manipulate-measure experiment if motivations to participate in a citizen science project can be positively influenced by a face-to-face interaction with the scientists leading the project. Such an interaction provides the participants with the possibility of asking questions on the spot and obtaining a detailed explanation of the citizen science project, its scientific merit, and environmental relevance. Social and cultural factors that moderate the effect brought about by face-to-face interactions on the motivations are also dissected and analyzed. Our findings provide an exploratory insight into a means for motivating crowds to participate in online environmental monitoring projects, also offering possible selection criteria of target audience. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advertising Citizen Science: A Trailer for the Citizen Sky Project

Science.gov (United States)

Wyatt, Ryan; Price, A.

2012-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star epsilon Aurigae. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component, introducing participants to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. As a means of generating interest in the project, the California Academy of Sciences produced a six-minute "trailer” formatted for both traditional and fulldome planetariums as well as HD and web applications. This talk will review the production process for the trailer as well as the methods of distribution via planetariums, social media, and other venues_along with an update on the Citizen Sky Project as a whole. We will show how to use a small, professionally-produced planetarium trailer to help spread word on a citizen science project. We will also show preliminary results on a study about how participation level/type in the project affects science learning.

Monitoring and evaluating citizen-agency interactions: a framework developed for adaptive management.

Science.gov (United States)

Bruce Shindler; Kristin Aldred Cheek; George H. Stankey

1999-01-01

As the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management turn toward ecosystem and adaptive models of forest stewardship, they are being called on to develop meaningful and lasting relations with citizens. These new management styles require not only improved strategies for public involvement but also methods to examine the interactions between citizens and agencies in...

Public Sector and Europeanization Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucica Matei

2006-04-01

Full Text Available The paper emphasises the role of the market-type mechanisms within the activity of the organisations from the public sector. The end of the 20th century was defined by the effects of the public sector reform. The public sector is placed within the cultural and political environment of each country and the reforms have aimed to redefine the structures of the state organisations in the economy and the relationships such as market-government, government-bureaucracy, government- citizens, bureaucracy-citizens, civil servants-politicians-citizens. The public sector reform, achieved at the managerial systems, organisational structures and regulations levels is accompanied by specific and structural reforms. Accepting the market-type mechanisms instead of bureaucratic mechanisms, meaning not the simple provision of public services but the creation of some governmental “actors”, functioning completely on commercial bases, supporting the development of the partnerships between the public and private sector, introducing privatisation is achieved in view of creating “the facilitating state”. We discuss about “facilities” such as citizens and society involvement in public businesses, making public administration more citizen-friendly and the state closer to the public need. The citizens’ involvement, as customers in the flow of the public service contributes to creating an organic ensemble characterised by two fundamental dimensions: level and type of influence of the customers and the private-public dichotomy. Synthesising, the relationships and market mechanisms enable to the public sector to get closer to the public needs and to create a modern administration based on efficiency, effectiveness and openness towards change.

A framework for evaluating and designing citizen science programs for natural resources monitoring.

Science.gov (United States)

Chase, Sarah K; Levine, Arielle

2016-06-01

We present a framework of resource characteristics critical to the design and assessment of citizen science programs that monitor natural resources. To develop the framework we reviewed 52 citizen science programs that monitored a wide range of resources and provided insights into what resource characteristics are most conducive to developing citizen science programs and how resource characteristics may constrain the use or growth of these programs. We focused on 4 types of resource characteristics: biophysical and geographical, management and monitoring, public awareness and knowledge, and social and cultural characteristics. We applied the framework to 2 programs, the Tucson (U.S.A.) Bird Count and the Maui (U.S.A.) Great Whale Count. We found that resource characteristics such as accessibility, diverse institutional involvement in resource management, and social or cultural importance of the resource affected program endurance and success. However, the relative influence of each characteristic was in turn affected by goals of the citizen science programs. Although the goals of public engagement and education sometimes complimented the goal of collecting reliable data, in many cases trade-offs must be made between these 2 goals. Program goals and priorities ultimately dictate the design of citizen science programs, but for a program to endure and successfully meet its goals, program managers must consider the diverse ways that the nature of the resource being monitored influences public participation in monitoring. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

Analyses of occurrence data of protected insect species collected by citizens in Italy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alessandro Campanaro

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Citizen science, the engagement of people in a research project, has grown rapidly in recent years, also for mapping of species of conservation interest. The Life Project “Monitoring Insects with Public Participation” (MIPP actively promoted collaboration amongst scientists, public administrations and citizens in the collection of occurrence data of nine insect species listed in the Habitats Directive: Lucanus cervus, Osmoderma eremita, Cerambyx cerdo, Rosalia alpina, Morimus asper/funereus, Lopinga achine, Parnassius apollo, Zerynthia cassandra/polyxena and Saga pedo. These species were selected because they share two main characteristics: (i they are listed in Annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive and (ii they are large and relatively easy to identify. From 2014 to 2016, many different strategies were applied to contact and engage the public and approximately 14,000 citizens were reached directly. Additionally, printed and online material informed the public about this project. Citizens could transmit data on the target species, accompanied by a photograph, via the web-site of the project or through a dedicated application (app for smartphones and tablets. All records were validated by experts based on the photographs sent by citizens. A total number of 2,308 records were transmitted and 1,691 (73.2% of these were confirmed. Most of the reports were submitted via the website, although the submission via the app increased over time. The species most commonly recorded was L. cervus, followed by M. asper/funereus and R. alpina. Data collected by citizen scientists allowed a detailed analysis to be made on altitudinal distribution and phenology of the species and the results obtained were compared with literature data on altitudinal distribution and phenology. For example, for L. cervus, 67% of the records collected were from the altitudinal range 0–400 m a.s.l. Interestingly, the data showed that the phenology of this species changed

How MESSENGER Meshes Simulations and Games with Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hirshon, B.; Chapman, C. R.; Edmonds, J.; Goldstein, J.; Hallau, K. G.; Solomon, S. C.; Vanhala, H.; Weir, H. M.; Messenger Education; Public Outreach (Epo) Team

2010-12-01

How MESSENGER Meshes Simulations and Games with Citizen Science In the film The Last Starfighter, an alien civilization grooms their future champion—a kid on Earth—using a video game. As he gains proficiency in the game, he masters the skills he needs to pilot a starship and save their civilization. The NASA MESSENGER Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Team is using the same tactic to train citizen scientists to help the Science Team explore the planet Mercury. We are building a new series of games that appear to be designed primarily for fun, but that guide players through a knowledge and skill set that they will need for future science missions in support of MESSENGER mission scientists. As players score points, they gain expertise. Once they achieve a sufficiently high score, they will be invited to become participants in Mercury Zoo, a new program being designed by Zooniverse. Zooniverse created Galaxy Zoo and Moon Zoo, programs that allow interested citizens to participate in the exploration and interpretation of galaxy and lunar data. Scientists use the citizen interpretations to further refine their exploration of the same data, thereby narrowing their focus and saving precious time. Mercury Zoo will be designed with input from the MESSENGER Science Team. This project will not only support the MESSENGER mission, but it will also add to the growing cadre of informed members of the public available to help with other citizen science projects—building on the concept that engaged, informed citizens can help scientists make new discoveries. The MESSENGER EPO Team comprises individuals from the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS); Carnegie Academy for Science Education (CASE); Center for Educational Resources (CERES) at Montana State University (MSU) - Bozeman; National Center for Earth and Space Science Education (NCESSE); Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL); National Air and Space Museum (NASM); Science

Territorial authorities, stakeholders of participative and citizen projects of renewable energy. From support to management: how to do it?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peullemeulle, Justine; Duval, Joakim; Boumard, Erwan; Leclercq, Michel; Paraiso, Jean-Eric; Foulon, Arno; Parrouffe, Jean-Michel; Guillerminet, Marie-Laure; Mouhamad, Sakina; Leclercq, Michel; Poize, Noemie; Duffes, Thomas; Billard, Marianne; Leyendecker, Manon; Jourdain, Pierre

2017-09-01

This publication aims at being a guide for public actors in the implementation and management of participative and citizen projects of renewable energy. It first outlines context and stakes for territorial authorities and citizen, both considered as actors of a democracy of energy. In the next chapter, and by referring to actual examples, it describes the approach to a citizen-based project, and more precisely how a local authority can support the emergence of projects, as well as citizen initiatives, how it is involved in the development phase, and in the building phase. The next chapter highlights lessons which can be learned from a set of current experiments and situations: how can citizen make authorities participate to a project they initiated, how can authorities can make citizen participate to a project they initiated, which actions to implement when a developer wants to intervene on a territory, case of local authorities supporting the local policy of development of citizen renewable energies

Empowering Citizens with Open Data by Urban Hackathons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Concilio, Grazia; Molinari, Francesco; Morelli, Nicola

2017-01-01

Empowering citizens to make meaningful use of open data is a challenge somehow less central than others to public sector information disclosure policies. The latter are typically focused on promoting business innovations and economic activities in general (first goal) or increasing transparency...

Governments and citizens before nuclear energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ballestero, F.

2008-01-01

The citizens fear to anything labelled as nuclear and the potential that the different positions on the use of nuclear energy have as electoral tools have prevented some of these countries from engaging in a real public debate. Citizens are as reluctant to tolerate the accumulation of residues or operation of nuclear plants in their territory as they are to reduce the use of energy for domestic purposes or assume an increase in the cost of fuel or electricity. We are immersed in a political and economical dilemma for which an optimal solution is not yet available. In the short term, it is compelling that we opt for a second best choice that allows us to respond to the challenges that the world, and our country in particular, will face in the next decade. (Author)

Gauging citizen support for a low carbon fuel standard

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rhodes, Ekaterina; Axsen, Jonn; Jaccard, Mark

2015-01-01

Since 2007, several variations of a low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) have been implemented around the world. While emerging research tends to focus on greenhouse gas emission reductions from an LCFS, no studies have assessed the policy's political acceptability—a critical component of implementation. We elicit public support for an existing LCFS in British Columbia and a hypothetical (proposed) LCFS for the rest of Canada using survey data collected from a representative sample of Canadian citizens (n=1306). Specifically, we assess: (1) citizen awareness of British Columbia's LCFS, (2) stated citizen support for the LCFS, and (3) how individual characteristics relate to levels of citizen support. We find that British Columbia's LCFS is almost unknown among British Columbia respondents, but once explained, 90% of respondents support it. We refer to this combination of low knowledge and high support as “passive support.” We find similarly broad support in all other Canadian provinces, implying that citizen opposition is unlikely in jurisdictions considering an LCFS. Statistical analysis identifies some individual characteristics associated with LCFS support, including attitudes, demographics, and contextual factors. Results indicate where policymakers might anticipate opposition if it arises due to increased policy stringency or media coverage. - Highlights: • Most citizens are unaware of British Columbia's low carbon fuel standard (LCFS). • We observe passive support: low awareness and high support of the policy. • An LCFS achieves broad support among British Columbia's and Canadian citizens. • Households relying on single occupancy vehicles are less likely to support an LCFS

Determinants and Outcomes of Citizens' Satisfaction with Public Services in Cluj-Napoca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sorin Dan ŞANDOR

2007-10-01

Full Text Available Customer satisfaction is used more and more in order to assess the quality of a service or product. Two main approaches are presented: Customer Satisfaction Indices and the SERVQUAL model. Inspired from the American Customer Satisfaction Index and SERVQUAL a study in Cluj-Napoca tried to assess citizens’ satisfaction as a result of the perceived quality of different activities or services and of specific quality drivers related to the way in which services were offered. Also citizens’ satisfaction was supposed to have, as outcomes, trust in mayor and in City Hall. The actual results showed weak relationships and most of the factors included were not significant. As possible explanations we can have the difference between citizens and customers and the complex pattern of interactions between citizens and municipalities.

Involving a Citizens' Jury in Decisions on Individual Screening for Prostate Cancer.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paola Mosconi

Full Text Available Most public health agencies and learned societies agree that the prostate-specific antigen (PSA test in asymptomatic men should not be recommended, on account of its potential for harm. Yet PSA is still widely used as a screening test and is not being abandoned. This remains a significant public health issue, and citizens' engagement is needed. This study was designed to produce a deliberation on the PSA screening test by a citizens' jury.Fifteen citizens were selected and balanced for sex, age, and education. They received an information booklet and participated in a two-day meeting with experts to reach a deliberation on the question "Should the National Health Service discourage or recommend PSA as an individual screening test for prostate cancer in men 55-69 years old?". A facilitator ran the jurors' discussion.All except three of the jurors decided that the National Health Service should discourage the use of PSA as an individual screening test for prostate cancer in 55-69 year-old men. The jury was particularly convinced by the uncertainty of the test outcomes, the utility of the test, and its cost/benefit ratio. Before the meeting 60% of jurors would have recommended the test to a relative, and all the male jurors would have done so. After the meeting these percentages fell to 15% and 12%.This experience confirms the feasibility and effectiveness of delegating to a group of citizens the responsibility to decide on public health issues on behalf of the community. Public health authorities should invest in information campaigns aimed at the public and in educational initiatives for physicians. This also provided an opportunity to disseminate information on screening, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment.

Tools for virtual citizen participation and its development in the websites of the Andalusia Public Health System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Manuel Ángel Calvo-Calvo

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The objectives of the study were to identify web tools leading to virtual citizen participation in health, to find out what tools exist and their degree of development in the websites of the Andalusia Public Health System. It identified 42 website tools that can facilitate information for, and interactivity with, citizenry. A descriptive and transversal study was then conducted to find out what participatory tools appear on six websites of the Andalusia Public Health System. Of the tools proposed, 33 were present in the analyzed webs. The participatory resources that were most developed by the organizations studied were the presence in social networks and Web 2.0 and 1.0 applications for informing the citizenry. 2.0 tools for web-user interaction and publishing contents created by users were developed to a lesser degree. Finally, online applications for interaction and collaboration among users had not been developed on the websites studied.

Valuing the reduction of floods: Public officials’ versus citizens’ preferences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elin Spegel

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the preferences of public officials and citizens related to the impacts of floods in the Gothenburg region in Sweden. Citizens and public officials in the flood-prone region answered identical choice-experiment surveys characterized by the negative impacts of floods: property damage, traffic disturbances, and water supply security. By having citizens and public officials respond to identical surveys, it was possible to analyse whether and, if so, how priorities and monetary valuation differed in respect of the different negative effects of floods. The overall finding is that public officials’ and citizens’ preferences seem to converge, and that both citizens and public officials are willing to pay to reduce flood-related costs. Public officials have similar priorities to citizens, in that security of drinking water provision was given priority over property damage, while traffic disturbances were ranked lowest. In terms of their respective willingness to pay to avoid the negative impact of floods, public officials were willing to pay more than citizens to pay for securing the drinking water supply and for restoring damaged property, though these differences were not substantial. There are, however, some differences in preference between citizens and public officials: the latter preferred not to spend anything to reduce traffic disturbances caused by floods, whilst citizens were willing to do so. These results imply that decisions made within the public sector will not come to differ substantially from citizens’ preferences.

Citizen involvement in sustainability-centred environmental assessment follow-up

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hunsberger, Carol A.; Gibson, Robert B.; Wismer, Susan K.

2005-01-01

In Canada, many project proponents and planners in the public and private sectors are required to forecast and minimize the adverse environmental effects of their undertakings. However, environmental assessments have traditionally been weak in the areas of planning and conducting effective monitoring, encouraging public participation, integrating social and ecological considerations, encouraging environmental rehabilitation and enhancement, and examining cumulative effects of multiple projects. This paper attempts to address these deficiencies together by drawing from theory and practice in citizen-based monitoring, in the interests of sustainable livelihoods, using local knowledge. Informed by case study research in several regions of Canada, the discussion focuses on opportunities for using citizen-based approaches to broad and continuing regional monitoring as a foundation for the project-centred work that is the usual concern of environmental assessment follow-up. Such approaches have advantages beyond the usual expectations of project-centred monitoring and beyond the conventional arguments for increasing local involvement in environmental assessments. However, there are also challenges including those of integrating local and conventional (or scientific) knowledge systems, addressing concerns about the credibility and biases of citizens and project proponents, ensuring attention to broader sustainability goals such as increased stewardship and civility, and developing practical ways of coordinating and funding integrated and participatory monitoring programs. The concluding recommendations call for a dramatically different approach to follow-up activities on the part of private and public project proponents, as well as novel thinking for environmental assessment practitioners

Entitlement to concessionary public transport and wellbeing: a qualitative study of young people and older citizens in London, UK.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Alasdair; Goodman, Anna; Roberts, Helen; Steinbach, Rebecca; Green, Judith

2013-08-01

Access to transport is an important determinant of health, and concessionary fares for public transport are one way to reduce the 'transport exclusion' that can limit access. This paper draws on qualitative data from two groups typically at risk of transport exclusion: young people (12-18 years of age, n = 118) and older citizens (60+ years of age, n = 46). The data were collected in London, UK, where young people and older citizens are currently entitled to concessionary bus travel. We focus on how this entitlement is understood and enacted, and how different sources of entitlement mediate the relationship between transport and wellbeing. Both groups felt that their formal entitlement to travel for free reflected their social worth and was, particularly for older citizens, relatively unproblematic. The provision of a concessionary transport entitlement also helped to combat feelings of social exclusion by enhancing recipients' sense of belonging to the city and to a 'community'. However, informal entitlements to particular spaces on the bus reflected less valued social attributes such as need or frailty. Thus in the course of travelling by bus the enactment of entitlements to space and seats entailed the negotiation of social differences and personal vulnerabilities, and this carried with it potential threats to wellbeing. We conclude that the process, as well as the substance, of entitlement can mediate wellbeing; and that where the basis for providing a given entitlement is widely understood and accepted, the risks to wellbeing associated with enacting that entitlement will be reduced. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outreach Through Action: Using Citizen Science Pathways to Educate and Engage the Public While Collecting Real Data

Science.gov (United States)

Wickline, A.

2016-02-01

Citizens in Lewes, DE monitor local waterways by collecting physical and chemical data and checking for harmful algal blooms since 1991 through the University of Delaware Citizen Monitoring Program (UD CMP). This effort has produced lengthy time series for some sites dating back to 1991, as well as an engaged cohort of local citizens interested in coastal and estuarine processes. Though their primary goal is to monitor for conditions that could potentially be harmful to human and aquatic health, we saw an opportunity to reach out and expand their efforts by asking these citizens to sample the zooplankton community, providing more ecological context for their data. Over the past year, we have worked to engage this group through a series of talks and trainings. We explained the basics of zooplankton dynamics in our region, recruited volunteers to collect zooplankton at their sites, and worked with them to analyze their data. This small pilot project exemplifies the dual benefits of citizen science programs: collecting credible data while provided people with non-science backgrounds a chance to learn science through a hands-on project. The interactions with researchers and opportunities to work with real data offer citizens the one of the most robust science experiences, going beyond those provided by attending lab open houses or listening to talks.

From "Stranger" to "Arrived": The Citizens' Library in England.

Science.gov (United States)

Meyers, Arthur S.

1998-01-01

Discusses studies of public library multicultural services in England. Describes multicultural programs in Birmingham and Brent that involve the citizens in planning and implementing these services. Access to electronic technology will affect the provision of these services. (MMU)

Citizen observations contributing to flood modelling: opportunities and challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T. H. Assumpção

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Citizen contributions to science have been successfully implemented in many fields, and water resources is one of them. Through citizens, it is possible to collect data and obtain a more integrated decision-making process. Specifically, data scarcity has always been an issue in flood modelling, which has been addressed in the last decades by remote sensing and is already being discussed in the citizen science context. With this in mind, this article aims to review the literature on the topic and analyse the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. The literature on monitoring, mapping and modelling, was evaluated according to the flood-related variable citizens contributed to. Pros and cons of the collection/analysis methods were summarised. Then, pertinent publications were mapped into the flood modelling cycle, considering how citizen data properties (spatial and temporal coverage, uncertainty and volume are related to its integration into modelling. It was clear that the number of studies in the area is rising. There are positive experiences reported in collection and analysis methods, for instance with velocity and land cover, and also when modelling is concerned, for example by using social media mining. However, matching the data properties necessary for each part of the modelling cycle with citizen-generated data is still challenging. Nevertheless, the concept that citizen contributions can be used for simulation and forecasting is proved and further work lies in continuing to develop and improve not only methods for collection and analysis, but certainly for integration into models as well. Finally, in view of recent automated sensors and satellite technologies, it is through studies as the ones analysed in this article that the value of citizen contributions, complementing such technologies, is demonstrated.

Citizen observations contributing to flood modelling: opportunities and challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Assumpção, Thaine H.; Popescu, Ioana; Jonoski, Andreja; Solomatine, Dimitri P.

2018-02-01

Citizen contributions to science have been successfully implemented in many fields, and water resources is one of them. Through citizens, it is possible to collect data and obtain a more integrated decision-making process. Specifically, data scarcity has always been an issue in flood modelling, which has been addressed in the last decades by remote sensing and is already being discussed in the citizen science context. With this in mind, this article aims to review the literature on the topic and analyse the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. The literature on monitoring, mapping and modelling, was evaluated according to the flood-related variable citizens contributed to. Pros and cons of the collection/analysis methods were summarised. Then, pertinent publications were mapped into the flood modelling cycle, considering how citizen data properties (spatial and temporal coverage, uncertainty and volume) are related to its integration into modelling. It was clear that the number of studies in the area is rising. There are positive experiences reported in collection and analysis methods, for instance with velocity and land cover, and also when modelling is concerned, for example by using social media mining. However, matching the data properties necessary for each part of the modelling cycle with citizen-generated data is still challenging. Nevertheless, the concept that citizen contributions can be used for simulation and forecasting is proved and further work lies in continuing to develop and improve not only methods for collection and analysis, but certainly for integration into models as well. Finally, in view of recent automated sensors and satellite technologies, it is through studies as the ones analysed in this article that the value of citizen contributions, complementing such technologies, is demonstrated.

78 FR 76748 - Citizen Petition Submission; Technical Amendment

Science.gov (United States)

2013-12-19

..., that, to the best knowledge and belief of the undersigned, this petition includes all information and... change is that it ensures efficiency and ease in communication, quicker interaction between citizen....S.C. 553). FDA has determined that good cause exists to dispense with prior notice and public...

Citizen science applied to building healthier community environments: advancing the field through shared construct and measurement development.

Science.gov (United States)

Hinckson, Erica; Schneider, Margaret; Winter, Sandra J; Stone, Emily; Puhan, Milo; Stathi, Afroditi; Porter, Michelle M; Gardiner, Paul A; Dos Santos, Daniela Lopes; Wolff, Andrea; King, Abby C

2017-09-29

Physical inactivity across the lifespan remains a public health issue for many developed countries. Inactivity has contributed considerably to the pervasiveness of lifestyle diseases. Government, national and local agencies and organizations have been unable to systematically, and in a coordinated way, translate behavioral research into practice that makes a difference at a population level. One approach for mobilizing multi-level efforts to improve the environment for physical activity is to engage in a process of citizen science. Citizen Science here is defined as a participatory research approach involving members of the public working closely with research investigators to initiate and advance scientific research projects. However, there are no common measures or protocols to guide citizen science research at the local community setting. We describe overarching categories of constructs that can be considered when designing citizen science projects expected to yield multi-level interventions, and provide an example of the citizen science approach to promoting PA. We also recommend potential measures across different levels of impact. Encouraging some consistency in measurement across studies will potentially accelerate the efficiency with which citizen science participatory research provides new insights into and solutions to the behaviorally-based public health issues that drive most of morbidity and mortality. The measures described in this paper abide by four fundamental principles specifically selected for inclusion in citizen science projects: feasibility, accuracy, propriety, and utility. The choice of measures will take into account the potential resources available for outcome and process evaluation. Our intent is to emphasize the importance for all citizen science participatory projects to follow an evidence-based approach and ensure that they incorporate an appropriate assessment protocol. We provided the rationale for and a list of contextual factors

Partnering for science: proceedings of the USGS Workshop on Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hines, Megan; Benson, Abigail; Govoni, David; Masaki, Derek; Poore, Barbara; Simpson, Annie; Tessler, Steven

2013-01-01

What U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) programs use citizen science? How can projects be best designed while meeting policy requirements? What are the most effective volunteer recruitment methods? What data should be collected to ensure validation and how should data be stored? What standard protocols are most easily used by volunteers? Can data from multiple projects be integrated to support new research or existing science questions? To help answer these and other questions, the USGS Community of Data Integration (CDI) supported the development of the Citizen Science Working Group (CSWG) in August 2011 and funded the working group’s proposal to hold a USGS Citizen Science Workshop in fiscal year 2012. The stated goals for our workshop were: raise awareness of programs and projects in the USGS that incorporate citizen science, create a community of practice for the sharing of knowledge and experiences, provide a forum to discuss the challenges of—and opportunities for—incorporating citizen science into USGS projects, and educate and support scientists and managers whose projects may benefit from public participation in science.To meet these goals, the workshop brought together 50 attendees (see appendix A for participant details) representing the USGS, partners, and external citizen science practitioners from diverse backgrounds (including scientists, managers, project coordinators, and technical developers, for example) to discuss these topics at the Denver Federal Center in Colorado on September 11–12, 2012. Over two and a half days, attendees participated in four major plenary sessions (Citizen Science Policy and Challenges, Engaging the Public in Scientific Research, Data Collection and Management, and Technology and Tools) comprised of 25 invited presentations and followed by structured discussions for each session designed to address both prepared and ad hoc "big questions." A number of important community support and infrastructure needs were identified

Citizens as Censors : Understanding the Limits of Free Speech in India

OpenAIRE

Tjäder, Henriette

2016-01-01

This thesis aims to provide an understanding of the phenomenon of citizen censorship in India and its implications for free speech. It is especially concerned with public protests where groups of citizens demand government action in order to ban or censor controversial material. These groups tend to invoke feelings of offense or hurt religious sentiments as a justification for restriction. The point of departure of this thesis is research on social movement outcomes and the history of Indian ...

Towards a Danish Spatial Information Infrastructure - what can the Danish Authorities offer the citizens today?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brande-Lavridsen, Hanne

2003-01-01

and greater transparency (e-democracy/participation democracy). The e-government initiatives are rapidly changing the spatial data/spatial information area too. Investigations indicate that about 80% of the information needed for e-government can be related to a location on the Earth. The paper presents five...... is to use the potentials of the Internet to structure the public sector in a more flexible and efficient way (e-government) and, as they say, with higher quality for the citizens. At the same time the citizens are increasingly demanding better service from the public sector by way of more information...... map- and spatial information services available for the citizens via the Internet. The services can be described as building blocks to a Danish Spatial Information Infrastructure...

Citizen bio-optical observations from coast- and ocean and their compatibility with ocean colour satellite measurements.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Busch, J.A.; Bardaji, R.; Ceccaroni, L.; Friedrichs, A.; Piera, J.; Simon, C.; Thijsse, P.; Wernand, M.R.; van der Woerd, H.J.; Zielinski, O.

2016-01-01

Marine processes are observed with sensors from both the ground and space over large spatio-temporal scales. Citizen-based contributions can fill observational gaps and increase environmental stewardship amongst the public. For this purpose, tools and methods for citizen science need to (1)

Citizen science in hydrology and waterresources: opportunities for knowledge generation, ecosystem service management, and sustainable development

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Buytaert, W.; Zulkafi, Z.; Grainger, S.; Acosta, L.; Alemie, T.C.; Bastiaensen, J.; Bièvre, de B.; Bhusal, J.; Clark, J.; Dewulf, A.R.P.J.; Foggin, M.; Hannah, D.M.; Hergarten, C.; Isaeva, A.; Karpouzoglou, T.D.; Pandeya, B.; Paudel, D.; Sharma, K.; Steenhuis, T.S.; Tilahun, S.; Hecken, van G.; Zhumanova, M.

2014-01-01

The participation of the general public in the research design, data collection and interpretation process together with scientists is often referred to as citizen science. While citizen science itself has existed since the start of scientific practice, developments in sensing technology, data

Citizen Bio-Optical Observations from Coast- and Ocean and Their Compatibility with Ocean Colour Satellite Measurements

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Busch, J.A.; Bardaji, R.; Ceccaroni, L.; Friedrichs, A.; Piera, J.; Simon, C.; Thijssen, P.; Wernand, M.R.; van der Woerd, H.J.; Zielinski, O.

2016-01-01

Marine processes are observed with sensors from both the ground and space over large spatio-temporal scales. Citizen-based contributions can fill observational gaps and increase environmental stewardship amongst the public. For this purpose, tools and methods for citizen science need to (1)

Citizen Sky, Solving the Mystery of epsilon Aurigae

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Kloppenborg, B.; Henden, A.

2010-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. It begins with a 10 Star Training Program of several types of binary and transient variable stars that are easy to observe from suburban locations with the naked eye. Participants then move on to monitoring the rare and mysterious 2009-2011 eclipse (already underway) of epsilon Aurigae. This object undergoes eclipses only every 27.1 years and each eclipse lasts nearly two years. The star is bright enough to be seen with the naked eye from most urban areas. Training will be provided in observing techniques as well as basic data analysis of photometric and visual datasets (light curve and period analysis). The project also involves two public workshops, one on observing (already held in August of 2009) and one on data analysis and scientific paper writing (to be held in 2010.) This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

Using citizen science butterfly counts to predict species population trends.

Science.gov (United States)

Dennis, Emily B; Morgan, Byron J T; Brereton, Tom M; Roy, David B; Fox, Richard

2017-12-01

Citizen scientists are increasingly engaged in gathering biodiversity information, but trade-offs are often required between public engagement goals and reliable data collection. We compared population estimates for 18 widespread butterfly species derived from the first 4 years (2011-2014) of a short-duration citizen science project (Big Butterfly Count [BBC]) with those from long-running, standardized monitoring data collected by experienced observers (U.K. Butterfly Monitoring Scheme [UKBMS]). BBC data are gathered during an annual 3-week period, whereas UKBMS sampling takes place over 6 months each year. An initial comparison with UKBMS data restricted to the 3-week BBC period revealed that species population changes were significantly correlated between the 2 sources. The short-duration sampling season rendered BBC counts susceptible to bias caused by interannual phenological variation in the timing of species' flight periods. The BBC counts were positively related to butterfly phenology and sampling effort. Annual estimates of species abundance and population trends predicted from models including BBC data and weather covariates as a proxy for phenology correlated significantly with those derived from UKBMS data. Overall, citizen science data obtained using a simple sampling protocol produced comparable estimates of butterfly species abundance to data collected through standardized monitoring methods. Although caution is urged in extrapolating from this U.K. study of a small number of common, conspicuous insects, we found that mass-participation citizen science can simultaneously contribute to public engagement and biodiversity monitoring. Mass-participation citizen science is not an adequate replacement for standardized biodiversity monitoring but may extend and complement it (e.g., through sampling different land-use types), as well as serving to reconnect an increasingly urban human population with nature. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published

Design Competences to Support Participatory Public Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giordano, Fanny Barbara

2017-01-01

the spontaneous creations of services by citizens? How might designers build platforms that could support interactions between citizens and public organizations on a large scale? In this paper I will refer to the Open4Citizens (O4C) research project as an exemplary playground to build co-design tools...... answers to unsolved and shared everyday problems. In this context designers should support and facilitate bottom up approaches that could address these challenges by the creation of new public services that are informed by the real needs of their users (the citizens). How can designers support...... that supports the designer activity to empower the citizens to build meaningful services....

Who are the active citizens?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika

group. This article argues that there are no `ordinary´ citizens, and claims that citizens are very different and participate in various ways. A criticism raised in relation to participatory processes is that these often tend to favour certain modes of communication based on an implicit ideal...... of the citizen as being resourceful, mastering political skills and know-how and time. However, many citizens do not `fit´ this stereotype, and thus there is a risk that many citizens are biased by the way the institutional settings for participation are designed. A characterization of active citizens...

Yes, the government should tax soft drinks: findings from a citizens' jury in Australia.

Science.gov (United States)

Moretto, Nicole; Kendall, Elizabeth; Whitty, Jennifer; Byrnes, Joshua; Hills, Andrew P; Gordon, Louisa; Turkstra, Erika; Scuffham, Paul; Comans, Tracy

2014-02-27

Taxation has been suggested as a possible preventive strategy to address the serious public health concern of childhood obesity. Understanding the public's viewpoint on the potential role of taxation is vital to inform policy decisions if they are to be acceptable to the wider community. A Citizens' Jury is a deliberative method for engaging the public in decision making and can assist in setting policy agendas. A Citizens' Jury was conducted in Brisbane, Australia in May 2013 to answer the question: Is taxation on food and drinks an acceptable strategy to the public in order to reduce rates of childhood obesity? Citizens were randomly selected from the electoral roll and invited to participate. Thirteen members were purposively sampled from those expressing interest to broadly reflect the diversity of the Australian public. Over two days, participants were presented with evidence on the topic by experts, were able to question witnesses and deliberate on the evidence. The jurors unanimously supported taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks but generally did not support taxation on processed meats, snack foods and foods eaten/ purchased outside the home. They also supported taxation on snack foods on the condition that traffic light labelling was also introduced. Though they were not specifically asked to deliberate strategies outside of taxation, the jurors strongly recommended more nutritional information on all food packaging using the traffic light and teaspoon labelling systems for sugar, salt and fat content. The Citizens' Jury suggests that the general public may support taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks to reduce rates of obesity in children. Regulatory reforms of taxation on sugar-sweetened drinks and improved labelling of nutritional information on product packaging were strongly supported by all members of the jury. These reforms should be considered by governments to prevent childhood obesity and the future burden on society from the consequences of obesity.

[Local and citizen participation and representation strategies in Healthcare Administration].

Science.gov (United States)

Sancho Serena, Francesc; Grané Alsina, Montserrat; Olivet, Miquel

2015-11-01

The public as a whole are the rightful owners and beneficiaries of the public healthcare system in our country. As such, they collaborate in its maintenance and upkeep through payment of taxes. The government is accountable to the public as to how the ever-scarce resources are allocated. When it comes to the area of healthcare, this represents an added factor of complexity and specificity which makes the issue a particularly sensitive one. In the field of healthcare, both the General Health Law and the Law of Catalan Healthcare Code define the actors responsible for the public representation of its citizens. Nevertheless, their inclusion does not necessarily guarantee the perception of participation by its citizens or that of a greater democratic quality. The model must be understood as the intermediary link between a legally regulated framework and the actual debate, which in a globalized world with such an immense volume of information available to citizens and with the current online social networking sites, occurs at the heart of society in general, even though government has no such incorporation channel. The system will need to be developed as new technologies enable this, towards a more direct and more global models for participation. Participation is a flexible concept which, as far as possible, needs to adapt to the different problems as well as the different regions. Legislative regulation must therefore provide the mechanisms and stable frameworks for participation. In turn however, it must also establish dynamic systems capable of adapting to and incorporating the varying demands and methods of participation coming from the public in response to disparate processes. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

How citizen seismology is transforming rapid public earthquake information and interactions between seismologists and society

Science.gov (United States)

Bossu, Rémy; Steed, Robert; Mazet-Roux, Gilles; Roussel, Fréderic; Caroline, Etivant

2015-04-01

Historical earthquakes are only known to us through written recollections and so seismologists have a long experience of interpreting the reports of eyewitnesses, explaining probably why seismology has been a pioneer in crowdsourcing and citizen science. Today, Internet has been transforming this situation; It can be considered as the digital nervous system comprising of digital veins and intertwined sensors that capture the pulse of our planet in near real-time. How can both seismology and public could benefit from this new monitoring system? This paper will present the strategy implemented at Euro-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC) to leverage this new nervous system to detect and diagnose the impact of earthquakes within minutes rather than hours and how it transformed information systems and interactions with the public. We will show how social network monitoring and flashcrowds (massive website traffic increases on EMSC website) are used to automatically detect felt earthquakes before seismic detections, how damaged areas can me mapped through concomitant loss of Internet sessions (visitors being disconnected) and the benefit of collecting felt reports and geolocated pictures to further constrain rapid impact assessment of global earthquakes. We will also describe how public expectations within tens of seconds of ground shaking are at the basis of improved diversified information tools which integrate this user generated contents. A special attention will be given to LastQuake, the most complex and sophisticated Twitter QuakeBot, smartphone application and browser add-on, which deals with the only earthquakes that matter for the public: the felt and damaging earthquakes. In conclusion we will demonstrate that eyewitnesses are today real time earthquake sensors and active actors of rapid earthquake information.

The role of citizen public-interest groups in the decision-making process of a science-intensive culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sinclair, M.P.

1991-01-01

This study explores how concerns about the environment have escalated in the past three decades from being peripheral to that of a mainstream social movement. Most environmental concerns stem from the deployment of technologies where technical expertise is essential to effective participation in the decision-making process. The manner in which the current policy for the disposal of low-level radioactive waste was devised and passed by Congress provides the information base through which the role of citizen groups in the decision-making process in a science-intensive culture is explored, as they seek to overcome the adverse environmental impacts and economic inequities of this Act. The actual process by which citizens have confronted this current flawed policy is described, which includes how technical expertise from various sources made the citizens' case credible and effective. Several existing and theoretical models of citizen participation are described. Recommendations and conclusions are presented briefly, and a recommended model based on the concept of sustainable development is proposed

Valorisation of Jatropha curcas: Solubilisation of proteins and sugars from the NaOH extracted de-oiled press cake

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kootstra, A.M.J.; Beeftink, H.H.; Sanders, J.P.M.

2011-01-01

In this study, we investigated the possibilities for increasing the valorisation of de-oiled Jatropha press cake (DO-JPC). The studied raw material is the by-product of the alkaline protein extraction of the DO-JPC: NaOH Extracted DO-JPC (NEDO-JPC). Protein solubilisation of NEDO-JPC was performed

Research uncovers what citizens' think about the security sector in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2015-07-27

Jul 27, 2015 ... Here, direct experience with security services leads to more negative opinions, and perceptions of personal and family safety play a critical role in citizens' ... sector and the justice system as perceived by the general public.

Participatory Public Service Design by Gov.3.0 Design Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Suhyun Baek

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Citizen satisfaction levels with public service have become a key indicator in evaluating a nation’s policy capability; as such, it has become important to realize citizen-centered public service that enhances the satisfaction of citizens. Governments need to adopt new and creative methods to respond to changes and redefine the conditions of their policy processes. This study reviews the effectiveness of utilizing open innovation by design thinking for policy processes, and aims to detail the conditions for a policy process geared towards citizen-centered public service. The study reviews open innovation as a means of overcoming the insular tendencies of organizations, and also reviews the advantages of design thinking in identifying the diversified needs of citizens and coordinating their interests. Based on those, we conducted a case study and applied open innovation by design thinking for policy processes. The results revealed that key conditions include cooperation among designers, the diversification of communication channels between internal and external organizations, the joining of citizen experiences, repeated verification of citizen needs, and visualization of the whole progression. Such conditions are principal factors that contribute to citizen orientation and participation, and are expected to play a conducive role in the realization of citizen-centered public service in the future.

Citizen centered design

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ingrid Mulder

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Today architecture has to design for rapidly changing futures, in a citizen-centered way. That is, architecture needs to embrace meaningful design. Societal challenges ask for a new paradigm in city-making, which combines top-down public management with bottom-up social innovation to reach meaningful design. The biggest challenge is indeed to embrace a new collaborative attitude, a participatory approach, and to have the proper infrastructure that supports this social fabric. Participatory design and transition management are future-oriented, address people and institutions. Only through understanding people in context and the corresponding dynamics, one is able to design for liveable and sustainable urban environments, embracing the human scale.

Participatory design of citizen science experiments

OpenAIRE

Senabre, Enric; Ferran Ferrer, Núria; Perelló, Josep, 1974-

2018-01-01

This article describes and analyzes the collaborative design of a citizen science research project through cocreation. Three groups of secondary school students and a team of scientists conceived three experiments on human behavior and social capital in urban and public spaces. The study goal is to address how interdisciplinary work and attention to social concerns and needs, as well as the collective construction of research questions, can be integrated into scientific research. The 95 stude...

The Use of Online Citizen-Science Projects to Provide Experiential Learning Opportunities for Nonmajor Science Students?

OpenAIRE

Kridelbaugh, Donna M.

2016-01-01

Citizen science is becoming even more accessible to the general public through technological advances in the development of mobile applications, facilitating information dissemination and data collection. With the advent of “big data,” many citizen-science projects designed to help researchers sift through piles of research data now exist entirely online, either in the form of playing a game or via other digital avenues. Recent trends in citizen science have also focused on “crowdsourcing” so...

Private behaviors for the public good: Citizens' actions and U.S. energy conservation

Science.gov (United States)

Bolsen, Toby

Why and when do individuals take political actions? Why do some, but not all, citizens make sacrifices for the sake of the public good? Outside of work on participation, political scientists have paid little attention to these questions. I seek to fill this gap by exploring the factors that drive political behaviors. I focus specifically on an important class of behaviors: actions regarding the consumption of energy. I begin by developing a theory that brings together the potentially interactive effects of individual and environmental factors that shape individuals' decisions to take action. I test predictions generated by my theory in three empirical chapters: a media content analysis, laboratory experiment, and survey experiment. The content analysis allows me to assess frames in a communication toward energy consumption, which I examine later in terms of effects. I use the theory and experiments to evaluate the impact of competing forces on attitudes toward energy conservation, willingness to pay for energy saving devices, and actual behavior (e.g., a purchasing decision and financial contribution). My results suggest a primacy of norms, which is fascinating because the impact of norms is under-studied relative to research evaluating the impact of political communications.

Potential for comparative public opinion research in public administration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

G. Bouckaert (Geert); S.G.J. Van de Walle (Steven); J. K. Kampen (Jarl)

2005-01-01

textabstractThe public administration and public services have always taken a marginal place in the political scientists’ behavioural research. Public administration students on the other hand tend to focus on political and administrative elites and institutions, and largely ignored citizens in

KOMODIFIKASI WARGA DALAM RUANG CITIZEN JOURNALISM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rulli Nasrullah

2012-08-01

Full Text Available The citizen journalism has been inuenced not only by organization culture of media and news criteria, but also the position of citizens. This entire time citizens are merely a consumers and their position is passive to information produced by traditional media. With the emergence of citizen journalism, now the citizens not only become news consumers but also act as news producers and consumers at the same time (produsage. The commodication of citizen journalism is a phenomenon of counter commidication done by the companies of traditional media. This shown that there are symptoms of attracting each other in the room (market of citizen journalism that the citizens do not always react passively to the exposure of media and become a commodity by traditional media companies or the advertiser, but they also commodify anything as whatever they want to reach. Thus, this research is a rebutting the denition of citizen journalism popularized by Curt Chandler and Jesse Hicks from Penn State University who said that citizen journalism is citizens activities in publishing a content because of their interest to a case without economic motive or personal gain.

A Citizen's guide to climate refugees

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Boyd, T. (ed.)

2005-06-15

Friends of the Earth Australia is commemorating World Refugee Day in 2005 by publishing a 'Citizens Guide to Climate Refugees'. This publication gives the basic facts on climate change, greenhouse gas emissions; why people could become climate refugees, how many and where are they likely to come from; and what can be done about it.

Participation & Co-Design in Public Services

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Giordano, Fanny Barbara

administrations are unable to provide valid answers to emerging everyday problems. Theses opportunities and challenges are related to the role designers could take to help generating new kinds of public services. Services that are sustainable, that take into account the technological innovations but most......This poster is part of an early investigation of a PhD-study in Service Design that started in February 2017. The poster identifies challenges and opportunities emerging from a gap between citizen’s needs and public offering to address such needs. Citizens often organize themselves when public...... importantly that are informed by the real needs of their users (citizens). How design may contribute to build capacity and bridge relations between citizens and public service providers?...

Dark Skies Awareness through the GLOBE at Night Citizen-Science Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.

2011-10-01

The emphasis in the international citizen-science, star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few hundred thousand citizen-scientists during the annual 2-week campaign over the past 6 years. Provided is an overview, update and discussion of what steps can be taken to improve programs like GLOBE at Night.

eParticipation for Adolescent Citizens (in Austria)

Science.gov (United States)

Edelmann, Noella; Hoechtl, Johann; Parycek, Peter

In Austria, two recent eParticipation projects focused on adolescent citizens. The first project, “mitmachen.at - move your future” was to provide initial experiences with an eParticipation tool. The second project, “Jugend2help”, applied the lessons learned from the “mitmachen.at” project to improve the Austrian public administration web portal for adolescent citizens. In both projects, the results indicate that web portals and eParticpation seems to suit the adolescents’ information and communication needs. Involving the users is central to the development of an eParticipation process or platform so that the users’ specific characteristics (age, skills), needs and interests are included appropriately. The target users’ characteristics are also important for developing a marketing strategy which is able to reach them. Other issues which must also be considered in eParticipation are accessibility, inclusion and possibly gender.

Citizen Science - What's policy got to do with it? (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Shanley, L.

2013-12-01

Sensing capabilities, computing power, and data storage have grown rapidly and become increasingly ubiquitous. In 2012, the number of smartphones worldwide topped one billion, and it is expected to double by 2015. A growing segment of the population now has the ability to collect and share information instantly. Social media and crowdsourcing platforms help to amplify and focus online information sharing and collaboration. We have seen exiting uses of these new tools and approaches to foster broad public participation in scientific research, from classifying galaxies and collecting environmental data to collectively solving the structure of an AIDS-related enzyme through a protein-folding game. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), for example, is using social media and crowdsourcing to learn more about earthquakes. These techniques provide inexpensive and rapid data to augment and extend the capabilities provided by traditional monitoring techniques. A new report by the Wilson Center, Transforming Earthquake Detection and Science Through Citizen Seismology, describes these groundbreaking citizen science projects. These efforts include the Tweet Earthquake Dispatch, which uses an algorithm to provide seismologists with initial alerts of earthquakes felt around the globe via Twitter in less than two minutes. The report also examines the Quake Catcher Network, which equips the public with low-cost sensors to collect information on seismic activity, as well as Did You Feel It, which uses the Internet to survey individuals about their experiences in earthquakes, including location and extent of the damage. Projects like these, however, do not happen overnight. Citizen-based science projects at the federal level must navigate a web of practical, legal and policy considerations to make them a reality. Projects must take into account the limitations of the Privacy Act, advising people on how the information they contribute might be used and respecting fair information

The how and why of societal publications for citizen science projects and scientists

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vliet, van A.J.H.; Bron, W.A.; Mulder, S.

2014-01-01

In the scientific community, the importance of communication to society is often underestimated. Scientists and scientific organisations often lack the skills to organise such communication effectively. The Dutch citizen science phenology network Nature’s Calendar has been successful in

A two-state citizen task force responds to Dept. of Energy on defense waste

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peelle, E.

1990-01-01

Successes in public involvement efforts for nuclear waste management are so few that they deserve careful documentation and analysis. This paper chronicles the goals, process, problems and outcomes of one such success, the Northwest Defense Waste Citizens Forum (CF), created by the DOE-Richland manager in 1986 to advise DOE on its plans for nuclear waste disposal and cleanup of the Hanford site in eastern Washington state. DOE under-took an extensive multi-facted public involvement program to gain advice, understanding and support on heretofore neglected defense waste (DW) cleanup problems. DOE sought broad public input for a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS) at an early stage before all characterization data were complete and before a recommended alternative was formulated. In the evolving, often-controversial, highly-visible area of agency-public interactions, citizen task forces (TFs) have been shown to be useful in developing public policy at the local level. For DOE-Richland, the high-risk gamble in undertaking a public involvement program involving reversals of long-term DOE policies of secrecy and unresponsiveness to its host area paid off handsomely in an improved EIS, better relationships with state agencies and regional businesses, and unexpected political support for DW cleanup funding. The Hanford citizen forum was highly successful in both DOE's and participant views, with significant achievements, unusual process and technical findings of its own. By the authors' criteria discussed earlier for public participation efforts, the CF effort was successful in all 3 areas. The success of this approach suggests its use as a model for other federal cleanup activities

Reconnoitering the role of citizen journalism ethics in the emerging networked public sphere

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mutsvairo, Bruce; Columbus, Simon; Leijendekker, Iris

2014-01-01

Citizen journalism is emerging as a powerful phenomenon across Africa. The rise of digitally networked technologies is reshaping reporting across the continent. This change is technological (with social media platforms enabling new forms of publishing, receiving and discussing stories) \\r\

Advice and Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for Citizen-Science Environmental Health Assessments.

Science.gov (United States)

Barzyk, Timothy M; Huang, Hongtai; Williams, Ronald; Kaufman, Amanda; Essoka, Jonathan

2018-05-11

Citizen science provides quantitative results to support environmental health assessments (EHAs), but standardized approaches do not currently exist to translate findings into actionable solutions. The emergence of low-cost portable sensor technologies and proliferation of publicly available datasets provides unparalleled access to supporting evidence; yet data collection, analysis, interpretation, visualization, and communication are subjective approaches that must be tailored to a decision-making audience capable of improving environmental health. A decade of collaborative efforts and two citizen science projects contributed to three lessons learned and a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) that address the complexities of environmental health and interpersonal relations often encountered in citizen science EHAs. Each project followed a structured step-by-step process in order to compare and contrast methods and approaches. These lessons and FAQs provide advice to translate citizen science research into actionable solutions in the context of a diverse range of environmental health issues and local stakeholders.

Envisioning the future of public lighting with citizens for upcoming technologies

OpenAIRE

Heiskanen, Olli; Acharya, Karthikeya

2017-01-01

Today’s cities yearn for new technological infrastructure to become cities of tomorrow. Sensor based intelligent street lighting by promising energy and financial savings are being provisioned to be a functional alternative to conventional street lighting. But involving citizens’ participation in planning such new urban infrastructure and its services is far from simple. In our project using constructive and user centred design research methods we engaged with city officials and citizens as u...

Smoke Sense Study: A Citizen Science Project Using a Mobile App

Science.gov (United States)

EPA researchers are planning a citizen science study called Smoke Sense to determine the extent to which exposure to wildland fire smoke affects health and productivity, and to develop health risk communication strategies that protect public health.

CrowdHydrology: crowdsourcing hydrologic data and engaging citizen scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowry, Christopher S; Fienen, Michael N

2013-01-01

Spatially and temporally distributed measurements of processes, such as baseflow at the watershed scale, come at substantial equipment and personnel cost. Research presented here focuses on building a crowdsourced database of inexpensive distributed stream stage measurements. Signs on staff gauges encourage citizen scientists to voluntarily send hydrologic measurements (e.g., stream stage) via text message to a server that stores and displays the data on the web. Based on the crowdsourced stream stage, we evaluate the accuracy of citizen scientist measurements and measurement approach. The results show that crowdsourced data collection is a supplemental method for collecting hydrologic data and a promising method of public engagement. © 2012, The Author(s). Ground Water © 2012, National Ground Water Association.

Benefits and challenges of incorporating citizen science into university education.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Nicola; Triska, Maggie; Liberatore, Andrea; Ashcroft, Linden; Weatherill, Richard; Longnecker, Nancy

2017-01-01

A common feature of many citizen science projects is the collection of data by unpaid contributors with the expectation that the data will be used in research. Here we report a teaching strategy that combined citizen science with inquiry-based learning to offer first year university students an authentic research experience. A six-year partnership with the Australian phenology citizen science program ClimateWatch has enabled biology students from the University of Western Australia to contribute phenological data on plants and animals, and to conduct the first research on unvalidated species datasets contributed by public and university participants. Students wrote scientific articles on their findings, peer-reviewed each other's work and the best articles were published online in a student journal. Surveys of more than 1500 students showed that their environmental engagement increased significantly after participating in data collection and data analysis. However, only 31% of students agreed with the statement that "data collected by citizen scientists are reliable" at the end of the project, whereas the rate of agreement was initially 79%. This change in perception was likely due to students discovering erroneous records when they mapped data points and analysed submitted photographs. A positive consequence was that students subsequently reported being more careful to avoid errors in their own data collection, and making greater efforts to contribute records that were useful for future scientific research. Evaluation of our project has shown that by embedding a research process within citizen science participation, university students are given cause to improve their contributions to environmental datasets. If true for citizen scientists in general, enabling participants as well as scientists to analyse data could enhance data quality, and so address a key constraint of broad-scale citizen science programs.

Aurorasaurus: Citizen Scientists Experiencing Extremes of Space Weather

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, E.; Hall, M.; Tapia, A.

2013-12-01

Aurorasaurus is a new citizen science mapping platform to nowcast the visibility of the Northern Lights for the public in the current solar maximum, the first with social media. As a recently funded NSF INSPIRE program, we have joint goals among three research disciplines: space weather forecasting, the study of human-computer interactions, and informal science education. We will highlight results from the prototype www.aurorasaurus.org and outline future efforts to motivate online participants and crowdsource viable data. Our citizen science effort is unique among space programs as it includes both reporting observations and data analysis activities to engage the broadest participant network possible. In addition, our efforts to improve space weather nowcasting by including real-time mapping of ground truth observers for rare, sporadic events are a first in the field.

BC Citizen's Advisory Committee on oil spill prevention 1995-1996 annual report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

A committee comprised of BC citizens with some experience in oil spill issues was established in 1990 to give advise to the BC Ministry of Environment, Lands and Parks. The committee was responsible for conducting discussions with government, industry and public representatives on the state and progress of oil spill matters, particularly on the attempts to prevent and respond to spills. Within the context of a brief report about the accomplishments of the past year, this report focused on issues raised by the BC public during three public forums. These issues were: (1) update of government activities, (2) general response capability on the BC coast and BC waters, (3) support for BC Citizen's Advisory Committee, (4) wildlife response, (5) spill prevention plans, (6) escort tugs, (7) waste oil disposal and prevention of land based sources of marine pollution, and (8) fishing and tourism concerns. The report described the discussions on the issues and summarized the recommendations for action in each of these areas of concern. 2 tabs

How Participation Creates Citizens: Participatory Governance as Performative Practice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Esther Turnhout

2010-12-01

Full Text Available Participation is a prominent feature of many decision-making and planning processes. Among its proclaimed benefits is its potential to strengthen public support and involvement. However, participation is also known for having unintended consequences which lead to failures in meeting its objectives. This article takes a critical perspective on participation by discussing how participation may influence the ways in which citizens can become involved. Participation unavoidably involves (1 restrictions about who should be involved and about the space for negotiation, (2 assumptions about what the issue at stake is, and (3 expectations about what the outcome of participation should be and how the participants are expected to behave. This is illustrated by a case study about the Dutch nature area, the Drentsche Aa. The case study demonstrates how the participatory process that took place and the restrictions, assumptions, and expectations that were involved resulted in six forms of citizen involvement, both intended and unintended, which ranged between creativity, passivity, and entrenchment. Based on these findings, the article argues that participation does not merely serve as a neutral place in which citizens are represented, but instead creates different categories of citizens. Recognizing this means reconceiving participation as performative practice. Such a perspective goes beyond overly optimistic views of participation as a technique whose application can be perfected, as well as pessimistic views of participation as repression or domination. Instead, it appreciates both intended and unintended forms of citizen involvement as meaningful and legitimate, and recognizes citizenship as being constituted in interaction in the context of participation.

Co-production, new public governance and third sector social services in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victor Pestoff

2011-01-01

political and economic challenges facing the welfare state in the 21st century. Co-production provides a model for the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provision of a public service. New Public Governance (NPG puts much greater emphasis on citizen participation and third sector provision of social services than either traditional public administration or New Public Management. Co-production is a core element of NPG that promotes the mix of public service agents and citizens who contribute to the provis ionof a public service. This paper explores the implications of two comparative studies of paren tparticipation in preschool services in Europe. They observe that citizen participation clearly varies between different providers of social services, as too does client and staff influence. This empirical overview concludes that some third sector providers can facilitate greater citizen participation, while a 'glass ceiling' for participation exists in municipal and for-profit preschool services. These findings can contribute to a better understanding of the emerging paradigm of New Public Governance.

Citizen science in hydrology and water resources: opportunities for knowledge generation, ecosystem service management, and sustainable development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wouter eBuytaert

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The participation of the general public in the research design, data collection and interpretation process together with scientists is often referred to as citizen science. While citizen science itself has existed since the start of scientific practice, developments in sensing technology, data processing and visualisation, and communication of ideas and results, are creating a wide range of new opportunities for public participation in scientific research. This paper reviews the state of citizen science in a hydrological context and explores the potential of citizen science to complement more traditional ways of scientific data collection and knowledge generation for hydrological sciences and water resources management. Although hydrological data collection often involves advanced technology, the advent of robust, cheap and low-maintenance sensing equipment provides unprecedented opportunities for data collection in a citizen science context. These data have a significant potential to create new hydrological knowledge, especially in relation to the characterisation of process heterogeneity, remote regions, and human impacts on the water cycle. However, the nature and quality of data collected in citizen science experiments is potentially very different from those of traditional monitoring networks. This poses challenges in terms of their processing, interpretation, and use, especially with regard to assimilation of traditional knowledge, the quantification of uncertainties, and their role in decision support. It also requires care in designing citizen science projects such that the generated data complement optimally other available knowledge. Lastly, we reflect on the challenges and opportunities in the integration of hydrologically-oriented citizen science in water resources management, the role of scientific knowledge in the decision-making process, and the potential contestation to established community institutions posed by co-generation of

Financial Literacy in Ontario: Neoliberalism, Pierre Bourdieu and the Citizen

Science.gov (United States)

Arthur, Chris

2011-01-01

Utilizing concepts from Pierre Bourdieu I argue that the implementation of financial literacy education in Ontario public schools will, if uncontested, support a neoliberal consumer habitus (subjectivity) at the expense of the critical citizen. This internalization of the neoliberal ethos assists state efforts to shift responsibility for…

Quantifying fishers' and citizens' support for Dutch flatfish management policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Groeneveld, R.A.

2011-01-01

Fisheries policy is most effective when supported by fishers and the general public. Dutch citizens' and fishers' support for a selection of policy alternatives to enhance the sustainability of the Dutch North Sea cutter fleet is estimated, and the same groups' support for policy alternatives is

Changing public service delivery: Learning in co-creation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

W.H. Voorberg (William); V.J.J.M. Bekkers (Victor); Timeus, K. (Krista); Tonurist, P. (Piret); L.G. Tummers (Lars)

2017-01-01

textabstractCo-creation – where citizens and public organizations work together to deal with societal issues – is increasingly considered as a fertile solution for various public service delivery problems. During cocreation, citizens are not mere consumers, but are actively engaged in building

A Coastal Citizen Science Project - How to run an international Citizen Science Project?

Science.gov (United States)

Kruse, K.; Knickmeier, K.; Thiel, M.; Gatta, M.

2016-02-01

"Searching for plastic garbage" is an international Citizen Science project that aims to participate school students in the public discussion on the topic "plastic pollution in the ocean". For this, young people apply various research methods, evaluate their data, communicate and publish their results and investigate solutions solving this problem. The project will be carried out in Chile and Germany at the same time, which allows the participating students to share and compare their results and discuss their ideas with an international partner. This takes place on the website www.save-ocean.org. The project promotes intercultural and scientific skills of the students. They get insights into scientific research, get into another culture and experiences plastic pollution as an important global problem. Since May 2015, 450 pupils aged 10 to 15 years and 20 teachers in Germany and Chile have explored the plastic garbage on beaches. Where are the largest plastic garbage deposits? Which items of plastic are mostly found in Germany and Chile? Or where does this garbage comes from? These and other research questions are being answered by an international network between students, teachers and scientists. After completing the first Citizen Science pilot study successfully in summer 2015, the entire German and Chilean coast will be explored in spring 2016 by around 2500 participating school students. The project "Searching for plastic garbage" is the first international Citizen Science project that is a cooperation between the ocean:lab of Kiel Science Factory and the "Cientificos de la Basura", a project of the department of marine biology at University Catolica del Norte in Coquimbo, Chile. The project is supported by the Cluster of Excellence "The Future Ocean", the Leibniz Institute for Science Education and Mathematics (IPN), the Ministry of School and Professional Education of Land Schleswig-Holstein and the University Catolica del Norte in Coquimbo, Chile

Choice and Equality: Are Vulnerable Citizens Worse-Off after Liberalization Reforms?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

S.R. Jilke (Sebastian)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ In recent decades, we have witnessed a massive restructuring of public service delivery mechanisms, including service liberalization reforms, the pursuit of the choice agenda and the creation of quasimarkets. A central aim of these reforms is that citizens receive

Co-operating of citizens with power structures as an indicator of possibility application of the armed violence by public authorities

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. V. Bader

2016-08-01

A characteristic feature of a democratic political regime is that security forces operating in the public interest, they don’t take part in the political struggle, thus ensuring its stability. In democracies countries subject to government security forces and their use clearly defined by law. For legal democratic state autonomy security forces is unacceptable. In democracies the citizens do not translate function power structures. The interaction detected in participating in the formation of the staff of the security forces and control over security forces. Said control is implemented through coverage of law enforcement agencies in the independent media, NGO activities, meetings and other mechanisms of direct democracy.

A conceptual approach to a citizens' observatory--supporting community-based environmental governance.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Hai-Ying; Kobernus, Mike; Broday, David; Bartonova, Alena

2014-12-12

In recent years there has been a trend to view the Citizens' Observatory as an increasingly essential tool that provides an approach for better observing, understanding, protecting and enhancing our environment. However, there is no consensus on how to develop such a system, nor is there any agreement on what a Citizens' Observatory is and what results it could produce. The increase in the prevalence of Citizens' Observatories globally has been mirrored by an increase in the number of variables that are monitored, the number of monitoring locations and the types of participating citizens. This calls for a more integrated approach to handle the emerging complexities involved in this field, but before this can be achieved, it is essential to establish a common foundation for Citizens' Observatories and their usage. There are many aspects to a Citizens' Observatory. One view is that its essence is a process that involves environmental monitoring, information gathering, data management and analysis, assessment and reporting systems. Hence, it requires the development of novel monitoring technologies and of advanced data management strategies to capture, analyse and survey the data, thus facilitating their exploitation for policy and society. Practically, there are many challenges in implementing the Citizens' Observatory approach, such as ensuring effective citizens' participation, dealing with data privacy, accounting for ethical and security requirements, and taking into account data standards, quality and reliability. These concerns all need to be addressed in a concerted way to provide a stable, reliable and scalable Citizens' Observatory programme. On the other hand, the Citizens' Observatory approach carries the promise of increasing the public's awareness to risks in their environment, which has a corollary economic value, and enhancing data acquisition at low or no cost. In this paper, we first propose a conceptual framework for a Citizens' Observatory

Changing public service delivery: learning in co-creation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Voorberg, William; Bekkers, Victor; Timeus, Krista; Tonurist, Piret; Tummers, L.G.

2017-01-01

Co-creation – where citizens and public organizations work together to deal with societal issues – is increasingly considered as a fertile solution for various public service delivery problems. During co-creation, citizens are not mere consumers, but are actively engaged in building resilient

Transforming Public Space

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Navarro, Dora

2009-01-01

Among processes towards democratisation, it has been asserted that alternative radio has a central role in the citizen making of the poor. However, it is important to analyse in detail what possibilities an alternative or citizens' radio has to strengthen ideas of citizenship and transform...... the public space into a critical and deliberative public in urban sites. I focus on one local Catholic radio station in Huaycan, a shantytown in the outskirts of Lima, Peru. I describe the radios' journalistic work, showing examples of how they mobilise local leaders and monitor democratic processes...

Do citizens have minimum medical knowledge? A survey

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Steurer-Stey Claudia

2007-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Experts defined a "minimum medical knowledge" (MMK that people need for understanding typical signs and/or risk factors of four relevant clinical conditions: myocardial infarction, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and HIV/AIDS. We tested to what degree Swiss adult citizens satisfy this criterion for MMK and whether people with medical experience have acquired better knowledge than those without. Methods Questionnaire interview in a Swiss urban area with 185 Swiss citizens (median age 29 years, interquartile range 23 to 49, 52% male. We obtained context information on age, gender, highest educational level, (paramedical background and specific health experience with one of the conditions in the social surrounding. We calculated the proportion of MMK and examined whether citizens with medical background (personal or professional would perform better compared to other groups. Results No single citizen reached the full MMK (100%. The mean MMK was as low as 32% and the range was 0 -72%. Surprisingly, multivariable analysis showed that participants with a university degree (n = 84; β (95% CI +3.7% MMK (0.4–7.1 p = 0.03, (paramedical background (n = 34; +6.2% MMK (2.0–10.4, p = 0.004 and personal illness experience (n = 96; +4.9% MMK (1.5–8.2, p = 0.004 had only a moderately higher MMK than those without, while age and sex had no effect on the level of MMK. Interaction between university degree and clinical experience (personal or professional showed no effect suggesting that higher education lacks synergistic effect. Conclusion This sample of Swiss citizens did not know more than a third of the MMK. We found little difference within groups with medical experience (personal or professional, suggesting that there is a consistent and dramatic lack of knowledge in the general public about the typical signs and risk factors of relevant clinical conditions.

Citizens and service channels: channel choice and channel management implications

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pieterson, Willem Jan

2010-01-01

The arrival of electronic channels in the 1990s has had a huge impact on governmental service delivery. The new channels have led to many new opportunities to improve public service delivery, not only in terms of citizen satisfaction, but also in cost reduction for governmental agencies. However,

Restrictions on European Union Citizens’ Freedom of Movement and Residence in the Country on Grounds of Public Policy, Public Security and Public Health

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Junevičius Algis

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The free movement of persons is one of the most successful European Union projects, serving as a majorly important factor promoting the European integration processes. The adoption of the Treaty on the European Union and the creation of EU citizenship implemented significant changes: the status of EU citizens and their right to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States can no longer be interpreted in the way it was before the adoption of the Treaty on the European Union. There are no requirements for EU citizens within the Treaty to pursue professional or independent activities or to work under an employment contract in order to access provided rights. However, the right of free movement is not unlimited. The administrations of the Member State governments are authorized to impose restictions on the free movement of citizens. In the light of these facts, this article examines exceptions in the field of free movement of persons and indentifies concepts of public policy, public security and public health. Special attention is given to so-called rule limitation of restrictions and to the mechanism of protection against expulsion from the country. The article concludes by saying that the institutions of Member State governments have the right to evaluate threats within the territory of the country and to decide on the content of public security by themselves. However, their discretion can not be used as an instrument to treat the conduct of other Member State citizens in a worse way than that of their own local citizens.

Whose Schools? Reconnecting the Public and Public Schools.

Science.gov (United States)

Mathews, David

1999-01-01

A Kettering Foundation survey of Newark citizens found that the only consistent supporters of public schools view them as partners in educating children and building community. Schools' standard public-relations techniques (directing messages exclusively to parents and stressing customer satisfaction) are misguided. Ameliorative strategies are…

Can Citizen Science Assist in Determining Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus Presence in a Declining Population?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emily Flower

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The acceptance and application of citizen science has risen over the last 10 years, with this rise likely attributed to an increase in public awareness surrounding anthropogenic impacts affecting urban ecosystems. Citizen science projects have the potential to expand upon data collected by specialist researchers as they are able to gain access to previously unattainable information, consequently increasing the likelihood of an effective management program. The primary objective of this research was to develop guidelines for a successful regional-scale citizen science project following a critical analysis of 12 existing citizen science case studies. Secondly, the effectiveness of these guidelines was measured through the implementation of a citizen science project, Koala Quest, for the purpose of estimating the presence of koalas in a fragmented landscape. Consequently, this research aimed to determine whether citizen-collected data can augment traditional science research methods, by comparing and contrasting the abundance of koala sightings gathered by citizen scientists and professional researchers. Based upon the guidelines developed, Koala Quest methodologies were designed, the study conducted, and the efficacy of the project assessed. To combat the high variability of estimated koala populations due to differences in counting techniques, a national monitoring and evaluation program is required, in addition to a standardised method for conducting koala population estimates. Citizen science is a useful method for monitoring animals such as the koala, which are sparsely distributed throughout a vast geographical area, as the large numbers of volunteers recruited by a citizen science project are capable of monitoring a similarly broad spatial range.

Can Citizen Science Assist in Determining Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) Presence in a Declining Population?

Science.gov (United States)

Flower, Emily; Jones, Darryl; Bernede, Lilia

2016-07-14

The acceptance and application of citizen science has risen over the last 10 years, with this rise likely attributed to an increase in public awareness surrounding anthropogenic impacts affecting urban ecosystems. Citizen science projects have the potential to expand upon data collected by specialist researchers as they are able to gain access to previously unattainable information, consequently increasing the likelihood of an effective management program. The primary objective of this research was to develop guidelines for a successful regional-scale citizen science project following a critical analysis of 12 existing citizen science case studies. Secondly, the effectiveness of these guidelines was measured through the implementation of a citizen science project, Koala Quest, for the purpose of estimating the presence of koalas in a fragmented landscape. Consequently, this research aimed to determine whether citizen-collected data can augment traditional science research methods, by comparing and contrasting the abundance of koala sightings gathered by citizen scientists and professional researchers. Based upon the guidelines developed, Koala Quest methodologies were designed, the study conducted, and the efficacy of the project assessed. To combat the high variability of estimated koala populations due to differences in counting techniques, a national monitoring and evaluation program is required, in addition to a standardised method for conducting koala population estimates. Citizen science is a useful method for monitoring animals such as the koala, which are sparsely distributed throughout a vast geographical area, as the large numbers of volunteers recruited by a citizen science project are capable of monitoring a similarly broad spatial range.

The role of citizen science in monitoring biodiversity in Ireland

Science.gov (United States)

Donnelly, Alison; Crowe, Olivia; Regan, Eugenie; Begley, Sinead; Caffarra, Amelia

2014-08-01

Citizen science is proving to be an effective tool in tracking the rapid pace at which our environment is changing over large geographic areas. It is becoming increasingly popular, in places such as North America and some European countries, to engage members of the general public and school pupils in the collection of scientific data to support long-term environmental monitoring. Participants in such schemes are generally volunteers and are referred to as citizen scientists. The Christmas bird count in the US is one of the worlds longest running citizen science projects whereby volunteers have been collecting data on birds on a specific day since 1900. Similar volunteer networks in Ireland have been in existence since the 1960s and were established to monitor the number and diversity of birds throughout the country. More recently, initiatives such as Greenwave (2006) and Nature Watch (2009) invite school children and members of the general public respectively, to record phenology data from a range of common species of plant, insect and bird. In addition, the Irish butterfly and bumblebee monitoring schemes engage volunteers to record data on sightings of these species. The primary purpose of all of these networks is to collect data by which to monitor changes in wildlife development and diversity, and in the case of Greenwave to involve children in hands-on, inquiry-based science. Together these various networks help raise awareness of key environmental issues, such as climate change and loss of biodiversity, while at the same time promote development of scientific skills among the general population. In addition, they provide valuable scientific data by which to track environmental change. Here we examine the role of citizen science in monitoring biodiversity in Ireland and conclude that some of the data collected in these networks can be used to fulfil Ireland's statutory obligations for nature conservation. In addition, a bee thought previously to be extinct

The pedagogical and ethical legacy of a "successful" educational reform: The Citizen School Project

Science.gov (United States)

Fischman, Gustavo E.; Gandin, Luis Armando

2016-02-01

The Citizen School Project (Escola Cidadã) was implemented from 1993 to 2004 in Porto Alegre, capital of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. This article presents the conception behind the Citizen School Project, the basic mechanisms created to implement and evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, and some of its contradictions. After contextualising the educational reforms in Brazil during the 1980s and 1990s, the authors demonstrate how the Citizen School Project's emphasis on participation and democratisation was a radical departure from Brazil's traditional public education system. Next, they present the three main goals and structures of the Citizen School Project - democratisation of access to schools, democratisation of schools' administration, and democratisation of access to knowledge. They conclude by discussing some pedagogic, social and political dynamics which appear to be strong legacies of this pedagogical project. The authors also argue that the Citizen School Project has both improved the quality of education in Porto Alegre and is an important contribution to our collective thinking about the politics of "successful" educational policies.

The Use of Online Citizen-Science Projects to Provide Experiential Learning Opportunities for Nonmajor Science Students

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Donna M. Kridelbaugh

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Citizen science is becoming even more accessible to the general public through technological advances in the development of mobile applications, facilitating information dissemination and data collection. With the advent of “big data,” many citizen-science projects designed to help researchers sift through piles of research data now exist entirely online, either in the form of playing a game or via other digital avenues. Recent trends in citizen science have also focused on “crowdsourcing” solutions from the general public to help solve societal issues, often requiring nothing more than brainstorming and a computer to submit ideas. Online citizen science thus provides an excellent platform to expand the accessibility of experiential learning opportunities for a broad range of nonmajor science students at institutions with limited resources (e.g., community colleges. I created an activity for a general microbiology lecture to engage students in hands-on experiences via participation in online citizen-science projects. The objectives of the assignment were for students to: 1 understand that everyone can be a scientist; 2 learn to be creative and innovative in designing solutions to health and science challenges; and 3 further practice science communication skills with a written report. This activity is designed for introductory science courses with nonmajor science students who have limited opportunities to participate in undergraduate research experiences.

Interconnecting Governments, Businesses and Citizens : A Comparison of Two Digital Infrastructures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Klievink, A.J.; Zuiderwijk-van Eijk, A.M.G.; Janssen, M.F.W.H.A.

2014-01-01

Public and private organizations in various areas are setting up digital Information Infrastructures (IIs) for interconnecting government, businesses and citizens. IIs can create value by sharing and integrating data of multiple ac-tors. This can be the basis for value added services and especially

Practice of Participatory Governance in Public Policy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Алена Сергеевна Перезолова

2018-12-01

Full Text Available This article examines the idea of participatory democracy. The article provides case study of pilot projects aimed to engage citizens for public participation in different forms, such as: participatory budgeting, participatory modeling, public consultations and other participatory practices. The concept of public participation implied in most common methods of consultation as local meetings, public hearings, creation of working groups, public dialogue commissions, workshops, discussion forums on Web sites, contests of ideas and projects, crowdfunding projects, cooperation citizens initiatives and more consumerist type as polls and focus groups. The ability to work together becomes a resource for growth of civic consciousness, where citizens become active actors, who able to participate in public policy, resource mobilization, independent projects for realization and formation of social capital. The challenge for participatory democracy is maturity degree of civil society and examined examples of participatory practices are pilot projects that aimed formation of civic consciousness.

Citizen Journalism as Conceptual Practice

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Blaagaard, Bolette

itizen Journalism as Conceptual Practice provides a conceptualization of citizen journalism as a political practice developed through analyses of an historical and postcolonial case. Arguing that citizen journalism is first and foremost situated, embodied and political rather than networked...... and formulates a critical reading of citizens’ and subjects’ mediated political engagements then as well as now. The book discusses current approaches to citizen journalism before turning to The Herald, which is then read against the grain in an attempt to show the embodied politics of colonial history...... and cultural forms of citizen engagement as these politics evolve in this particular case of journalism...

THE IMPAIRMENT of CITIZEN'S RIGHT TO INFORMATION BY "FAKE NEWS" PUBLICATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina V. POPESCU

2018-05-01

Full Text Available In the context of an international society ever-evolving in the rapid development of information technology, there is a need to obtain information in a shorter time, which sometimes can lead to data being taken as real, without further verifying their trustworthiness. The citizen’s right to information, a fundamental one, indissolubly bound to the existence of a democratic society, has been applied in both international documents and the fundamental law. In order for the citizen to be able to make informed decisions and to participate to social life, they need information from various social fields. The need for information has become more and more acute as the surplus of information on the market has become increasingly obvious. In this social context, the temptation of manipulating information, and more seriously that of breaking false news into the media market, which in the speed of everyday life, the citizen no longer has the time or the patience to check, appears more and more. The development of false information is facilitated by social media, by its barrier-free movement in the context of the information society. From the point of view of the study, I intend to analyse the manner in which information manipulation and the socalled "fake news" impair the right to information, undermine democracy and which the limits, in this case, of freedom of expression, are or should be.

Assessment by citizens of the level of confidence of police and protection from criminal entry

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna A. Glukhova

2017-09-01

Full Text Available Objective on the basis of sociological research to determine the level of confidence in police among the population of Nizhny Novgorod region and to measure the subjective assessment by citizens of the degree of protection from criminal attacks. Methods general scientific analysis systemicstructural approach to the analysis of research object comparativelegal as well as logical methods and the special scientific method questionnaire method ndash questioning of residents of Nizhny Novgorod region. Results the characteristics of the process of actual interaction between citizens and police are identified and classified the attitude to police and the level of trust in police in general and in certain areas of their work in various categories of the population are identified the typology of population groups depending on their concepts about police functioning is carried out. Scientific novelty for the first time the article discusses public opinion of the Nizhny Novgorod region residents about police officers the actual characteristics and interaction between citizens and police are revealed proposals and practical recommendations were formulated for adjustment of the work of territorial bodies of the Ministry of Interior with the aim of increasing the level of their credibility with the population. Among them are a to improve the efficiency of propaganda of the police work results in mass media including the work with citizensrsquo claims disclosure and investigation of crimes especially those which caused a broad public resonance b to inform citizens and police officers about the social importance of the activities of Internal Affairs bodies and internal troops for ensuring public order prevention suppression disclosure of crimes and offences c to expand the number of journalists specializing in lawenforcement issues d to simplify the procedure for receiving claims from citizens about small and medium crimes with the use of modern technologies

NEON Citizen Science: Planning and Prototyping

Science.gov (United States)

Newman, S. J.; Henderson, S.; Gardiner, L. S.; Ward, D.; Gram, W.

2011-12-01

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will be a national resource for ecological research and education. NEON citizen science projects are being designed to increase awareness and educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecological processes as well as expand NEON data collection capacity by enabling laypersons to collect geographically distributed data. The citizen science area of the NEON web portal will enable citizen scientists to collect, contribute, interpret, and visualize scientific data, as well as access training modules, collection protocols and targeted learning experiences related to citizen science project topics. For NEON, citizen science projects are a means for interested people to interact with and contribute to NEON science. Investigations at vast spatial and temporal scales often require rapid acquisition of large amounts of data from a geographically distributed population of "human sensors." As a continental-scale ecological observatory, NEON is uniquely positioned to develop strategies to effectively integrate data collected by non-scientists into scientific databases. Ultimately, we plan to work collaboratively to transform the practice of science to include "citizens" or non-scientists in the process. Doing science is not limited to scientists, and breaking down the barriers between scientists and citizens will help people better understand the power of using science in their own decision making. In preparation for fully developing the NEON citizen science program, we are partnering with Project BudBurst (PBB), a citizen science project focused on monitoring plant phenology. The educational goals of PBB are to: (1) increase awareness of climate change, (2) educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change on plants and the environment, and (3) increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process. Phenology was

Cultivating Political Morality for Deliberative Citizens--Rawls and Callan Revisited

Science.gov (United States)

Leung, Cheuk-Hang

2016-01-01

In this article, I will argue that the implementation of deliberative democracy needs to be supplemented by a specific political morality in order to cultivate free and equal citizens in exercising public reason for achieving a cooperative and inclusive liberal society. This cultivation of personality is literally an educational project with a…

Crowdsourcing to Acquire Hydrologic Data and Engage Citizen Scientists: CrowdHydrology

Science.gov (United States)

Fienen, Michael N.; Lowry, Chris

2013-01-01

Spatially and temporally distributed measurements of processes, such as baseflow at the watershed scale, come at substantial equipment and personnel cost. Research presented here focuses on building a crowdsourced database of inexpensive distributed stream stage measurements. Signs on staff gauges encourage citizen scientists to voluntarily send hydrologic measurements (e.g., stream stage) via text message to a server that stores and displays the data on the web. Based on the crowdsourced stream stage, we evaluate the accuracy of citizen scientist measurements and measurement approach. The results show that crowdsourced data collection is a supplemental method for collecting hydrologic data and a promising method of public engagement.

Mobile governance : empowering citizens to enhance democratic processes

OpenAIRE

Poblet, Marta

2010-01-01

This paper offers an overview of the emerging domain of mobile governance as an offspring of the broader landscape of e-governance. Mobile governance initiatives have been deployed everywhere in parallel to the development of crowdsourced, open source software applications that facilitate the collection, aggregation, and dissemination of both information and data coming from different sources: citizens, organizations, public bodies, etc. Ultimately, mobile governance can be seen as a tool to ...

Meteorite Fall Detection and Analysis via Weather Radar: Worldwide Potential for Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Fries, M.; Bresky, C.; Laird, C.; Reddy, V.; Hankey, M.

2017-12-01

Meteorite falls can be detected using weather radars, facilitating rapid recovery of meteorites to minimize terrestrial alteration. Imagery from the US NEXRAD radar network reveals over two dozen meteorite falls where meteorites have been recovered, and about another dozen that remain unrecovered. Discovery of new meteorite falls is well suited to "citizen science" and similar outreach activities, as well as automation of computational components into internet-based search tools. Also, there are many more weather radars employed worldwide than those in the US NEXRAD system. Utilization of weather radars worldwide for meteorite recovery can not only expand citizen science opportunities but can also lead to significant improvement in the number of freshly-fallen meteorites available for research. We will discuss the methodologies behind locating and analyzing meteorite falls using weather radar, and how to make them available for citizen science efforts. An important example is the Aquarius Project, a Chicago-area consortium recently formed with the goal of recovering meteorites from Lake Michigan. This project has extensive student involvement geared toward development of actual hardware for recovering meteorites from the lake floor. Those meteorites were identified in weather radar imagery as they fell into the lake from a large meteor on 06 Feb 2017. Another example of public interaction is the meteor detection systems operated by the American Meteor Society (AMS). The AMS website has been developed to allow public reporting of meteors, effectively enabling citizen science to locate and describe significant meteor events worldwide.

Inequality in health and physical inactivity among senior citizens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Carroll, Sidse

2016-01-01

Background: Previous research addressing physical activity among senior citizens tend to focus on the actual benefits of being active hence approaching the topic from a physiological and medical perspective. Addressing a gap in interdisciplinary research combining the physiological with the built...... will be focusing on intervention design in everyday life activities, social community and local urban spaces. Aims: The research seeks to investigate and explore issues linked to health promotion; e.g. how architecture and design can influence and enhance new body cultures and public health among senior citizens...... – both mentally, socially and physically. Theoretical approach: Hypothesizing that in order to address these issues and sustain the solutions local stakeholders and end-users must be engaged in all phases of the process – from identifying and defining the problem, through developing the design...

Symbiosis in the Soil: Citizen Microbiology in Middle and High School Classrooms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin McKenney

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Microorganisms are vital to environmental health, yet their association with disease often overshadows these benefits. Building citizen-science activities around the positive role of microorganisms and an understanding of their ubiquity can begin to dispel misconceptions while simultaneously engaging the public in research. Here, we describe a citizen-science microbiology project geared toward implementation in middle and high school classrooms. Students culture environmental microorganisms and document microbial diversity of plant root systems compared with adjacent bulk soil. Results contribute data toward research on microbiome recruitment of weeds and other successful plants while addressing core topics in science education.

Coproducing flood risk management through citizen involvement: insights from cross-country comparison in Europe

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hannelore Mees

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Across Europe, citizens are increasingly expected to participate in the implementation of flood risk management (FRM, by engaging in voluntary-based activities to enhance preparedness, implementing property-level measures, and so forth. Although citizen participation in FRM decision making is widely addressed in academic literature, citizens' involvement in the delivery of FRM measures is comparatively understudied. Drawing from public administration literature, we adopted the notion of "coproduction" as an analytical framework for studying the interaction between citizens and public authorities, from the decision-making process through to the implementation of FRM in practice. We considered to what extent coproduction is evident in selected European Union (EU member states, drawing from research conducted within the EU project STAR-FLOOD (Strengthening and Redesigning European Flood Risk Practices towards Appropriate and Resilient Flood Risk Governance Arrangements. On the basis of a cross-country comparison between Flanders (Belgium, England (United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Poland, we have highlighted the varied forms of coproduction and reflected on how these have been established within divergent settings. Coproduction is most prominent in discourse and practice in England and is emergent in France and Flanders. By contrast, FRM in the Netherlands and Poland remains almost exclusively reliant on governmental protection measures and thereby consultation-based forms of coproduction. Analysis revealed how these actions are motivated by different underlying rationales, which in turn shape the type of approaches and degree of institutionalization of coproduction. In the Netherlands, coproduction is primarily encouraged to increase societal resilience, whereas public authorities in the other countries also use it to improve cost-efficiency and redistribute responsibilities to its beneficiaries.

The Management of the Citizen Oriented Applications

OpenAIRE

Ion IVAN; Bogdan VINTILĂ

2010-01-01

The context of the knowledge based society is presented. The new user requirements in the context of the new society are analyzed. Basic concepts regarding the citizen oriented applications are presented. Issues specific to the citizen oriented applications are presented. The development cycle of the citizen oriented applications is analyzed. The particular elements for developing citizen oriented applications are described. The quality concept for the citizen oriented applications is defined...

Preconditions for Citizen Journalism: A Sociological Assessment

OpenAIRE

Hayley Watson

2011-01-01

The rise of the citizen journalist and increased attention to this phenomenon requires a sociological assessment that seeks to develop an understanding of how citizen journalism has emerged in contemporary society. This article makes a distinction between two different subcategories of citizen journalism, that is independent and dependent citizen journalism. The purpose of this article is to present four preconditions for citizen journalism to emerge in contemporary society: advanced technolo...

Citizen Science as a Tool for Conservation in Residential Ecosystems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caren B. Cooper

2007-12-01

Full Text Available Human activities, such as mining, forestry, and agriculture, strongly influence processes in natural systems. Because conservation has focused on managing and protecting wildlands, research has focused on understanding the indirect influence of these human activities on wildlands. Although a conservation focus on wildlands is critically important, the concept of residential area as an ecosystem is relatively new, and little is known about the potential of such areas to contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. As urban sprawl increases, it becomes urgent to construct a method to research and improve the impacts of management strategies for residential landscapes. If the cumulative activities of individual property owners could help conserve biodiversity, then residential matrix management could become a critical piece of the conservation puzzle. "Citizen science" is a method of integrating public outreach and scientific data collection locally, regionally, and across large geographic scales. By involving citizen participants directly in monitoring and active management of residential lands, citizen science can generate powerful matrix management efforts, defying the "tyranny of small decisions" and leading to positive, cumulative, and measurable impacts on biodiversity.

Domestic politics, citizen activism, and U.S. nuclear arms control policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Knopf, J.W.

1991-01-01

The author seeks to ascertain whether and how citizens' movements concerning nuclear arms control and disarmament affect US arms control policy. The author employs a comparative case study methodology. He examines cases of the Eisenhower and Kennedy Administrations during the period of protest against nuclear testing, and the Reagan Administration during the nuclear weapons freeze campaign and the subsequent campaign for a comprehensive test ban. He hows there are four mechanisms through which public advocacy efforts can influence arms control policy, identifies the conditions under which each can be effective, and details the type of impact each mechanism has. Domestic activism interacts with broader public opinion in a way that creates electoral pressure; with elite-level debates in a way that removes a consensus behind presidential policy or changes the winning coalition in Congress; with bureaucratic politics, by generating ideas that have utility for some agents within the Executive; or with the public diplomacy of foreign governments, especially the Soviet Union. Citizens' movements had an impact on policy in each of the cases studied. The type and extent of impact, and the mechanisms involved in giving activism influence, are different for each case

Design processes of a citizen inquiry community

OpenAIRE

Aristeidou, Maria; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike

2017-01-01

As with other online communities, it is important to design elements of citizen inquiry projects that will attract and engage members. This chapter describes the process of designing an online community for citizen inquiry. It builds on design principles of inquiry learning, citizen inquiry and other online communities. The ‘Weather-it’ citizen inquiry community is intended to engage and support people in initiating and joining sustainable citizen-led investigations. The findings indicate som...

Experience with citizens panels

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Selwyn, J.

2002-01-01

In May 1999, 200 delegates attended a four-day UK Consensus Conference on radioactive waste management, which was organised by the UK Centre for Economic and Environmental Development (UK CEED) and supported by the government, industry and environmental groups. The event brought together a Citizens' Panel of fifteen people, randomly selected to represent a cross section of the British public, together with the major players in the debate. The four-day conference saw the panel cross-examine expert witnesses from organisations such as NIREX, British Nuclear Fuels Limited, the Ministry of Defence, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth. The findings of their investigations were put together in a report containing detailed recommendations for government and industry and presented to the Minister on the final day. (author)

Using Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing via Aurorasaurus as a Near Real Time Data Source for Space Weather Applications

Science.gov (United States)

MacDonald, E.; Heavner, M.; Hall, M.; Tapia, A.; Lalone, N.; Clayon, J.; Case, N.

2014-12-01

Aurorasaurus is on the cutting edge of space science, citizen science, and computer science simultaneously with the broad goals to develop a real-time citizen science network, educate the general public about the northern lights, and revolutionize real-time space weather nowcasting of the aurora for the public. We are currently in the first solar maximum with social media, which enables the technological roots to connect users, citizen scientists, and professionals around a shared global, rare interest. We will introduce the project which has been in a prototype mode since 2012 and recently relaunched with a new mobile and web presence and active campaigns. We will showcase the interdisciplinary advancements which include a more educated public, disaster warning system applications, and improved real-time ground truth data including photographs and observations of the Northern Lights. We will preview new data which validates the proof of concept for significant improvements in real-time space weather nowcasting. Our aim is to provide better real-time notifications of the visibility of the Northern Lights to the interested public via the combination of noisy crowd-sourced ground truth with noisy satellite-based predictions. The latter data are available now but are often delivered with significant jargon and uncertainty, thus reliable, timely interpretation of such forecasts by the public are problematic. The former data show real-time characteristic significant rises (in tweets for instance) that correlate with other non-real-time indices of auroral activity (like the Kp index). We will discuss the source of 'noise' in each data source. Using citizen science as a platform to provide a basis for deeper understanding is one goal; secondly we want to improve understanding of and appreciation for the dynamics and beauty of the Northern Lights by the public and scientists alike.

SciStarter 2.0: A Digital Platform to Foster and Study Sustained Engagement in Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Hoffman, C.

2016-12-01

SciStarter is a popular online hotspot for citizen science. As a Match.com meets Amazon for citizen science projects, we connect the millions of citizen scientists to thousands of projects and events, and to the resources they need to participate. These opportunities represent ways for the general public from kids to adults to get involved in scientific research. Recently, SciStarter developed a new digital infrastructure to support sustained engagement in citizen science, and research into the behaviors and motivations of participants. The new digital infrastructure of SciStarter includes contribution tracking tools to make it easier to participate in multiple projects, enhanced GIS information to promote locally relevant projects, an online personal dashboard to keep track of contributions, and the use of these tools (contribution tracking, GIS, dashboard) by project owners and researchers to better understand and respond to the needs and interests of citizen science participants. We will provide an overview of these tools and the research behind their development. We will then explore how these new tools advance citizen science towards a future with more pathways to participatory policymaking, expanded access to informal STEM experiences, and lowered barriers to citizen science. Finally, we will present the research questions that can and will be answered through the site by practitioners in the diverse science and citizen science fields.

Public Sector and Europeanization Challenges

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucica Matei

2006-02-01

Accepting the market-type mechanisms instead of bureaucratic mechanisms, meaning not the simple provision of public services but the creation of some governmental “actors”, functioning completely on commercial bases, supporting the development of the partnerships between the public and private sector, introducing privatisation is achieved in view of creating “the facilitating state”. We discuss about “facilities” such as citizens and society involvement in public businesses, making public administration more citizen-friendly and the state closer to the public need. The citizens’ involvement, as customers in the flow of the public service contributes to creating an organic ensemble characterised by two fundamental dimensions: level and type of influence of the customers and the private-public dichotomy. Synthesising, the relationships and market mechanisms enable to the public sector to get closer to the public needs and to create a modern administration based on efficiency, effectiveness and openness towards change.

CosmoQuest: Better Citizen Science Through Education

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, P. L.; Lehan, C.; Bracey, G.; Yamani, A.; Francis, M.; Durrell, P.; Spivey, C.; Noel-Storr, J.; Buxner, S.; Cobb, W.;

The Management of the Citizen Oriented Applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion IVAN

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The context of the knowledge based society is presented. The new user requirements in the context of the new society are analyzed. Basic concepts regarding the citizen oriented applications are presented. Issues specific to the citizen oriented applications are presented. The development cycle of the citizen oriented applications is analyzed. The particular elements for developing citizen oriented applications are described. The quality concept for the citizen oriented applications is defined. Quality characteristics and the costs of quality are defined and analyzed. A system of indicators for the quantification of the quality of the citizen oriented applications is developed. Ways of increasing the quality of the applications are analyzed. Issues as improving the users’ training level, implementing new development techniques, advanced testing techniques and the requirement of audit are approached. The concept of optimization is defined. Optimum criteria are defined and analyzed. Ways of optimizing applications are described. Security requirements are enumerated and described. The particularities of the security requirements for the citizen oriented applications are analyzed. Measures for ensuring the security of the citizen oriented applications are described. A citizen oriented application for the analysis of the structured entities is developed. The application collects data regarding the behavior of the users. The collected data are used for verifying the hypotheses regarding the quality characteristics if the citizen oriented informatics applications.

Citizen seismology in Taiwan: what went wrong and what is the future?

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, K. H.; Liang, W. T.; Wu, Y. F.

2017-12-01

Citizen seismology encourages the public involvement to data collection, analysis, and reporting, and has the potential to greatly improve the emergency response to seismic hazard. This of course, is important for scientific achievement due to the dense network. We believed the value of citizen seismology and started with distributing Quake-Catcher-Network (QCN) sensor at schools in Taiwan. While working with teachers, we hoped to motivate the learning of how to read seismograms, what to see in the data, and what to teach in the class. Through lots of workshops and activities, even with near-real time earthquake game competition and board game (quake-nopoly) developed along the way, we came to realize the huge gap between what people need and what we do. And to bridge the gap, a new generation of citizen seismic network is needed. Imagine at work, you receive the alarm from sensors at home that tells you the location, size, and type of anomalous shaking events in the neighborhood. Can this future "warning" system happen, allowing citizen to do emergence response? This is a story about facing the challenge, transforming the doubt of "why do I care" to a future IoT world.

public spaces

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elena Grigoryeva

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The topic of this issue is PUBLIC SPACES. It is familiar and clear to every citizen. The streets and courtyards as childhood experiences remain with us forever. And these are the places where we come with our parents at weekends, where we meet friends, where we have dates and where we already come for a walk with our children.The history of public spaces is long and captivating. It was the main city squares where the most important events took place in history. The Agoras of Ancient Greece and the Roman Forums, the squares of Vatican, Paris and London, Moscow and Saint Petersburg… Greve, Trafalgar, Senate, Palace, Red, Bolotnaya – behind every name there is life of capitals, countries and nations.Public spaces, their shapes, image and development greatly influence the perception of the city as a whole. Both visitors and inhabitants can see in public spaces not only the visage but the heart, the soul and the mind of the city.Unfortunately, sometimes we have to prove the value of public spaces and defend them from those who consider them nothing but a blank space, nobody’s land destined for barbarous development.What should happen to make citizens perceive public spaces as their own and to make authorities consider development and maintenance of squares and parks their priority task against the  background of increasing competition between cities and the fight for human capital? Lately they more often say about “a high-quality human capital”. And now, when they say “the city should be liveable” they add “for all groups of citizens, including the creative class”.

Outcomes in elderly Danish citizens admitted with community-acquired pneumonia. Regional differences, in a public healthcare system

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hedegaard Klausen, Henrik; Petersen, J; Lindhardt, T

2012-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate regional differences in and risk factors for admission, length of stay, mortality, and readmission for community-acquired pneumonia in elderly Danish patients. METHODS: National registry study on elderly Danish citizens with an acute admission in 2009 owing to community....... RESULTS: A total of 11,332 elderly citizens were admitted with community-acquired pneumonia. Mortality during admission and 30-days from discharge were 11.6% and 16.2%, respectively. Readmission rates within 30 days of discharge were 12.3%. There were significantly differences between hospitals in length...

Citizen surveillance for environmental monitoring: combining the efforts of citizen science and crowdsourcing in a quantitative data framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Welvaert, Marijke; Caley, Peter

2016-01-01

Citizen science and crowdsourcing have been emerging as methods to collect data for surveillance and/or monitoring activities. They could be gathered under the overarching term citizen surveillance . The discipline, however, still struggles to be widely accepted in the scientific community, mainly because these activities are not embedded in a quantitative framework. This results in an ongoing discussion on how to analyze and make useful inference from these data. When considering the data collection process, we illustrate how citizen surveillance can be classified according to the nature of the underlying observation process measured in two dimensions-the degree of observer reporting intention and the control in observer detection effort. By classifying the observation process in these dimensions we distinguish between crowdsourcing, unstructured citizen science and structured citizen science. This classification helps the determine data processing and statistical treatment of these data for making inference. Using our framework, it is apparent that published studies are overwhelmingly associated with structured citizen science, and there are well developed statistical methods for the resulting data. In contrast, methods for making useful inference from purely crowd-sourced data remain under development, with the challenges of accounting for the unknown observation process considerable. Our quantitative framework for citizen surveillance calls for an integration of citizen science and crowdsourcing and provides a way forward to solve the statistical challenges inherent to citizen-sourced data.

Citizen Science: A Gateway for Innovation in Disease-Carrying Mosquito Management?

Science.gov (United States)

Bartumeus, Frederic; Oltra, Aitana; Palmer, John R B

2018-05-21

Traditional methods for tracking disease-carrying mosquitoes are hitting budget constraints as the scales over which they must be implemented grow exponentially. Citizen science offers a novel solution to this problem but requires new models of innovation in the public health sector. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citizen Science as a Tool in Biological Recording—A Case Study of Ailanthus altissima (Mill. Swingle

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Barbara Sladonja

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Non-native invasive species frequently appear in urban and non-urban ecosystems and may become a threat to biodiversity. Some of these newcomers are introduced accidentally, and others are introduced through a sequence of events caused by conscious human decisions. Involving the general public in biodiversity preservation activities could prevent the negative consequences of these actions. Accurate and reliable data collecting is the first step in invasive species management, and citizen science can be a useful tool to collect data and engage the public in science. We present a case study of biological recording of tree of heaven (Ailanthus altissima (Mill. Swingle using a participatory citizen model. The first goal in this case study was to develop a cheap, widely accessible, and effective inventory method, and to test it by mapping tree of heaven in Croatia. A total of 90.61 km of roads and trails was mapped; 20 single plants and 19 multi-plant clusters (mapped as polygons were detected. The total infested area was 2610 m2. The second goal was to educate citizens and raise awareness of this invasive species. The developed tool and suggested approach aided in improving invasive risk management in accordance with citizen science principles and can be applied to other species or areas.

Climate change discourses and citizen participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lassen, Inger; Horsbøl, Anders; Bonnen, Kersten

2011-01-01

of Denmark. We analyze how central actors are called upon to act, and how citizens are addressed in the call for action in the two sets of data. Paving the way for the empirical analysis, the first part of the article gives a review of contemporary literature on climate change typologies and discourses......Citizen participation is a recurrent and democratically important issue in the ongoing debate about climate change. However, different meanings are ascribed to citizen participation in different contexts and discourses, ranging from top-down involvement to bottom-up engagement. This article...... within different research fields, assessing how citizen participation is articulated within these discourses. Finally, we address some needs for increased citizen participation in the climate change debate....

Citizen Sky, An Update on the AAVSO's New Citizen Science Project

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.; Stencel, R.; Kloppenborg, B.

2011-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF-funded, citizen science project focusing on the bright variable star, epsilon Aurigae. Citizen Sky goes beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. The first year of the project, 2009-10, was dedicated to developing project infrastructure, educating participants about epsilon Aurigae, and training these participants to observe the star and report their data. Looking forward, years two and three of the project will focus on assembling teams of participants to work on their own analysis and research. Results will be published in a special issue of the peer-reviewed Journal of the AAVSO. This project has been made possible by the National Science Foundation.

Engaging the Public in the Citizen Science GLOBE at Night Campaign

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Constance E.; Sparks, R. T.; Pompea, S. M.

2011-05-01

The emphasis in the international star-hunting campaign, GLOBE at Night, is in bringing awareness to the public on issues of light pollution. Light pollution threatens not only observatory sites and our "right to starlight", but can affect energy consumption, wildlife and health. GLOBE at Night has successfully reached a few 100,000 citizen-scientists. What steps can be taken to improve it? To promote the campaign via popular social media, GLOBE at Night created Facebook and Twitter pages. To increase participation in the 2011 campaign, children and adults submitted their sky brightness measurements in real time with smart phones or tablets using the web application at www.globeatnight.org/webapp/. With smart phones and tablets, the location, date and time register automatically. For those without smart mobile devices, user-friendly tools on the GLOBE at Night report page were reconfigured to determine latitude and longitude more easily and accurately. To increase the robustness of the data, 2 new approaches were taken. GLOBE at Night prototyped an "Adopt a Street” program in Tucson. The aim was for people to adopt different major or semi-major streets and take measurements every mile or so for the length of the street. The grid of measurements would canvas the town, allowing for comparisons of light levels over time (hours, days, years) or search for dark sky oases or light polluted areas. The increase to 2 campaigns in 2011 re-enforces these studies. The intent is to offer the program year-round for seasonal studies. The data can also be used to compare with datasets on wildlife, health, and energy consumption. Recently, NOAO and the Arizona Game and Fish Department have started a project with GLOBE at Night data and bat telemetry to examine a dark skies corridor in Tucson where the endangered bats fly. In our presentation, results of our efforts are discussed.

Shark Citizen Science

OpenAIRE

Bear, Michael

2017-01-01

Traditionally, academic science has used graduate students to collect data in many cases, but community science, the term by which citizen science is also known, has revolutionized the process by which large amounts of data can be collected accurately by large numbers of non-scientists under the training and mentorship of scientists. There has been some discussion in the scientific community about whether the data collected by citizen scientists is as scientifically valid as data collected by...

Science Resulting from U.S. Geological Survey's "Did You Feel It?" Citizen Science Portal

Science.gov (United States)

Wald, D. J.; Dewey, J. W.; Atkinson, G. M.; Worden, C. B.; Quitoriano, V. P. R.

2016-12-01

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) "Did You Feel It?" (DYFI) system, in operation since 1999, is an automated approach for rapidly collecting macroseismic intensity data from internet users' shaking and damage reports and generating intensity maps immediately following earthquakes felt around the globe. As with any citizen science project, a significant component of the DYFI system is public awareness and participation in the immediate aftermath of any widely felt earthquake, allowing the public and the USGS to exchange valuable post-earthquake information. The data collected are remarkably robust and useful, as indicated by the range of peer-reviewed literature that rely on these citizen-science intensity reports. A Google Scholar search results in 14,700 articles citing DYFI, a number of which rely exclusively on these data. Though focused on topics of earthquake seismology (including shaking attenuation and relationships with damage), other studies cover social media use in disasters, human risk perception, earthquake-induced landslides, rapid impact assessment, emergency response, and science education. DYFI data have also been analyzed for non-earthquake events, including explosions, aircraft sonic booms, and even bolides and DYFI is now one of the best data sources from which to study induced earthquakes. Yet, DYFI was designed primarily as an operational system to rapidly assess the effects of earthquakes for situational awareness. Oftentimes, DYFI data are the only data available pertaining to shaking levels for much of the United States. As such, DYFI provides site-specific constraints of the shaking levels that feed directly into ShakeMap; thus, these data are readily available to emergency managers and responders, the media, and the general public. As an early adopter of web-based citizen science and having worked out many kinks in the process, DYFI developers have provided guidance on many other citizen-science endeavors across a wide range of

The Development of Citizen Oriented Informatics

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion IVAN

2010-01-01

Full Text Available We define the concept of citizen-oriented computer application. Quality characteristics are set for computer applications developed in the conditions of citizen-oriented computing and outline the development cycle for these applications. It defines the conditions of existence for citizen-oriented applications. Average and long-term strategies are elaborated.

Symbiosis in the Soil: Citizen Microbiology in Middle and High School Classrooms †

Science.gov (United States)

McKenney, Erin; Flythe, Taylar; Millis, Courtney; Stalls, Jennifer; Urban, Julie M.; Dunn, Robert R.; Stevens, Julia L.

2016-01-01

Microorganisms are vital to environmental health, yet their association with disease often overshadows these benefits. Building citizen-science activities around the positive role of microorganisms and an understanding of their ubiquity can begin to dispel misconceptions while simultaneously engaging the public in research. Here, we describe a citizen-science microbiology project geared toward implementation in middle and high school classrooms. Students culture environmental microorganisms and document microbial diversity of plant root systems compared with adjacent bulk soil. Results contribute data toward research on microbiome recruitment of weeds and other successful plants while addressing core topics in science education. PMID:27047592

Developing a framework for assessing adaptability of citizen-focused e-Government initiatives in developing countries : The Case of Tanzania; Exploratory Phase Results

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Yonazi, J.; Boonstra, A.; Sol, H.G.; Remenyi, D

2008-01-01

Citizens' adoption of e-government initiatives is a key element towards successful implementation of e-government projects. Understanding the factors that may potentially influence citizens' adoption of e-government plays a key role when developing government electronic services for the public. Such

Citizen Astronomy in China: An Overview

Science.gov (United States)

Ye, Quan-Zhi

2018-01-01

Citizen astronomers have benefited from technological advancements in the recent decades as they fill the scientific gaps left by professional astronomers, in the areas such as time domain observations, visual classification and data mining. Here I present an overview of the current status of citizen astronomy in China. Chinese citizen astronomers have made a visible contribution in the discoveries of new objects; however, comparing to their counterparts in the western world, they appear to be less interested in researches that do not involve making new discovery, such as visual classification, long-term monitoring of objects, and data mining. From a questionnaire survey that aimed to investigate the motivation of Chinese citizen astronomers, we find that this population is predominantly male (92%) who mostly reside in economically developed provinces. A large fraction (69%) of the respondents are students and young professionals younger than the age of 25, which differs significantly from the occupation and age distribution of typical Chinese Internet users as well as the user distribution of large international citizen science projects such as the Galaxy Zoo. This suggests that youth generation in China is more willing to participate citizen astronomy research than average generation. Additionally, we find that interests in astronomy, desire to learn new knowledges, have a fun experience and meet new friends in the community are all important driving factors for Chinese citizen astronomers to participate research. This also differs from their counterparts in western countries. With a large youth population that is interested in astronomy as well as a number of large astronomical facilities that are being planned or built, we believe that citizen astronomy in China has a vast potential. Timely and proper guidance from the professionals will be essential to help citizen astronomers to fulfill this potential.

Developing Citizen Leaders through Action Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Foley, Dolores

2006-01-01

This is an account of a programmer utilizing the application of action learning to the development of capacities of citizens. The Citizen Leadership for Democratic Governance is designed to equip citizens with the skills to get involved and handle the difficult tasks of governance in their communities in South Africa. After a history of apartheid…

Lessons learnt from recent citizen science initiatives to document floods in France, Argentina and New Zealand

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Le Coz Jérôme

2016-01-01

Full Text Available New communication and digital image technologies have enabled the public to produce and share large quantities of flood observations. Valuable hydraulic data such as water levels, flow rates, inundated areas, etc., can be extracted from photos and movies taken by citizens and help improve the analysis and modelling of flood hazard. We introduce recent citizen science initiatives which have been launched independently by research organisations to document floods in some catchments and urban areas of France, Argentina and New Zealand. Key drivers for success appear to be: a clear and simple procedure, suitable tools for data collecting and processing, an efficient communication plan, the support of local stakeholders, and the public awareness of natural hazards.

Citizen Sensing for Improved Urban Environmental Monitoring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Qijun Jiang

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Citizen science is increasingly being used in diverse research domains. With the emergence and rapid development of sensor technologies, citizens potentially have more powerful tools to collect data and generate information to understand their living environment. Although sensor technologies are developing fast, citizen sensing has not been widely implemented yet and published studies are only a few. In this paper, we analyse the practical experiences from an implementation of citizen sensing for urban environment monitoring. A bottom-up model in which citizens develop and use sensors for environmental monitoring is described and assessed. The paper focuses on a case study of Amsterdam Smart Citizens Lab using NO2 sensors for air quality monitoring. We found that the bottom-up citizen sensing is still challenging but can be successful with open cooperation and effective use of online and offline facilities. Based on the assessment, suggestions are proposed for further implementations and research.

Fiscal State-citizen Alignment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Celik, Tim Holst

2016-01-01

The 2008 crisis ended the growth bubble of the 2000s, which Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) governments facilitated through the normative/political-regulatory promotion of household indebtedness. Historically contextualizing this state-citizen relationship, this arti......The 2008 crisis ended the growth bubble of the 2000s, which Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) governments facilitated through the normative/political-regulatory promotion of household indebtedness. Historically contextualizing this state-citizen relationship...... fiscal attentiveness to ordinary consumer-citizens. By uncovering the sociohistorical conditions governing the dominant precrisis regime, it not only nuances our understanding of the crisis but also of neoliberalism and suggests the implausibility of returning to “Golden Age” democratic capitalism....

Getting the full picture: Assessing the complementarity of citizen science and agency monitoring data.

Science.gov (United States)

Hadj-Hammou, Jeneen; Loiselle, Steven; Ophof, Daniel; Thornhill, Ian

2017-01-01

While the role of citizen science in engaging the public and providing large-scale datasets has been demonstrated, the nature of and potential for this science to supplement environmental monitoring efforts by government agencies has not yet been fully explored. To this end, the present study investigates the complementarity of a citizen science programme to agency monitoring of water quality. The Environment Agency (EA) is the governmental public body responsible for, among other duties, managing and monitoring water quality and water resources in England. FreshWater Watch (FWW) is a global citizen science project that supports community monitoring of freshwater quality. FWW and EA data were assessed for their spatio-temporal complementarity by comparing the geographical and seasonal coverage of nitrate (N-NO3) sampling across the River Thames catchment by the respective campaigns between spring 2013 and winter 2015. The analysis reveals that FWW citizen science-collected data complements EA data by filling in both gaps in the spatial and temporal coverage as well as gaps in waterbody type and size. In addition, partial spatio-temporal overlap in sampling efforts by the two actors is discovered, but EA sampling is found to be more consistent than FWW sampling. Statistical analyses indicate that regardless of broader geographical overlap in sampling effort, FWW sampling sites are associated with a lower stream order and water bodies of smaller surface areas than EA sampling sites. FWW also samples more still-water body sites than the EA. As a possible result of such differences in sampling tendencies, nitrate concentrations, a measure of water quality, are lower for FWW sites than EA sites. These findings strongly indicate that citizen science has clear potential to complement agency monitoring efforts by generating information on freshwater ecosystems that would otherwise be under reported.

Getting the full picture: Assessing the complementarity of citizen science and agency monitoring data

Science.gov (United States)

Loiselle, Steven; Ophof, Daniel; Thornhill, Ian

2017-01-01

While the role of citizen science in engaging the public and providing large-scale datasets has been demonstrated, the nature of and potential for this science to supplement environmental monitoring efforts by government agencies has not yet been fully explored. To this end, the present study investigates the complementarity of a citizen science programme to agency monitoring of water quality. The Environment Agency (EA) is the governmental public body responsible for, among other duties, managing and monitoring water quality and water resources in England. FreshWater Watch (FWW) is a global citizen science project that supports community monitoring of freshwater quality. FWW and EA data were assessed for their spatio-temporal complementarity by comparing the geographical and seasonal coverage of nitrate (N-NO3) sampling across the River Thames catchment by the respective campaigns between spring 2013 and winter 2015. The analysis reveals that FWW citizen science-collected data complements EA data by filling in both gaps in the spatial and temporal coverage as well as gaps in waterbody type and size. In addition, partial spatio-temporal overlap in sampling efforts by the two actors is discovered, but EA sampling is found to be more consistent than FWW sampling. Statistical analyses indicate that regardless of broader geographical overlap in sampling effort, FWW sampling sites are associated with a lower stream order and water bodies of smaller surface areas than EA sampling sites. FWW also samples more still-water body sites than the EA. As a possible result of such differences in sampling tendencies, nitrate concentrations, a measure of water quality, are lower for FWW sites than EA sites. These findings strongly indicate that citizen science has clear potential to complement agency monitoring efforts by generating information on freshwater ecosystems that would otherwise be under reported. PMID:29211752

Getting the full picture: Assessing the complementarity of citizen science and agency monitoring data.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeneen Hadj-Hammou

Full Text Available While the role of citizen science in engaging the public and providing large-scale datasets has been demonstrated, the nature of and potential for this science to supplement environmental monitoring efforts by government agencies has not yet been fully explored. To this end, the present study investigates the complementarity of a citizen science programme to agency monitoring of water quality. The Environment Agency (EA is the governmental public body responsible for, among other duties, managing and monitoring water quality and water resources in England. FreshWater Watch (FWW is a global citizen science project that supports community monitoring of freshwater quality. FWW and EA data were assessed for their spatio-temporal complementarity by comparing the geographical and seasonal coverage of nitrate (N-NO3 sampling across the River Thames catchment by the respective campaigns between spring 2013 and winter 2015. The analysis reveals that FWW citizen science-collected data complements EA data by filling in both gaps in the spatial and temporal coverage as well as gaps in waterbody type and size. In addition, partial spatio-temporal overlap in sampling efforts by the two actors is discovered, but EA sampling is found to be more consistent than FWW sampling. Statistical analyses indicate that regardless of broader geographical overlap in sampling effort, FWW sampling sites are associated with a lower stream order and water bodies of smaller surface areas than EA sampling sites. FWW also samples more still-water body sites than the EA. As a possible result of such differences in sampling tendencies, nitrate concentrations, a measure of water quality, are lower for FWW sites than EA sites. These findings strongly indicate that citizen science has clear potential to complement agency monitoring efforts by generating information on freshwater ecosystems that would otherwise be under reported.

A Citizen's Guide to Plastics in the Ocean: More than a Litter Problem. Second Edition.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Hara, Kathryn J.; And Others

This publication gives an overview of the problems caused by plastic debris in the marine environment and describes how citizens and public officials are working together to solve these problems. Chapter I introduces the reader to the problems caused by plastic debris in the marine environment. Chapter II examines the types of debris that are…

THE DECISIONAL TRANSPARENCY IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

OCTAVIA MARIA CILIBIU

2011-04-01

Full Text Available The principle of decisional transparency is one of the principles of good administration, fundamental principles of public administration and it is enshrined in the law of many European Union member states, including our country. In their work the public authorities must show transparency reflected by the active involvement of citizens in administrative decision as its primary beneficiary. The citizen information, consultation and his stimulation to participate actively in the elaboration of draft normative acts for their preparation and before that by bringing them to public knowledge, are tasks of the public authorities which exceed the limit of the obligations imposed by internal rules and are significant efforts to modernize the public administration and rallying to the administrative structures.

Public and proud

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schwartz, Sander Andreas

2017-01-01

This paper is a qualitative study that examines how and why some citizens use their Facebook network as a personal public. The concept of the personal public in this study is defined by a relative sense of privacy in the closed individual Facebook network, together with a sense of publicness based...... public political communication that have so far been understudied in research on political debates on Facebook....

Collaborative Innovation in the Public Sector

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agger, Annika; Hedensted Lund, Dorthe

2017-01-01

Collaborative innovation in the public sector is increasingly used as a strategy for balancing citizens’ rising expectations for public services with limited public resources. This article suggests that public polices construct citizens as clients, consumers, or coproducers and thereby encourage...

Exposing the Science in Citizen Science: Fitness to Purpose and Intentional Design.

Science.gov (United States)

Parrish, Julia K; Burgess, Hillary; Weltzin, Jake F; Fortson, Lucy; Wiggins, Andrea; Simmons, Brooke

2018-05-21

Citizen science is a growing phenomenon. With millions of people involved and billions of in-kind dollars contributed annually, this broad extent, fine grain approach to data collection should be garnering enthusiastic support in the mainstream science and higher education communities. However, many academic researchers demonstrate distinct biases against the use of citizen science as a source of rigorous information. To engage the public in scientific research, and the research community in the practice of citizen science, a mutual understanding is needed of accepted quality standards in science, and the corresponding specifics of project design and implementation when working with a broad public base. We define a science-based typology focused on the degree to which projects deliver the type(s) and quality of data/work needed to produce valid scientific outcomes directly useful in science and natural resource management. Where project intent includes direct contribution to science and the public is actively involved either virtually or hands-on, we examine the measures of quality assurance (methods to increase data quality during the design and implementation phases of a project) and quality control (post hoc methods to increase the quality of scientific outcomes). We suggest that high quality science can be produced with massive, largely one-off, participation if data collection is simple and quality control includes algorithm voting, statistical pruning and/or computational modeling. Small to mid-scale projects engaging participants in repeated, often complex, sampling can advance quality through expert-led training and well-designed materials, and through independent verification. Both approaches - simplification at scale and complexity with care - generate more robust science outcomes.

Developing Science Games for use at Public Events to Better Inform Students and Citizen Scientists

Science.gov (United States)

Lewis, P. M.; Chambers, L. H.; Bethea, K. L.; Crecelius, S.; Ruhlman, K.; Harte, T.

2013-12-01

At NASA's Langley Research Center, the Science Directorate participates in a wide range of public outreach events, from individual small-scale classroom visits, to the large-scale NASA events like Exploration Day at Busch Gardens Williamsburg. Despite the diversity of venues, one thing is certain: the public is hungry for science and ravenous for the materials and activities that NASA produces. However, designing and producing materials and activities to capture the attention of everyone from children to grandparents can be a challenging task. The NASA Langley Science Directorate Outreach and Communications Team has taken on the task to ensure that event participants have a worthwhile science experience through a series of educational tabletop games. This diverse group of educators, scientists, writers and graphic artists has been able to produce many games and activities perfect for public exposure and understanding. These games not only capture the imagination of the citizen scientists that visit the display, but they also allow them to learn the science behind many of the things that happen around them on a daily basis, many of which they take for granted. Teaching the public through games and short activities has proven to be a winning combination of efforts. In the development of any game or activity a great deal of consideration is given to "boiling down" the science concept or educational "take away." This step is where the diverse development group has proven to be invaluable. A final product developed by this team includes a review for science validity by a scientist, words written by a science writer, educational alignment by a science educator and design by a graphic designer. This process ensures that the game will attract the right group of people and have them leave understanding new science content. Games and activities generated in this fashion have been successful in the traditional classroom and informal education venues that this team routinely

“You probably shouldn’t give them too much information” – Supporting Citizen-Government Collaboration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Borchorst, Nikolaj Gandrup; Bødker, Susanne

2011-01-01

This paper discusses the challenge of supporting digitally mediated citizengovernment collaboration in public service provision. With a vantage point in activity theory and the empirical data from three exploratory design cases, we derive a theoretical framework for understanding the way in which...... citizens share information with government. Through the proposed framework and the notion of Participatory Citizenship, we propose a set of central design challenges to supporting collaboration within this setting. We argue that civil servants and citizens have inherently different foci in the service...

Citizen empowerment and innovation in the data-rich city

CERN Document Server

Dyer, Mark; Pocatilu, Lorena; Rizzi, Francesco

2017-01-01

This book analyzes the ongoing transformation in the “smart city” paradigm and explores the possibilities that technological innovations offer for the effective involvement of ordinary citizens in collective knowledge production and decision-making processes within the context of urban planning and management. To so, it pursues an interdisciplinary approach, with contributions from a range of experts including city managers, public policy makers, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) specialists, and researchers. The first two parts of the book focus on the generation and use of data by citizens, with or without institutional support, and the professional management of data in city governance, highlighting the social connectivity and livability aspects essential to vibrant and healthy urban environments. In turn, the third part presents inspiring case studies that illustrate how data-driven solutions can empower people and improve urban environments, including enhanced sustainability. The book wi...

Citizen Science in the Digital Age: examples of Innovative Projects that are Saving Lives across the United States and Internationally.

Science.gov (United States)

Haines-Stiles, G.; Abdalati, W.; Akuginow, E.

2017-12-01

Citizen science and crowdsourcing can literally save lives, whether responding to natural or human-caused disasters, and their effectiveness is all the more enhanced when volunteer observers collaborate with professional researchers. The NSF-funded THE CROWD & THE CLOUD public television series premiered on PBS stations in April 2017, and is hosted by former NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati: it continues streaming at CrowdAndCloud.org. Its four episodes feature examples directly relevant to this session, vividly demonstrating the power and potential of "Citizen Science in the Digital Age." In "Citizens + Scientists" a peer-reviewed journal article, authored by a respected MD but based on Bucket Brigade citizen science data on air quality surrounding oil and gas developments, features prominently in New York State's ban on fracking. In the wake of the Flint disaster, Virginia Tech scientists support community monitoring of lead in Philadelphia's drinking water. Citizens begin to appreciate the arcane scientific and technical details of EPA's Lead and Copper Rule, and STEM is seen to be of vital, daily significance. In "Even Big Data Starts Small" OpenStreetMap volunteers digitize satellite data to help first responders following the devastating 2015 Nepal earthquake, and Public Lab members—enthusiastic Makers and Millennials—fly modified off-the-shelf cameras beneath balloons and kites to track the BP oil spill, continuing their environmental watchdog work up through the present. CoCoRaHS observers (the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network) submit high quality data that has come to be trusted by NOAA's NWS and other federal agencies, enhancing flash flood warnings while project volunteers begin to appreciate the extreme variabity of local weather. Today's citizen science is much more than birds, bees and butterflies, although all those are also being protected by volunteered citizen data that helps shape state and federal conservation policies

Contracting communities: Conceptualizing Community Benefits Agreements to improve citizen involvement in urban development projects

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Janssen-Jansen, Leonie; Veen, van der Menno

2017-01-01

Contractual agreements are becoming increasingly important for city governments seeking to manage urban development. Contractual governance involves direct relations between the local state and different public and private actors and citizens. Although abundant literature exists on public–private

Valuing future citizens' values regarding risk

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fleming, Patricia

2006-01-01

Valuing present citizen's values regarding the risks they face is an important aspect of risk assessment and risk acceptability. Conferences like VALDOR are held for this reason. Governments like Sweden have national referendums on various risk-prone enterprises. The results of these referendums can determine the future of these programs. In the United States, when guidelines are set for determining acceptable levels of risk, the relevant federal agencies are often required to provide a comment period regarding proposed guidelines in order to ascertain the judgments, including the weights place on certain values, of individual members of society as well as stakeholder groups. After the comment period ends, the agency decides on the acceptable level of risk, taking into account the comments from present citizens. Do we also have a duty to value the not-yet-existing values of future citizens, especially if the risks created by the activities of present citizens extend into the future to citizens not yet living? If so, are there any circumstances which entitle us to de-value those not-yet-existing values. In this paper, I ground my discussion of the question of valuing future citizens' values in one of the areas of focus of the VALDOR conference: nuclear waste management and specifically the question facing the United States' program regarding an acceptable dose standard associated with the release of radioactivity into the biosphere from an underground repository. The underlying conference theme to which this discussion may be attached is community environmental justice as it applies to future citizens. I focus on the role that uncertainty plays is providing justice between present and future citizens

Valuing future citizens' values regarding risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fleming, Patricia [Creighton Univ., Omaha (United States). College of Arts and Sciences/Philosophy

2006-09-15

Valuing present citizen's values regarding the risks they face is an important aspect of risk assessment and risk acceptability. Conferences like VALDOR are held for this reason. Governments like Sweden have national referendums on various risk-prone enterprises. The results of these referendums can determine the future of these programs. In the United States, when guidelines are set for determining acceptable levels of risk, the relevant federal agencies are often required to provide a comment period regarding proposed guidelines in order to ascertain the judgments, including the weights place on certain values, of individual members of society as well as stakeholder groups. After the comment period ends, the agency decides on the acceptable level of risk, taking into account the comments from present citizens. Do we also have a duty to value the not-yet-existing values of future citizens, especially if the risks created by the activities of present citizens extend into the future to citizens not yet living? If so, are there any circumstances which entitle us to de-value those not-yet-existing values. In this paper, I ground my discussion of the question of valuing future citizens' values in one of the areas of focus of the VALDOR conference: nuclear waste management and specifically the question facing the United States' program regarding an acceptable dose standard associated with the release of radioactivity into the biosphere from an underground repository. The underlying conference theme to which this discussion may be attached is community environmental justice as it applies to future citizens. I focus on the role that uncertainty plays is providing justice between present and future citizens.

Some aspects of public associations’ participation in implementing public control at municipal level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roman V. Gornev

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Objective to clarify the status of public associations as subjects of public control and to analyze the problems of participation of citizens 39 associations in conducting public expertise and public audits. Methods the methodology of research includes general scientific methods such as dialectic method. Specific jurisprudence methods of scientific cognition have also been used. Systematic method was used for the analysis of forms of public control by citizens39 associations at the municipal level. The principle of scientific objectivity has allowed for a comprehensive and objective analysis of the factual material the totality of factors affecting the interaction of public associations with local authorities in the implementation of public control. The formallegal method allowed to analyze the normativelegal acts to reveal the signs of fixing of such public control forms as public expertise and public audit. In the present study other research methods were also applied allowing to study the theme in detail. Results the study identified the lack of legal regulation of the legal status of public associations as subjects of public control as well as some forms of public control. The additions to the list of subjects of public control by public associations were proposed as well as improvements in the implementation of public expertise and public audit by the citizens39 associations as forms of social control. Scientific novelty the author found a lack of regulation of public associationsrsquo participation in some forms of social control and justified proposals for their improvement from a scientific point of view. Practical significance the possibility to apply the research results in legislative activity aimed at improving the provisions of the Federal Laws quotOn fundamentals of public control in the Russian Federationquot and quotOn the general principles of local selfgovernment organization in the Russian Federationquot. In addition the

HiggsHunters - a citizen science project for ATLAS

CERN Document Server

Haas, Andrew; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

Since the launch of HiggsHunters.org in November 2014, citizen science volunteers have classified more than a million points of interest in images from the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Volunteers have been looking for displaced vertices and unusual features in images recorded during LHC Run-1. We discuss the design of the project, its impact on the public, and the surprising results of how the human volunteers performed relative to the computer algorithms in identifying displaced secondary vertices.

Empowering citizens or mining resources? The contested domain of citizen engagement in professional care services.

Science.gov (United States)

Glimmerveen, Ludo; Ybema, Sierk; Nies, Henk

2018-04-01

When studying individual attempts to foster citizen engagement, scholars have pointed to the coexistence of competing rationales. Thus far, however, current literature barely elaborates on the socio-political processes through which employees of professional organizations deal with such disparate considerations. To address this gap, this article builds on an ethnographic study, conducted in the Netherlands between 2013 and 2016, of a professional care organization's attempts to engage local citizens in one of its elderly care homes. To investigate how citizen engagement is 'done' in the context of daily organizing, we followed employees as they gradually created and demarcated the scope for such engagement by approaching citizens as either strategic partners (pursuing 'democratic' rationales) or as operational volunteers (pursuing 'instrumental' rationales). In order to deal with such potentially incongruent orientations, we found that employees used discursive strategies to influence the balance that was struck between competing rationales; either through depoliticization-i.e., the downplaying of incongruities and the framing of disparate considerations as being complementary within the pursuit of a shared, overarching goal-or through politicization, i.e., the active challenging of how their colleagues prioritized one consideration over another. By showing how the successful conveyance of such (de)politicized accounts helped employees either defend or redraw the boundaries of what citizen engagement was (not) about, we contribute to extant theorization by (1) developing a processual approach to studying citizen engagement that (2) is sensitive to organizational politics. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Public conceptions of publicness in the wake of the Copenhagen killings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Horsbøl, Anders

2016-01-01

The deadly attacks on a public meeting and on a Jewish citizen in Copenhagen in February 2015 have given rise to a vast amount of public discussion and interpretation of the events themselves, their background, their causes, their significance and their repercussions. During these discussions, va...

A qualitative research on Spanish farmers and citizens perceptions of ecosystem services provided by mountain livestock farming

OpenAIRE

Bernués Jal, Alberto; Rodríguez Ortega, Tamara; Ripoll Bosch, Raimon; Casasús Pueyo, Isabel

2013-01-01

There is a strong debate nowadays on the public goods derived from certain agro-ecosystems and their valuation for establishing payments for ecosystem services (ES). In this context, we carried out a qualitative research on the spontaneous knowledge of ecosystem services and the perceptions of farmers and citizens on relationships between mountain farming and the environment. Five focus groups (2 with farmers and 3 with citizens; n=33) were organized in north-eastern Spain. Discus...

The ATLAS Computing Agora: a resource web site for citizen science projects

CERN Document Server

Bourdarios, Claire; The ATLAS collaboration

2016-01-01

The ATLAS collaboration has recently setup a number of citizen science projects which have a strong IT component and could not have been envisaged without the growth of general public computing resources and network connectivity: event simulation through volunteer computing, algorithms improvement via Machine Learning challenges, event display analysis on citizen science platforms, use of open data, etc. Most of the interactions with volunteers are handled through message boards, but specific outreach material was also developed, giving an enhanced visibility to the ATLAS software and computing techniques, challenges and community. In this talk the Atlas Computing Agora (ACA) web platform will be presented as well as some of the specific material developed for some of the projects.

Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and Sensor Web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Kamel Boulos, Maged N

2011-12-21

Abstract \\'Wikification of GIS by the masses\\' is a phrase-term first coined by Kamel Boulos in 2005, two years earlier than Goodchild\\'s term \\'Volunteered Geographic Information\\'. Six years later (2005-2011), OpenStreetMap and Google Earth (GE) are now full-fledged, crowdsourced \\'Wikipedias of the Earth\\' par excellence, with millions of users contributing their own layers to GE, attaching photos, videos, notes and even 3-D (three dimensional) models to locations in GE. From using Twitter in participatory sensing and bicycle-mounted sensors in pervasive environmental sensing, to creating a 100,000-sensor geo-mashup using Semantic Web technology, to the 3-D visualisation of indoor and outdoor surveillance data in real-time and the development of next-generation, collaborative natural user interfaces that will power the spatially-enabled public health and emergency situation rooms of the future, where sensor data and citizen reports can be triaged and acted upon in real-time by distributed teams of professionals, this paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the overlapping domains of the Sensor Web, citizen sensing and \\'human-in-the-loop sensing\\' in the era of the Mobile and Social Web, and the roles these domains can play in environmental and public health surveillance and crisis\\/disaster informatics. We provide an in-depth review of the key issues and trends in these areas, the challenges faced when reasoning and making decisions with real-time crowdsourced data (such as issues of information overload, "noise", misinformation, bias and trust), the core technologies and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards involved (Sensor Web Enablement and Open GeoSMS), as well as a few outstanding project implementation examples from around the world.

Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and sensor web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamel Boulos Maged N

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract 'Wikification of GIS by the masses' is a phrase-term first coined by Kamel Boulos in 2005, two years earlier than Goodchild's term 'Volunteered Geographic Information'. Six years later (2005-2011, OpenStreetMap and Google Earth (GE are now full-fledged, crowdsourced 'Wikipedias of the Earth' par excellence, with millions of users contributing their own layers to GE, attaching photos, videos, notes and even 3-D (three dimensional models to locations in GE. From using Twitter in participatory sensing and bicycle-mounted sensors in pervasive environmental sensing, to creating a 100,000-sensor geo-mashup using Semantic Web technology, to the 3-D visualisation of indoor and outdoor surveillance data in real-time and the development of next-generation, collaborative natural user interfaces that will power the spatially-enabled public health and emergency situation rooms of the future, where sensor data and citizen reports can be triaged and acted upon in real-time by distributed teams of professionals, this paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the overlapping domains of the Sensor Web, citizen sensing and 'human-in-the-loop sensing' in the era of the Mobile and Social Web, and the roles these domains can play in environmental and public health surveillance and crisis/disaster informatics. We provide an in-depth review of the key issues and trends in these areas, the challenges faced when reasoning and making decisions with real-time crowdsourced data (such as issues of information overload, "noise", misinformation, bias and trust, the core technologies and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC standards involved (Sensor Web Enablement and Open GeoSMS, as well as a few outstanding project implementation examples from around the world.

Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and sensor web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples.

Science.gov (United States)

Kamel Boulos, Maged N; Resch, Bernd; Crowley, David N; Breslin, John G; Sohn, Gunho; Burtner, Russ; Pike, William A; Jezierski, Eduardo; Chuang, Kuo-Yu Slayer

2011-12-21

'Wikification of GIS by the masses' is a phrase-term first coined by Kamel Boulos in 2005, two years earlier than Goodchild's term 'Volunteered Geographic Information'. Six years later (2005-2011), OpenStreetMap and Google Earth (GE) are now full-fledged, crowdsourced 'Wikipedias of the Earth' par excellence, with millions of users contributing their own layers to GE, attaching photos, videos, notes and even 3-D (three dimensional) models to locations in GE. From using Twitter in participatory sensing and bicycle-mounted sensors in pervasive environmental sensing, to creating a 100,000-sensor geo-mashup using Semantic Web technology, to the 3-D visualisation of indoor and outdoor surveillance data in real-time and the development of next-generation, collaborative natural user interfaces that will power the spatially-enabled public health and emergency situation rooms of the future, where sensor data and citizen reports can be triaged and acted upon in real-time by distributed teams of professionals, this paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the overlapping domains of the Sensor Web, citizen sensing and 'human-in-the-loop sensing' in the era of the Mobile and Social Web, and the roles these domains can play in environmental and public health surveillance and crisis/disaster informatics. We provide an in-depth review of the key issues and trends in these areas, the challenges faced when reasoning and making decisions with real-time crowdsourced data (such as issues of information overload, "noise", misinformation, bias and trust), the core technologies and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards involved (Sensor Web Enablement and Open GeoSMS), as well as a few outstanding project implementation examples from around the world.

Citizen Science in Grand Teton National Park Reveals Phenological Response of Wildlife to Climate Change and Increases Public Involvement in Earth Science

Science.gov (United States)

Bloom, T. D. S.; Riginos, C.

2017-12-01

Around the world, phenology —or the timing of ecological events — is shifting as the climate warms. This can lead to a variety of consequences for individual species and for ecological communities as a whole, most notably through asynchronies that can develop between plants and animals that depend upon each other (e.g. nectar-consuming pollinators). Within the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE) and Grand Teton National Park (GTNP), there is little understanding of how climate change is affecting plant and animal phenology, yet through detailed scientific and citizen science observation there is tremendous potential to further our knowledge of this topic and increase public awareness. Detailed historic data are rare, but in GTNP we have the opportunity to capitalize on phenology data gathered by Dr. Frank Craighead, Jr. in the 1970s, before significant warming had occurred. We have already gathered, digitized, and quality-controlled Craighead's observations of plant first flowering dates. First flowering date for 87% of a 72-species data set correlate significantly with spring temperatures in the 1970s, suggesting that these plants are now flowering earlier and will continue to flower earlier in the future. Our multi-year project has project has 3 primary goals: (1) initiate a citizen science project, Wildflower Watch GTNP, to train volunteer scientists to collect contemporary phenology data on these species (2) gather further historical records of plant phenology in the region, and (3) model continued phenological changes under future climate change scenarios using satellite derived climate data and on the ground observations. This project simultaneously increases public involvement in climate research, collaborates with the National Park Service to inform management strategies for at-risk species, and furthers scientific understanding of phenological response to climate change in the Rocky Mountains.

Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and sensor web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples

Science.gov (United States)

2011-01-01

'Wikification of GIS by the masses' is a phrase-term first coined by Kamel Boulos in 2005, two years earlier than Goodchild's term 'Volunteered Geographic Information'. Six years later (2005-2011), OpenStreetMap and Google Earth (GE) are now full-fledged, crowdsourced 'Wikipedias of the Earth' par excellence, with millions of users contributing their own layers to GE, attaching photos, videos, notes and even 3-D (three dimensional) models to locations in GE. From using Twitter in participatory sensing and bicycle-mounted sensors in pervasive environmental sensing, to creating a 100,000-sensor geo-mashup using Semantic Web technology, to the 3-D visualisation of indoor and outdoor surveillance data in real-time and the development of next-generation, collaborative natural user interfaces that will power the spatially-enabled public health and emergency situation rooms of the future, where sensor data and citizen reports can be triaged and acted upon in real-time by distributed teams of professionals, this paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the overlapping domains of the Sensor Web, citizen sensing and 'human-in-the-loop sensing' in the era of the Mobile and Social Web, and the roles these domains can play in environmental and public health surveillance and crisis/disaster informatics. We provide an in-depth review of the key issues and trends in these areas, the challenges faced when reasoning and making decisions with real-time crowdsourced data (such as issues of information overload, "noise", misinformation, bias and trust), the core technologies and Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) standards involved (Sensor Web Enablement and Open GeoSMS), as well as a few outstanding project implementation examples from around the world. PMID:22188675

Examining Citizens’ Contact to Local Public Institutions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Florina Bente

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Objective - This study aims to explore the communication process within local public administration as a determinant of citizens` satisfaction. Prior work - Several authors had examined if having contact with certain service providers will affect people’s attitudes toward the service quality, but the researchers have not focused yet on the effect of citizens` contact to local authorities on satisfaction. Approach - This research seeks to address this field using an exploratory approach. Following a quantitative methodological approach, a survey was applied to a sample of 380 citizens within Western Romanian. Findings - By analyzing data it was possible to determine citizen satisfaction and to assess its relationship with costumer contact. In addition it was revealed that in Crisana Region city hall is the most frequented local public institution. Implications – The results showed a negative effect of frequency of access to local authorities on overall customer satisfaction. The effect of citizens` contact to local authorities received less attention from the academic researchers, as a need in the literature is to expand this field. Value - This research is the first to specifically examine the contact to local authorities and the effect of frequency of addressing on citizen satisfaction within Crisana Region.

Automatically producing tailored web materials for public administration

Science.gov (United States)

Colineau, Nathalie; Paris, Cécile; Vander Linden, Keith

2013-06-01

Public administration organizations commonly produce citizen-focused, informational materials describing public programs and the conditions under which citizens or citizen groups are eligible for these programs. The organizations write these materials for generic audiences because of the excessive human resource costs that would be required to produce personalized materials for everyone. Unfortunately, generic materials tend to be longer and harder to understand than materials tailored for particular citizens. Our work explores the feasibility and effectiveness of automatically producing tailored materials. We have developed an adaptive hypermedia application system that automatically produces tailored informational materials and have evaluated it in a series of studies. The studies demonstrate that: (1) subjects prefer tailored materials over generic materials, even if the tailoring requires answering a set of demographic questions first; (2) tailored materials are more effective at supporting subjects in their task of learning about public programs; and (3) the time required to specify the demographic information on which the tailoring is based does not significantly slow down the subjects in their information seeking task.

Studying citizen science through adaptive management and learning feedbacks as mechanisms for improving conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Rebecca; Gray, Steven; Sorensen, Amanda; Newman, Greg; Mellor, David; Newman, Greg; Hmelo-Silver, Cindy; LaDeau, Shannon; Biehler, Dawn; Crall, Alycia

2016-06-01

Citizen science has generated a growing interest among scientists and community groups, and citizen science programs have been created specifically for conservation. We examined collaborative science, a highly interactive form of citizen science, which we developed within a theoretically informed framework. In this essay, we focused on 2 aspects of our framework: social learning and adaptive management. Social learning, in contrast to individual-based learning, stresses collaborative and generative insight making and is well-suited for adaptive management. Adaptive-management integrates feedback loops that are informed by what is learned and is guided by iterative decision making. Participants engaged in citizen science are able to add to what they are learning through primary data collection, which can result in the real-time information that is often necessary for conservation. Our work is particularly timely because research publications consistently report a lack of established frameworks and evaluation plans to address the extent of conservation outcomes in citizen science. To illustrate how our framework supports conservation through citizen science, we examined how 2 programs enacted our collaborative science framework. Further, we inspected preliminary conservation outcomes of our case-study programs. These programs, despite their recent implementation, are demonstrating promise with regard to positive conservation outcomes. To date, they are independently earning funds to support research, earning buy-in from local partners to engage in experimentation, and, in the absence of leading scientists, are collecting data to test ideas. We argue that this success is due to citizen scientists being organized around local issues and engaging in iterative, collaborative, and adaptive learning. © 2016 Society for Conservation Biology.

The citizens in E-participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hansen, Henning Sten; Reinau, Kristian Hegner

2006-01-01

focus on the citizens. Equal opportunities to express their opinions and an open debate between people are the basic foundation for democracy. Therefore the design of participatory processes must take outset in the citizens and their knowledge and commitment concerning the issue to be debated...

g4c2c: A Model for Citizen Engagement at Arms’ Length from Government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Axel Bruns

2011-03-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 false false false EN-AU X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} The recognition that Web 2.0 applications and social media sites will strengthen and improve interaction between governments and citizens has resulted in a global push into new e-democracy or Government 2.0 spaces. These typically follow government-to-citizen (g2c or citizen-to-citizen (c2c models, but both these approaches are problematic: g2c is often concerned more with service delivery to citizens as clients, or exists to make a show of ‘listening to the public’ rather than to genuinely source citizen ideas for government policy, while c2c often takes place without direct government participation and therefore cannot ensure that the outcomes of citizen deliberations are accepted into the government policy-making process. Building on recent examples of Australian Government 2.0 initiatives, we suggest a new approach based on government support for citizen-to-citizen engagement, or g4c2c, as a workable compromise, and suggest that public service broadcasters should play a key role in facilitating this model of citizen engagement.

The establishment of an ethical guideline for genetic testing through citizen consensus via the Internet in Taiwan.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Chiou-Fen; Lu, Meei-Shiow; Chung, Chun-Chih; Yang, Che-Ming

2010-10-18

With the rapid advance of genetics, the application of genetic testing has become increasingly popular. Test results have had a tremendous impact on individuals who receive the test and his or her family. The ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of genetic testing cannot be overlooked. The Internet is a potential tool for public engagement. This study aimed at establishing ethical guidelines for genetic testing in Taiwan through a participatory citizen consensus approach via the Internet. The research method used was a citizen consensus conference modified by an Internet application and the Delphi technique. The citizen consensus conference is one of the public participation mechanisms. The draft ethical guidelines for genetic testing were written by an expert panel of 10. The Delphi technique was applied to a citizen panel recruited via the Internet until a consensus was reached. Our research population was restricted to people who had Internet access. Included in the citizen panel were 100 individuals. A total of 3 individuals dropped out of the process. The citizen panel was exposed to the issues through Internet learning and sharing. In all, 3 rounds of anonymous questionnaires were administered before a consensus was reached in terms of importance and feasibility. The result was ethical guidelines composed of 4 categories and 25 items. The 4 categories encompassed decision making (6 items), management of tissue samples (5 items), release of results (8 items), and information flow (6 items). On a scale of 1 to 10, the average (SD) importance score for the decision-making category was 9.41 (SD 0.58); for the management of tissue samples category, the average score was 9.62 (SD 0.49); for the release of results category, the average score was 9.34 (SD= 0.59); and for the information flow category, the average score was 9.6 (SD = 0.43). Exploratory analyses indicated that participants with higher education tended to attribute more importance to these

Citizen's Report

Data.gov (United States)

Office of Personnel Management — The fiscal year (FY) 2008 Citizen's Report is a summary of performance and financial results for the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). OPM chose to produce...

Direct Citizen Participation: Building a Theory

OpenAIRE

Robert, Nancy C.

2003-01-01

The subject of citizen participation has a long lineage dating back to the Greek city-states. Two questions have been central to its history: Who is a citizen and how should the citizen participate in governance? Responses to these questions have varied depending on the political and administrative theory one champions. Those who value indirect citizenship participation, or representative democracy, cite the dangers, costs, and logistical difficulties of involving all members of a society. Th...

Citizen Science in the Classroom: Perils and Promise of the New Web

Science.gov (United States)

Loughran, T.; Dirksen, R.

2010-12-01

Classroom citizen science projects invite students to generate, curate, post, query, and analyze data, publishing and discussing results in potentially large collaborative contexts. The new web offers a rich palette of such projects for any STEM educator to select from or create. This easy access to citizen science in the classroom is full of both promise and peril for science education. By offering examples of classroom citizen science projects in particle physics, earth and environmental sciences, each supported by a common mashup of technologies available to ordinary users, we will illustrate something of the promise of these projects for science education, and point to some of the challenges and failure modes--the peril--raised by easy access and particularly easy publication of data. How one sensibly responds to this promise and peril depends on how one views the goals of science (or more broadly, STEM) education: either as the equipping of individual students with STEM knowledge and skills so as to empower them for future options, or as the issuing of effective invitations into STEM communities. Building on the claim that these are complementary perspectives, both of value, we will provide an example of a classroom citizen science project analyzed from both perspectives. The BOSCO classroom-to-classroom water source mapping project provides students both in Northern Uganda and in South Dakota a collaborative platform for analyzing and responding to local water quality concerns. Students gather water quality data, use Google Forms embedded in a project wiki to enter data in a spreadsheet, which then automatically (through Mapalist, a free web service) gets posted to a Google Map, itself embedded in the project wiki. Using these technologies, data is thus collected and posted for analysis in a collaborative environment: the stage is set for classroom citizen science. In the context of this project we will address the question of how teachers can take advantage

On the role of perceived procedural justice in citizens' reactions to government decisions and the handling of conflicts

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van den Bos, Kees; van der Velden, L.; Lind, E.A.

2014-01-01

This paper examines several hundred cases in which citizens were contacted in an 'informal' way by public officials as part of the Dutch Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations' Fair Tracks project. In Fair Tracks, public officials engage in direct and interpersonal conversations with

Energy revolution and citizens' protests. A study of the communication of citizens' initiatives concerning grid expension; Energiewende und Buergerproteste. Eine Untersuchung der Kommunikation von Buergerinitiativen im Themenfeld Netzausbau

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Braeuer, Marco

2017-08-01

The extension of the German high voltage power grid has recently caused intense resistance in the affected regions. Publicly visible protests are mainly organised by citizen action groups. These groups act from the position of the periphery of the political system. Hence, they need to communicate their concerns and aims in order to influence the political and administrative decision-making system. In general they have the option to gain access to the mass media agenda. In addition protest groups can also create own media products (from leaflets to social media represenations). The theoretical points of departure of this study are social movement theories and the theory of the public sphere. An inclusive theoretical model, explaining the choice of protest repertories by citizen action groups, is developed. Furthermore, eight comprehensive case studies of citizen action groups in the conflict field of the extension of the German high voltage power grid were conducted. The results of the case studies reveal that the citizen action groups act strategically. They observe and assess the political and mass-mediated discourses and respectively develop their own frames. Although critical and sceptical towards the institutional practices and the actions of political representatives, the political system is perceived as legitimate and remains the main addressee. In addition, the mass media system is in general accepted, even though a (at least partially deliberate) negative bias and sometimes oven hostility against their own position is perceived. The creation of alternative media products is not a mere reaction with regard to the perceived mass media bias. It can be better understood as a result of the integration of the protest groups in local and regional communication structures (neighbourhoods, hobby networks, professional networks etc.). The study closes with recommendations for the improvement of consultation processes in the field of infrastructure protests.

Addressing the social dimensions of citizen observatories: The Ground Truth 2.0 socio-technical approach for sustainable implementation of citizen observatories

Science.gov (United States)

Wehn, Uta; Joshi, Somya; Pfeiffer, Ellen; Anema, Kim; Gharesifard, Mohammad; Momani, Abeer

2017-04-01

Owing to ICT-enabled citizen observatories, citizens can take on new roles in environmental monitoring, decision making and co-operative planning, and environmental stewardship. And yet implementing advanced citizen observatories for data collection, knowledge exchange and interactions to support policy objectives is neither always easy nor successful, given the required commitment, trust, and data reliability concerns. Many efforts are facing problems with the uptake and sustained engagement by citizens, limited scalability, unclear long-term sustainability and limited actual impact on governance processes. Similarly, to sustain the engagement of decision makers in citizen observatories, mechanisms are required from the start of the initiative in order to have them invest in and, hence, commit to and own the entire process. In order to implement sustainable citizen observatories, these social dimensions therefore need to be soundly managed. We provide empirical evidence of how the social dimensions of citizen observatories are being addressed in the Ground Truth 2.0 project, drawing on a range of relevant social science approaches. This project combines the social dimensions of citizen observatories with enabling technologies - via a socio-technical approach - so that their customisation and deployment is tailored to the envisaged societal and economic impacts of the observatories. The projects consists of the demonstration and validation of six scaled up citizen observatories in real operational conditions both in the EU and in Africa, with a specific focus on flora and fauna as well as water availability and water quality for land and natural resources management. The demonstration cases (4 EU and 2 African) cover the full 'spectrum' of citizen-sensed data usage and citizen engagement, and therefore allow testing and validation of the socio-technical concept for citizen observatories under a range of conditions.

Citizen Bio-Optical Observations from Coast- and Ocean and Their Compatibility with Ocean Colour Satellite Measurements

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia A. Busch

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Marine processes are observed with sensors from both the ground and space over large spatio-temporal scales. Citizen-based contributions can fill observational gaps and increase environmental stewardship amongst the public. For this purpose, tools and methods for citizen science need to (1 complement existing datasets; and (2 be affordable, while appealing to different user and developer groups. In this article, tools and methods developed in the 7th Framework Programme of European Union (EU FP 7 funded project Citclops (citizens’ observatories for coast and ocean optical monitoring are reviewed. Tools range from a stand-alone smartphone app to devices with Arduino and 3-D printing, and hence are attractive to a diversity of users; from the general public to more specified maker- and open labware movements. Standardization to common water quality parameters and methods allows long-term storage in regular marine data repositories, such as SeaDataNet and EMODnet, thereby providing open data access. Due to the given intercomparability to existing remote sensing datasets, these tools are ready to complement the marine datapool. In the future, such combined satellite and citizen observations may set measurements by the engaged public in a larger context and hence increase their individual meaning. In a wider sense, a synoptic use can support research, management authorities, and societies at large.

Risk analysis by citizens? Analysis of the first consensus conference held in France

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marris, C.; Joly, P.B.

1998-01-01

Full text of publication follows: the French Parliamentary Office for the evaluation of scientific and technological choices (OPECST) is currently organizing a consensus conference. Following the model developed by the Danish Board of Technology, a panel of 15 French citizens is being asked to evaluate the use of genetically modified organisms in agriculture and food. This Danish model for direct citizen participation in technology assessment has gained growing support in other European countries and even further afield, such as Japan and Australia. This is, however, a novel experience for France, which has very little tradition for participatory technology assessment. The final and public phase of the 'conference citoyenne' will take place in Paris on 20-22 June 1998, therefore it is too early to outline our results in this abstract. Our paper will present an analysis of the impact and role of this conference in the wider public debate in France about agricultural bio-technologies. This will be based on interviews with key actors in this debate (scientists, consumer and environmental organisations, politicians), media reports, and video footage of the entire procedure of the consensus conference. (authors)

Controversy in Biology Classrooms—Citizen Science Approaches to Evolution and Applications to Climate Change Discussions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rachel A. Yoho

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The biological sciences encompass topics considered controversial by the American public, such as evolution and climate change. We believe that the development of climate change education in the biology classroom is better informed by an understanding of the history of the teaching of evolution. A common goal for science educators should be to engender a greater respect for and appreciation of science among students while teaching specific content knowledge. Citizen science has emerged as a viable yet underdeveloped method for engaging students of all ages in key scientific issues that impact society through authentic data-driven scientific research. Where successful, citizen science may open avenues of communication and engagement with the scientific process that would otherwise be more difficult to achieve. Citizen science projects demonstrate versatility in education and the ability to test hypotheses by collecting large amounts of often publishable data. We find a great possibility for science education research in the incorporation of citizen science projects in curriculum, especially with respect to “hot topics” of socioscientific debate based on our review of the findings of other authors.

On the evaluation of cultural and environmental public goods, and its implications for social innovation.

Science.gov (United States)

Graffeo, Michele; Bonini, Nicolao

2013-01-01

Public goods (e.g., parks) and welfare services (e.g., garbage disposal and transportation policies) are extremely important for the citizens' well-being but in the complex modern societies their influence and effectiveness are affected by the citizens' support. For this reason, it is crucial to understand which are the factors that influence the citizens' perception of the benefits, costs, and risks associated to public goods and welfare services. In this chapter, we describe some psychological variables that are relevant for the evaluation process of the public goods, but that are not considered by the standard economic models. At the same time, we show that some variables of central importance for the economic models do not significantly affect the citizens' evaluations. Finally, we discuss the concept of Nudge, a policy-making approach that suggests the use of psychological mechanisms to increase the citizens' support to public provision of welfare services. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Associations for Citizen Science: Regional Knowledge, Global Collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Martin Storksdieck

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Since 2012, three organizations advancing the work of citizen science practitioners have arisen in different regions: The primarily US-based but globally open Citizen Science Association (CSA, the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA, and the Australian Citizen Science Association (ACSA. These associations are moving rapidly to establish themselves and to develop inter-association collaborations. We consider the factors driving this emergence and the significance of this trend for citizen science as a field of practice, as an area of scholarship, and for the culture of scientific research itself.

21st-Century Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Nugent, Jill; Smith, Walter; Cook, Linda; Bell, Meredith

2015-01-01

With rapidly evolving technology, the world is more connected than ever, and citizens around the globe can contribute to science like never before (Dickinson and Bonney 2012). Reflecting the growing capacity of citizen science, this article presents a science education continuum that moves from global awareness to global contribution. At each…

Safecast: How disaster led to empowerment of crowdsourced citizen science for radiation measurement and communication after Fukushima

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Azby; Franken, Peter; Bonner, Sean; Moross, Joe; Dolezal, Nick

2016-04-01

Safecast, an international, volunteer-based organization devoted to monitoring and openly sharing information on environmental radiation and other pollutants, was initiated on March 12, 2011, one day following the start of the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, in response to the lack of publicly available, accurate and trustworthy information about the spread of radioactive fallout. Since its inception, Safecast has grown in size, scope, and geographical reach, as well as in the technical sophistication of its citizen-science-based hardware and software systems. The focus of the group's work is to provide citizens worldwide with the tools they need to inform themselves by gathering and sharing accurate environmental data, in an open and participatory fashion. This effort combines hardware and software design for original radiation and air quality measurement devices; visualizations which are made available online and as applications for mobile and desktop; strong public outreach and education programs; and open forums for discussion of radiation, air pollution, and other hazards. The Safecast system is agile and flexible in terms of development and deployment, and all designs, software programs, and data is provided on an open-source basis. In addition, because the group takes no public stance either for or against nuclear power, it has become an important unbiased source of information regarding radiation risks. The Fukushima Daichi NPP disaster provided a crucial opportunity to evaluate the state of preparation on the part the powerplant operator, government agencies, and international oversight bodies, to gather necessary information on radiation risks quickly and to share it both with emergency responders and the general public. The inadequacy of this preparation and the chaotic nature of inter-agency and inter-governmental communication has been well noted in several official reports on the disaster, including those issued by The National Diet of

76 FR 9636 - Public Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

2011-02-18

... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY United States Mint Public Meeting ACTION: Notification of Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee March 1, 2011, Public Meeting. SUMMARY: Pursuant to United States Code, Title... (CCAC) public meeting scheduled for March 1, 2011. Date: March 1, 2011. Time: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Location...

The Citizen Cyberscience Lectures - 1) Mobile phones and Africa: a success story 2) Citizen Problem Solving

CERN Multimedia

CERN. Geneva; Bingham, Alpheus

2009-01-01

Dr. Alpheus Bingham, InnoCentive The Citizen Cyberscience Lectures are hosted by the partners of the Citizen Cyberscience Centre, CERN, The UN Institute of Training and Research and the University of Geneva. The goal of the Lectures is to provide an inspirational forum for participants from the various international organizations and academic institutions in Geneva to explore how information technology is enabling greater citizen participation in tackling global development challenges as well as global scientific research. The first Citizen Cyberscience Lectures will welcome two speakers who have both made major innovative contributions in this area. Dr. Mo Ibrahim, founder of Celtel International, one of Africa’s most successful mobile network operators, will talk about “Mobile phones and Africa: a success story”. Dr. Alpheus Bingham, founder of InnoCentive, a Web-based community that solves indus...

A public debate on energy in France, how to make it successful?; Le debat public sur l'energie en France: les conditions de la reussite

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Roche, L.

2003-04-01

In this short article the author presents the different kinds of public debates. A debate can lead to a decision or not, be local or national and be directed to a large audience (all the citizens) or to a reduced public (specific users,...). Till now 2 types of public debates have been organized in France, the citizen conference and the public information meeting. In a citizen conference a panel of about 15 people, that are representative of the French society, are specially trained on the topic of the conference in order to enable them to participate actively in it and to contribute to the writing of the issued recommendations. 2 citizen conferences have taken place in France one about global warming and the other on gene engineering (OGM), both were lacking in notoriety. The second type of debate is a non-decision debate whose aim is to assure the information of the public on a particular topic and to give him the opportunity to express himself on that topic. This kind of debate implies the presence of experts and counter-experts and requires an important preliminary work (public information, selection of the experts and debate framing) from the authorities. (A.C.)

Evaluating public participation exercises - PUMA findings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vergez, Christian; )

2003-01-01

A programme of work was undertaken under the auspices of the PUMA (Public Management Project) Working Group on Strengthening Government-Citizen Connections during 1999-2000. Two comparative surveys were conducted among 23 OECD member countries and the European Union, and eight in-depth country cases were performed; the results were discussed in five meetings and published as 'OECD PUMA, 2001'. While the benefits of engaging citizens in policy-making may be considerable, governments should not underestimate the risks associated with poorly designed and inadequate measures for information, consultation and active participation. They may seek to inform, consult and encourage active participation by citizens in order to enhance the quality, credibility and legitimacy of their policy decisions. However the opposite effect may be achieved if citizens discover that their efforts to be informed, provide feedback and actively participate are ignored or have no impact at all on the decisions reached. To reduce the risk of rapid disillusionment and further erosion of citizens' trust, governments must ensure that: - information is complete, objective, reliable, relevant, easy to find and understand; - consultation is conducted with clear goals and according to unambiguous rules which clearly state the limits of the exercise and government's obligation to account for the use made of citizens' input; - participation provides sufficient time and flexibility to allow for the emergence of new ideas and proposals on the part of citizens and a mechanism for their integration into government's policy-making process. Yet the comparative study performed by PUMA found that evaluation was often overlooked. There is a striking imbalance between the amount of time, money and energy which OECD Member countries invest in strengthening government-citizen connections and their efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures and their impact on public policy-making

Public involvement in the dose reconstruction study: the colorado story

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Morin, Norma C.; Lockhart, Ann J.

2000-01-01

Public involvement was a critical component for building awareness, trust, and credibility for the dose reconstruction study for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Weapons Facility in Colorado. The research team developed a process to inform, involve, and encourage public participation over the nine-year study period. Key affected and interested groups with a legitimate stake in the study were identified and invited to identify concerns and offer suggestions for the study. In many cases, the public actually provided direction for the research. Many issues were studied more in-depth as result of public concern. Proactive community outreach was undertaken; quarterly public meetings and workshops were held to inform the public about the study's progress and to hear their comments. Quarterly newsletters were mailed to stake holders. A speaker's bureau was established and more than 50 presentations were made to 1,500 community members in various civic, business, neighborhood, and technical groups. Fact sheets, citizen summaries of technical reports, technical topic papers, and a video were developed to provide a complete overview of the studies and the findings at the conclusion of the project. The video was provided to local cable television stations, and publications were taken to local libraries. A web site was developed to allow the public to readily access information and to order technical reports. Public comments on draft technical reports were solicited; questions and concerns were addressed and investigated. The staff answered citizen calls, and the research team responded in writing to more than 200 issues raised by very concerned citizens. In addition, a citizen's group was formed in 1992 to conduct an independent study of plutonium levels found in soil samples collected around Rocky Flats. Made up of homeowners, public interest groups, local health departments, interested citizens, and Health Advisory Panel members, the committee arranged for sampling and analysis of

Extension of operation of nuclear plants. Synthesis of the qualitative study and of the citizen committee

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suteau, Regis

2014-01-01

The author comments the results of a survey which was based on 20 interviews with French citizens of different ages, political opinions, geographical locations and also different opinions on nuclear energy. The objective was to obtain their perception and feeling about the issue of nuclear plant service life extension, in order to assess whether they were aware of this issue, could understand it, and what was their opinion about it. Then, these citizens have been gathered three weeks later and met three experts (a representative of a NGO, a member of the ASN and a representative of EDF) who answered their questions and discussed their arguments. These citizens then made statements and recommendations. It appeared that the issue of lifetime extension is hardly known by the public, and is therefore not a topic of public debate but a modality within the important debate about nuclear energy. However, the citizen committee accepts this lifetime extension for different reasons (no known alternatives; economic aspects; safety, nuclear energy is non polluting energy; jobs will be saved) but under some conditions which depend on the opinion on nuclear energy (rather for or rather against). The opinion may change negatively in relationship with some issues: the future of radioactive wastes and dismantled installations, quality and traceability of subcontracted components. This survey is an opportunity to question the general relationship of French people with nuclear energy. In this respect, five profiles are identified: confident, resigned, realistic and reasonable, realistic and anxious, and opponent

Two citizen task forces and the challenge of the evolving nuclear waste siting process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peelle, E.B.

1990-01-01

Siting any nuclear waste facility is problematic in today's climate of distrust toward nuclear agencies and fear of nuclear waste. This study compares and contrasts the siting and public participation processes as two citizen task forces dealt with their difficult responsibilities. 10 refs., 3 tabs

Measurement and evaluation of the public administration performance through delivery of electronic services

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mirlinda Batalli

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this paper concerns the relation between delivery of electronic services (e-services and evaluation of public administration performance. Public sector organizations should pay attention and determine the strategies to be followed in order to increase the satisfaction of citizens and businesses in relation to delivery of electronic services. The study aims to review the demands toward progress to the competitiveness, the sustainability, efficiency and effectives in public administration that have rapidly enforced the wide reforms in the public sector, in order to modernize the initiatives to offer better electronic services for the citizens. The article aims to present that the transformation process toward providing electronic services to the citizens should be assessed continuously, in light with challenges, demands and process of globalization, in order to strengthen the capacities of public administration and make it more efficient. In this regard, the regular evaluation and measurement of the public administration performance leads toward the promotion of enhanced public services and higher level of accountability. Through receiving the e-services, citizens can save their time, can reduce the expenses and create an easier access of communication with all levels of the government.

Knowledge gain and behavioral change in citizen-science programs.

Science.gov (United States)

Jordan, Rebecca C; Gray, Steven A; Howe, David V; Brooks, Wesley R; Ehrenfeld, Joan G

2011-12-01

Citizen-science programs are often touted as useful for advancing conservation literacy, scientific knowledge, and increasing scientific-reasoning skills among the public. Guidelines for collaboration among scientists and the public are lacking and the extent to which these citizen-science initiatives change behavior is relatively unstudied. Over two years, we studied 82 participants in a three-day program that included education about non-native invasive plants and collection of data on the occurrence of those plants. Volunteers were given background knowledge about invasive plant ecology and trained on a specific protocol for collecting invasive plant data. They then collected data and later gathered as a group to analyze data and discuss responsible environmental behavior with respect to invasive plants. We tested whether participants without experience in plant identification and with little knowledge of invasive plants increased their knowledge of invasive species ecology, participation increased knowledge of scientific methods, and participation affected behavior. Knowledge of invasive plants increased on average 24%, but participation was insufficient to increase understanding of how scientific research is conducted. Participants reported increased ability to recognize invasive plants and increased awareness of effects of invasive plants on the environment, but this translated into little change in behavior regarding invasive plants. Potential conflicts between scientific goals, educational goals, and the motivation of participants must be considered during program design. ©2011 Society for Conservation Biology.

Introduction to the Virtual Issue on Behavioral Public Administration

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Tummers, Lars; Olsen, Asmus Leth; Jilke, Sebastian

2016-01-01

For public administration scholars, psychological theories and methods can be extremely helpful, especially when studying attitudes or behaviors of (groups of) citizens, public professionals, or public managers. Behavioral public administration explicitly connects public administration...

Features of legal mechanism environmental responsibility of citizens in Ukraine

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

О. О. Шинкарьов

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Problem setting. In this article it is examined the main conceptual approaches to understanding the legal arrangement for implementing citizens' environmental obligations. It is noted that despite the diversity of approaches to understanding the arrangement for implementing citizens' environmental responsibilities, most scientists include the concepts of: a a legal implementation arrangement, b the process of practical implementation, c the conditions and factors that influence it.  It is defined that the legal arrangement for implementing environmental obligations is guaranteed by prohibitions and legal regulations. In this case the regulatory legal act has two main functions:    1 prescribes the need to implement the legal obligation, determines it; 2 prescribes a result of the legal obligation implementation. Recent research and publications analysis. Particular attention is paid to the work of scientists in environmental law, including VI Andryeytseva, G. Anisimova, GI Baluk, AP Hetman M. Krasnov, II Karakash, V. Kostytsky, VV Nosik, M. Shulga, S. Shemshuchenko and others. However, most of them concerning coverage of only certain aspects, is a comprehensive analysis of the legal implementation mechanism is still lacking. It's analyzed the characteristics of the legal enforcement for implementing environmental responsibilities by citizens. It is determined that the legal arrangement for the implementation of environmental responsibilities is a part of a general arrangement of the law implementation. Ecological and legal arrangement for the implementation of environmental obligations is defined as a system of legal norms and legal relations by which the State provides the accomplishment of ecological  and legal regulations. Implementation of the constitutional obligations by the citizens is a process that is inherent in environmental responsibilities, in which there are several stages: 1 the ability to execute the obligations which are

CosmoQuest: Making the public your students and collaborators

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, Pamela; Buxner, Sanlyn; Grier, Jennifer; Richardson, Matthew; CosmoQuest Team

2018-01-01

CosmoQuest is a second generation citizen science project that makes it possible for NASA Subject Matter Experts to engage the public as both learners and collaborators in research. Engaging the public in publishable science is termed “Citizen Science.” This is a powerful technique for accomplishing research projects and tasks that require many minds and eyes to complete. While some projects may use undergraduates for help, others simply have too many images or too much data for a small population to sort through. CosmoQuest is a platform that enables scientists to take advantage of already existing science tools to engage the public in their research and to acquire the data analysis they need. Citizen scientists, like students, need their experience properly scaffolded to their understanding, and they require mentoring and training to succeed.This presentation focuses on methods for focusing research projects for successful citizen science engagement, and determining what scaffolding must be built to support citizen education and engagement.This presentation will help you understand how to transform your research project into a successful citizen science engagement. We will also present a flowchart to help you define: what is required, how to focus on what science does and doesn’t work, and what support your project requires. The content presented will allow you to successfully implement a project within the CosmoQuest facility, and determine what educational support you should provide or request aid to provide.

Inventing Citizens, Imagining Gender Justice: The Suffrage Rhetoric of Virginia and Francis Minor

Science.gov (United States)

Ray, Angela G.; Richards, Cindy Koenig

2007-01-01

From the late 1860s through the mid-1870s, woman suffrage activists developed an ingenious legal argument, claiming that the U.S. Constitution already enfranchised women citizens. The argument, first articulated by St. Louis activists Virginia and Francis Minor, precipitated rhetorical performances by movement activists on public platforms and in…

Climate Change, Capitalism, and Citizen Science: Developing a dialectical framework for examining volunteer participation in climate change research

Science.gov (United States)

Wixom, Joshua A.

This dissertation discusses the complex social relations that link citizen science, scientific literacy, and the dissemination of information to the public. Scientific information is not produced in value-neutral settings by people removed from their social context. Instead, science is a social pursuit and the scientist's social context is embedded in the knowledge produced. Additionally, the dissemination of this information via numerous media outlets is filtered through institutional lenses and subject to journalistic norms. As a result, the general public must be able to recognize the inherent biases in this information. Yet, the rates of scientific literacy in the U.S. are quite low, which suggests that people may not be capable of fully understanding the biases present. Furthermore, people tend to seek out sources that reinforce their values and personal perspectives, thus reinforcing their own biases. Improving scientific literacy allows people to see past these biases and translate media narratives in order to comprehend the facts and evidence presented to them. Citizen science is both an epistemological tool used by scientists to collect and interpret scientific data and a means to improve the scientific literacy of participants. Citizen science programs have the ability to generate real knowledge and improve the critical thinking skills necessary for the general public to interpret scientific information.

NEON Citizen Science: Planning and Prototyping (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Gram, W.

2010-12-01

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) will be a national resource for ecological research and education. NEON citizen science projects are being designed to increase awareness and educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change, land-use change, and invasive species on continental-scale ecological processes as well as expand NEON data collection capacity by enabling laypersons to collect geographically distributed data. The citizen science area of the NEON web portal will enable citizen scientists to collect, contribute, interpret, and visualize scientific data, as well as access training modules, collection protocols and targeted learning experiences related to citizen science project topics. For NEON, citizen science projects are a means for interested people to interact with and contribute to NEON science. Investigations at vast spatial and temporal scales often require rapid acquisition of large amounts of data from a geographically distributed population of “human sensors.” As a continental-scale ecological observatory, NEON is uniquely positioned to develop strategies to effectively integrate data collected by non-scientists into scientific databases. Ultimately, we plan to work collaboratively to transform the practice of science to include “citizens” or non-scientists in the process. Doing science is not limited to scientists, and breaking down the barriers between scientists and citizens will help people better understand the power of using science in their own decision making. In preparation for fully developing the NEON citizen science program, we are partnering with Project BudBurst (PBB), a citizen science project focused on monitoring plant phenology. The educational goals of PBB are to: (1) increase awareness of climate change, (2) educate citizen scientists about the impacts of climate change on plants and the environment, and (3) increase science literacy by engaging participants in the scientific process

QUALITY GROWTH AND EVALUATION OF PERFORMANCE OF LOCAL PUBLIC SERVICES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Remus Gherman

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Public sector reform aims to increase performance by improving its efficiency and effectiveness by improving the quality of services provided by public service in order to maximize individual welfare of citizens. The purpose of reform is to improve public services because they have to deal with uncertainties and rapid changes that take place in the internal environmental and external pressures. Public administration, in quality of service provider must make a series of efforts to ensure that citizens know their rights and public services on witch they can benefit taking into account the simplification of service delivery, a high quality of its, new administrative procedures for allocating resources in a transparent way and informing the citizens of standards of services and of the methods of compensation in case if the provided quality is different from that promised. Most important is the fact that the local government must realize that effectiveness involves defining objectives that must be achieved simultaneously with the estimation of the results obtained.

Introduction to the Virtual Issue on Behavioral Public Administration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tummers, Lars; Leth Olsen, Asmus; Jilke, Sebastian; Grimmelikhuijsen, S.G.

2016-01-01

For public administration scholars, psychological theories and methods can be extremely helpful, especially when studying attitudes or behaviors of (groups of) citizens, public professionals, or public managers. Behavioral public administration explicitly connects public administration and

Roman Engineering, Public Works and Importance of Public Objects in Roman Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vanessa Ponte-Arrebola

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The skill and ability of the Romans in civil engineering and public works largely contributed to the establishment and success of their civilization. Many of the constructed works were built for the possibility of public use and enjoyment by its citizens, known as res publicae in usu publico.

Why Citizen Science Without Usability Testing Will Underperform

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, C.; Gay, P.; Owens, R.; Burlea, G.

2017-12-01

Citizen science projects must undergo usability testing and optimization if they are to meet their stated goals. This presentation will include video of usability tests conducted upon citizen science websites. Usability testing is essential to the success of online interaction, however, citizen science projects have just begun to include this critical activity. Interaction standards in citizen science lag behind those of commercial interests, and published research on this topic is limited. Since online citizen science is by definition, an exchange of information, a clear understanding of how users experience an online project is essential to informed decision-making. Usability testing provides that insight. Usability testing collects data via direct observation of a person while she interacts with a digital product, such as a citizen science website. The test participant verbalizes her thoughts while using the website or application; the moderator follows the participant and captures quantitative measurement of the participant's confidence of success as she advances through the citizen science project. Over 15 years of usability testing, we have observed that users who do not report a consistent sense of progress are likely to abandon a website after as few as three unrewarding interactions. Since citizen science is also a voluntary activity, ensuring seamless interaction for users is mandatory. Usability studies conducted on citizen science websites demonstrate that project teams frequently underestimate a user's need for context and ease of use. Without usability testing, risks to online citizen science projects include high bounce rate (users leave the website without taking any action), abandonment (of the website, tutorials, registration), misunderstanding instructions (causing disorientation and erroneous conclusions), and ultimately, underperforming projects.

Public participation, Good Environmental Governance and fulfilment ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Public participation, Good Environmental Governance and fulfilment of Environmental rights. ... international developments the role that public participation is expected to play in state governments\\' fulfilment of citizens\\' environmental rights.

A design-based study of Citizen Inquiry for geology

OpenAIRE

Aristeidou, Maria; Scanlon, Eileen; Sharples, Mike

2013-01-01

Citizen Inquiry forms a new method of informal science learning and aims to enable the engagement of citizens in online scientific investigations. Citizen Inquiry combines aspects from Citizen Science and Inquiry-based learning and is implemented through a community of practice where people having a shared interest interact and exchange knowledge and methods supported and guided by online systems and tools within a web-based inquiry environment. To explore the potential of Citizen Inquiry, a ...

The Problem of Citizens: E-Democracy for Actually Existing Democracy

OpenAIRE

Daniel Kreiss

2015-01-01

This article argues that many contemporary e-democracy projects, particularly in the United States, have at their heart a model of atomistic, independent, rational, and general-interest citizens. As such, these projects, variously grouped under the labels of e-governance, online deliberation, open government, and civic technology, often assume a broad shared consensus about collective definitions of “public problems” that both does not exist and sidesteps debates over what these problems are ...

Engaging Scientists with the CosmoQuest Citizen Science Virtual Research Facility

Science.gov (United States)

Grier, Jennifer A.; Gay, Pamela L.; Buxner, Sanlyn; Noel-Storr, Jacob; CosmoQuest Team

2016-10-01

NASA Science Mission Directorate missions and research return more data than subject matter experts (SMEs - scientists and engineers) can effectively utilize. Citizen scientist volunteers represent a robust pool of energy and talent that SMEs can draw upon to advance projects that require the processing of large quantities of images, and other data. The CosmoQuest Virtual Research Facility has developed roles and pathways to engage SMEs in ways that advance the education of the general public while producing science results publishable in peer-reviewed journals, including through the CosmoQuest Facility Small Grants Program and CosmoAcademy. Our Facility Small Grants Program is open to SMEs to fund them to work with CosmoQuest and engage the public in analysis. Ideal projects have a specific and well-defined need for additional eyes and minds to conduct basic analysis and data collection (such as crater counting, identifying lineaments, etc.) Projects selected will undergo design and implementation as Citizen Science Portals, and citizen scientists will be recruited and trained to complete the project. Users regularly receive feedback on the quality of their data. Data returned will be analyzed by the SME and the CQ Science Team for joint publication in a peer-reviewed journal. SMEs are also invited to consider presenting virtual learning courses in the subjects of their choice in CosmoAcademy. The audience for CosmoAcademy are lifelong-learners and education professionals. Classes are capped at 10, 15, or 20 students. CosmoAcademy can also produce video material to archive seminars long-term. SMEs function as advisors in many other areas of CosmoQuest, including the Educator's Zone (curricular materials for K-12 teachers), Science Fair Projects, and programs that partner to produce material for podcasts and planetaria. Visit the CosmoQuest website at cosmoquest.org to learn more, and to investigate current opportunities to engage with us. CosmoQuest is funded

CitizenAID.

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-25

CitizenAID is an easy-to-use app that informs users how to provide care in mass casualty situations, including shootings, knife attacks and bomb incidents. The authors are well known and respected specialists in trauma care and disaster management.

Does social insurance enrollment improve citizen assessment of local government performance? Evidence from China.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Xian; Gao, Qin

2018-02-01

Although many studies claim that social policies are "carrots" that authoritarian leaders use to garner public support, the assumption that social benefits can boost public support of government has been rarely tested empirically, especially at the local levels. This article investigates the effects of social insurance enrollment on citizens' assessment of local government performance using data from the 2010 China Family Panel Study. We use propensity score matching to reduce selection bias and ordered probit regressions with fixed effects to examine these possible effects. We find that social insurance enrollment had a significant positive effect on rural citizens' assessment of government performance, but this effect did not exist for their urban and migrant peers. This discrepancy could be largely due to the groups' different expectations for government redistribution and their distinct experiences of China's social welfare reform. We conclude that the Chinese authoritarian government has achieved partial success in its attempt to use social policies to maintain popular support. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Not the Community, but a Community: Transforming Youth into Citizens through Volunteer Work

Science.gov (United States)

Nenga, Sandi Kawecka

2012-01-01

Public discourse suggests that volunteer work will transform youth into productive citizens by connecting youth to their communities. However, the meaning and practice of "community" is rarely defined or investigated. Using interview and observation data from a study of 47 volunteers aged 15-23, I argue that there are three different types of…

Telemedicine in Greenland: Citizens' Perspectives.

Science.gov (United States)

Nielsen, Lasse O; Krebs, Hans J; Albert, Nancy M; Anderson, Nick; Catz, Sheryl; Hale, Timothy M; Hansen, John; Hounsgaard, Lise; Kim, Tae Youn; Lindeman, David; Spindler, Helle; Marcin, James P; Nesbitt, Thomas; Young, Heather M; Dinesen, Birthe

2017-05-01

Telemedicine may have the possibility to provide better access to healthcare delivery for the citizens. Telemedicine in arctic remote areas must be tailored according to the needs of the local population. Therefore, we need more knowledge about their needs and their view of telemedicine. The aim of this study has been to explore how citizens living in the Greenlandic settlements experience the possibilities and challenges of telemedicine when receiving healthcare delivery in everyday life. Case study design was chosen as the overall research design. Qualitative interviews (n = 14) were performed and participant observations (n = 80 h) carried out in the local healthcare center in the settlements and towns. A logbook was kept and updated each day during the field research in Greenland. Observations were made of activities in the settlements. Data collected on citizens' views about the possibilities of using telemedicine in Greenland revealed the following findings: Greenlandic citizens are positive toward telemedicine, and telemedicine can help facilitate improved access to healthcare for residents in these Greenlandic settlements. Regarding challenges in using telemedicine in Greenland, the geographical and cultural context hinders accessibility to the Greenlandic healthcare system, and telemedicine equipment is not sufficiently mobile. Greenlandic citizens are positive toward telemedicine and regard telemedicine as a facilitator for improved access for healthcare in the Greenlandic settlements. We have identified challenges, such as geographical and cultural context, that hinder accessibility to the Greenlandic healthcare system.

Introduction to Value and Virtue in Public Administration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vries, M.S. de; Kim, P.S.; Vries, M.S. de; Kim, P.S.

2014-01-01

Public values are defined as those values that provide normative consensus about: (1) the rights, benefits, and prerogatives to which citizens should (and should not) be entitled; (2) the obligations of citizens to society, the state, and one another; and (3) the principles upon which governments

Public perception of nanotechnology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burri, Regula Valerie; Bellucci, Sergio

2008-01-01

While several studies on the public opinion of nanotechnology have pointed to a rather enthusiastic U.S. public, the public uptake of nanotechnology in Europe is more contained. The results of the Swiss publifocus on nanotechnology reveal a pragmatic attitude of citizens toward the emerging technologies, thus confirming what has been identified as a 'balanced approach' in the NanoJury UK

Valuing future citizens' values regarding risk

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fleming, Patricia [Creighton Univ., Omaha (United States). College of Arts and Sciences/Philosophy

2006-09-15

Valuing present citizen's values regarding the risks they face is an important aspect of risk assessment and risk acceptability. Conferences like VALDOR are held for this reason. Governments like Sweden have national referendums on various risk-prone enterprises. The results of these referendums can determine the future of these programs. In the United States, when guidelines are set for determining acceptable levels of risk, the relevant federal agencies are often required to provide a comment period regarding proposed guidelines in order to ascertain the judgments, including the weights place on certain values, of individual members of society as well as stakeholder groups. After the comment period ends, the agency decides on the acceptable level of risk, taking into account the comments from present citizens. Do we also have a duty to value the not-yet-existing values of future citizens, especially if the risks created by the activities of present citizens extend into the future to citizens not yet living? If so, are there any circumstances which entitle us to de-value those not-yet-existing values. In this paper, I ground my discussion of the question of valuing future citizens' values in one of the areas of focus of the VALDOR conference: nuclear waste management and specifically the question facing the United States' program regarding an acceptable dose standard associated with the release of radioactivity into the biosphere from an underground repository. The underlying conference theme to which this discussion may be attached is community environmental justice as it applies to future citizens. I focus on the role that uncertainty plays is providing justice between present and future citizens.

Definition And Realization Of The Priorities Features Of Public Prosecutor's Activity In The Sphere Of Rights And Freedoms Of The Man And Citizen Observance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadezhda A. Igonina

2015-03-01

Full Text Available In the present article the notion of "priorities of the prosecution" are defined, its value for the sphere of human rights and freedoms of man and citizen are stated. The classification of priorities, which is based on the provisions of the Russian Constitution and international law are stated. According to the authors, under the primary protection are the personal rights, which are derived from a natural person's status, inherent from birth. Next in order of priority are political rights, ensuring the full participation of citizens in the political life of the country, and finally - human rights in the socio-economic and cultural spheres, to guarantee the freedom of personal development and decent standards of living. Due to the authors` opinion, prosecutors in the allocation of the most important goals and objectives of its activities are guided by objective factors such as the analysis of the state of law, connection of the situation in this sphere of legal relations with the maintenance of stability and balance in the society, human rights functions, country's leadership and guidance of the General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation. The article shows, that the choice of priorities in the public prosecutor's activity, including the field of human rights and freedoms of man and citizen is a complex multi-faceted process, which affects the international situation, the internal processes, occurring in the country, including natural and man-made emergencies and a number of other factors. Authors identify issues that, in their opinion, should be addressed to improve the effectiveness of prosecutorial activities. That is the further development of the law about the Prosecutor's Office and the consolidation of its legal position, including constitutional status. Conclusions and suggestions are based on the authors' theoretical positions, made by the Russian jurists, as well as according their own empirical researches.

Beyond privacy and exposure: ethical issues within citizen-facing analytics.

Science.gov (United States)

Grindrod, Peter

2016-12-28

We discuss the governing forces for analytics, especially concerning citizens' behaviours and their transactions, that depend on which of three spheres of operation an institution is in (corporate, public sector/government and academic). We argue that aspirations and missions also differ by sphere even as digital spaces have drawn these spheres ever closer together. We propose that citizens' expectations and implicit permissions for any exploitation of their data require the perception of a fair balance of benefits, which should be transparent (accessible to citizens) and justifiable. We point out that within the corporate sphere most analytics does not concern identity, targeted marketing nor any direct interference with individual citizens; but instead it supports strategic decision-making, where the data are effectively anonymous. With the three spheres we discuss the nature of models deployed in analytics, including 'black-box' modelling uncheckable by a human mind, and the need to track the provenance and workings or models. We also examine the recent evolution of personal data, where some behaviours, or tokens, identifying individuals (unique and yet non-random) are partially and jointly owned by other individuals that are themselves connected. We consider the ability of heavily and lightly regulated sectors to increase access or to stifle innovation. We also call for clear and inclusive definitions of 'data science and analytics', avoiding the narrow claims of those in technical sub-sectors or sub-themes. Finally, we examine some examples of unethical and abusive practices. We argue for an ethical responsibility to be placed upon professional data scientists to avoid abuses in the future.This article is part of the themed issue 'The ethical impact of data science'. © 2016 The Author(s).

Public perception: Distrust for fracking

Science.gov (United States)

MacNaghten, Philip

2017-04-01

Oil and gas extraction via hydraulic fracturing is controversial, with government support but mixed public opinion. Deliberative research shows that securing public support may be difficult because citizens in the United States and United Kingdom are sceptical of government and industry motives.

Citizen-sensor-networks to confront government decision-makers: Two lessons from the Netherlands.

Science.gov (United States)

Carton, Linda; Ache, Peter

2017-07-01

influence power-laden conflicts over environmental pressures; and whether or not they achieve (some form of) institutionalization and, ultimately, policy change. We find that the studied-citizen-sensor networks gain strength by uniting efforts and activities in crowdsourcing data, providing factual, 'objectivized data' or 'evidence' of the situation 'on the ground' on a matter of local community-wide concern. By filling an information need of the local community, a process of 'collective sense-making' combined with citizen empowerment could grow, which influenced societal discourse and challenged prevailing truth-claims of public institutions. In both cases similar, 'competing' web-portals were developed in response, both by the gas-extraction company and the airport. But with the citizen-sensor-networks alongside, we conclude there is a shift in power balance involved between government and affected communities, as the government no longer has information monopoly on environmental measurements. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Schooling, Organisation of the Constitutional Monarchy and the Education of Citizens (Brazil, 1822-1889)

Science.gov (United States)

Veiga, Cynthia Greive

2013-01-01

The objective of this article is to analyse the process of institutionalisation of public elementary schooling associated with the political organisation of the constitutional monarchy and the legislation regarding citizen rights and prerogatives in Brazil, especially in the province of Minas Gerais, during the nineteenth century. During this…

Open data for citizens

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Götzen, Amalia De; Morelli, Nicola

2016-01-01

A large quantity of open data is now available to institutions, business and citizens. The potential of such new resource, though, has not been explored yet, also because of a lack of perspectives and scenarios on how open data can be used. The workshop aims at broadening the perspectives...... on the use of open data by investigating new scenarios for a wide use of open data, where citizens without any IT skills can be involved in a co-design session with the relevant stakeholders....

New approach to radiation monitoring: citizen based radiation measurement

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuca, P.; Helebrant, J.

2016-01-01

Both the Fukushima Dai-chi NPP accident in Japan in 2011 and the Chernobyl NPP accident in USSR in 1986 similarly to the first one have shown a necessity to find a way how to improve confidence of the public to official authorities. It is important especially in such a case of severe accidents with significant consequences in large inhabited areas around the damaged NPP. A lack of public confidence to officials was caused mostly by rather poor communication between official authorities and the public, as well by restricted access to the information for the public. It may have extremely negative impacts on the public understanding of actual situation and its possible risks, on public acceptance of necessary protective measures and participation of the public in remediation of the affected areas. One of possible ways to improve the situation can be implementation of citizen radiation monitoring on voluntary basis. Making sure, the official results are compatible with public self-measured ones, the public probably has more confidence in them. In the Czech Republic the implementation of such an approach is tested in the framework of security research founded by the Czech Ministry of the Interior - the research project RAMESIS solved by SURO. (authors)

A discussion about high-level radioactive waste disposal program. From the results of dialogue with citizens

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kimura, Hiroshi; Furukawa, Masashi; Sugiyama, Daisuke; Chida, Taiji

2008-01-01

Implementation of HLW disposal is one of urgent issue, when we will continue the use of nuclear power. But, the citizens may not have the sufficient amount of information or knowledge about HLW disposal in order to make themselves decision to this issue. To know how the citizens understand about HLW disposal, we tried to talk about the HLW disposal with 11 citizen groups through the face-to-face dialogue. One group consists of 2-3 persons, and we had 3 times dialogue to one group. In this dialogue, the participants had a certain amount of knowledge about HLW disposal, and their opinions to the issue of HLW disposal program. These opinions include the doubt against open application system to select the siting area, the emotion like NIMBY, indication of lack of public relations about HLW disposal, and so on. (author)

Citizen Sky, IYA 2009 and What's To Come

Science.gov (United States)

Turner, Rebecca; Price, A.; Henden, A.

2010-01-01

Citizen Sky is a multi-year, NSF funded citizen science project involving the bright and mysterious variable star eps Aur. The project was conceived by the IYA 2009 working group on Research Experiences for Students, Teachers, and Citizen-Scientists. Citizen Sky is going beyond simple observing to include a major data analysis component. The goal is to introduce the participant to the full scientific process from background research to paper writing for a peer-reviewed journal. During IYA 2009 the Citizen Sky team was fully assembled, the website was developed and put online, and the first of two participant workshops was held. However, Citizen Sky does not stop or even slow down with the conclusion of IYA 2009. The project will continue to grow in the coming years. New participants are being recruited and trained as the observing phase of the project continues, a second participant workshop is planned for 2010, and the data analysis phase of the project will begin in earnest.

CosmoQuest: Building a Community of Skilled Citizen Science Contributors

Science.gov (United States)

Gay, P.; Lehan, C.; Bracey, G.; Durrell, P.; Komatsu, T.; Yamani, A.; Francis, M. R.

2016-12-01

The CosmoQuest Virtual Research Facility invites the public to participate in NASA Science Mission Directorate related research that leads to publishable results and data catalogues. CosmoQuest projects range in difficulty from simple crater and transient marking tasks to more complicated mapping tasks. To successfully engage contributors in creating usable results, training and validation are required. This is accomplished through activities that are designed to mirror the experiences students would have in a university, and include mentoring by team scientists, feedback on contributor efforts, seminars to learn about new science, and even formal classes to provide needed background. Recruitment is accomplished using new and social media, and planetarium and Science on the Sphere™ trailers and shows, and community is built through online and real-world collaboration spaces and events. In this presentation, we detail CosmoQuest's four-pronged approach of media recruitment, science education, citizen science, and community collaboration. We also discuss how it is leveraged to create a skilled collaboration of citizen scientists. Training and data validation activities will be be emphasized, with examples of both what can go right and lessons learned from when things go wrong. We conclude with strategies on how to utilize best practices in user interface design to create virtual experiences that allow major citizen science efforts to be scalable to large audiences.

Experienced discrimination amongst European old citizens

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van den Heuvel, Wim J. A.; van Santvoort, Marc M.

2011-01-01

This study analyses the experienced age discrimination of old European citizens and the factors related to this discrimination. Differences in experienced discrimination between old citizens of different European countries are explored. Data from the 2008 ESS survey are used. Old age is defined as

Zooniverse - A Platform for Data-Driven Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Smith, A.; Lintott, C.; Bamford, S.; Fortson, L.

2011-12-01

In July 2007 a team of astrophysicists created a web-based astronomy project called Galaxy Zoo in which members of the public were asked to classify galaxies from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey by their shape. Over the following year a community of more than 150,000 people classified each of the 1 million galaxies more than 50 times each. Four years later this community of 'citizen scientists' is more than 450,000 strong and is contributing their time and efforts to more than 10 Zooniverse projects each with its own science team and research case. With projects ranging from transcribing ancient greek texts (ancientlives.org) to lunar science (moonzoo.org) the challenges to the Zooniverse community have gone well beyond the relatively simple original Galaxy Zoo interface. Delivering a range of citizen science projects to a large web-based audience presents challenges on a number of fronts including interface design, data architecture/modelling and reduction techniques, web-infrastructure and software design. In this paper we will describe how the Zooniverse team (a collaboration of scientists, software developers and educators ) have developed tools and techniques to solve some of these issues.

Crowdsourcing, citizen sensing and Sensor Web technologies for public and environmental health surveillance and crisis management: trends, OGC standards and application examples

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kamel Boulos, Maged; Resch, Bernd; Crowley, David N.; Breslin, John G.; Sohn, Gunho; Burtner, Edwin R.; Pike, William A.; Jeziersk, Eduardo; Slayer Chuang, Kuo Yu

2011-12-21

The PIE Activity Awareness Environment is designed to be an adaptive data triage and decision support tool that allows role and activity based situation awareness through a dynamic, trainable filtering system. This paper discusses the process and methodology involved in the application as well as some of its capabilities. 'Wikification of GIS by the masses' is a phrase-term first coined by Kamel Boulos in 2005, two years earlier than Goodchild's term 'Volunteered Geographic Information'. Six years later (2005-2011), OpenStreetMap and Google Earth (GE) are now full-fledged, crowdsourced 'Wikipedias of the Earth' par excellence, with millions of users contributing their own layers to GE, attaching photos, videos, notes and even 3-D (three dimensional) models to locations in GE. From using Twitter in participatory sensing and bicycle-mounted sensors in pervasive environmental sensing, to creating a 100,000-sensor geo-mashup using Semantic Web technology, to the 3-D visualisation of indoor and outdoor surveillance data in real-time and the development of next-generation, collaborative natural user interfaces that will power the spatially-enabled public health and emergency situation rooms of the future, where sensor data and citizen reports can be triaged and acted upon in real-time by distributed teams of professionals, this paper offers a comprehensive state-of-the-art review of the overlapping domains of the Sensor Web, citizen sensing and 'human-in-the-loop sensing' in the era of the Mobile and Social Web, and the roles these domains can play in environmental and public health surveillance and crisis/disaster informatics. We provide an in-depth review of the key issues and trends in these areas, the challenges faced when reasoning and making decisions with real-time crowdsourced data (such as issues of information overload, 'noise', misinformation, bias and trust), the core technologies and Open Geospatial

Citizen acceptance of new fossil fuel infrastructure: Value theory and Canada's Northern Gateway Pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Axsen, Jonn

2014-01-01

Development of unconventional fossil fuels is generating controversy in North America, where citizen support or opposition can shape political decisions. This study explores the role of values in citizen perceptions. The case study is Canada's proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline (NGP), which would transport bitumen from Alberta's oil sands to British Columbia's (BC) northern coast for export. Data were collected in 2013 from a sample of Canadian citizens (n=2628). The survey instrument elicited citizen perceptions of the NGP, as well as values and attitudes. Respondents in the Alberta subsample are the most likely to support the NGP and to perceive economic benefits. Respondents in the BC subsample are the most likely to oppose the NGP and to perceive environmental risks. To explore heterogeneity in motivations among both subsamples, respondent clusters are constructed based on values. In both regions, opposition is highest in clusters with strong biospheric–altruistic values, while acceptance is highest in clusters with strong traditional values. Regional effects are also substantial; NGP acceptance is higher in each of Alberta's clusters relative to equivalent clusters in BC. Regional context seems to shape how values correspond with perceptions. Insights are drawn for energy project development, public consultation and energy planning. - Highlights: • Acceptance of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline (NGP) varies by region. • Regional variations in perceptions correspond with differing risks and benefits. • Opposition is highest among citizens with strong biospheric–altruistic values. • Acceptance is highest for citizens with strong traditional or egoistic values. • Values may shape citizen perceptions of economic benefits and environmental risks

Reinventing Image Detective: An Evidence-Based Approach to Citizen Science Online

Science.gov (United States)

Romano, C.; Graff, P. V.; Runco, S.

2017-12-01

Usability studies demonstrate that web users are notoriously impatient, spending as little as 15 seconds on a home page. How do you get users to stay long enough to understand a citizen science project? How do you get users to complete complex citizen science tasks online?Image Detective, a citizen science project originally developed by scientists and science engagement specialists at the NASA Johnson Space center to engage the public in the analysis of images taken from space by astronauts to help enhance NASA's online database of astronaut imagery, partnered with the CosmoQuest citizen science platform to modernize, offering new and improved options for participation in Image Detective. The challenge: to create a web interface that builds users' skills and knowledge, creating engagement while learning complex concepts essential to the accurate completion of tasks. The project team turned to usability testing for an objective understanding of how users perceived Image Detective and the steps required to complete required tasks. A group of six users was recruited online for unmoderated and initial testing. The users followed a think-aloud protocol while attempting tasks, and were recorded on video and audio. The usability test examined users' perception of four broad areas: the purpose of and context for Image Detective; the steps required to successfully complete the analysis (differentiating images of Earth's surface from those showing outer space and identifying common surface features); locating the image center point on a map of Earth; and finally, naming geographic locations or natural events seen in the image.Usability test findings demonstrated that the following best practices can increase participation in Image Detective and can be applied to the successful implementation of any citizen science project:• Concise explanation of the project, its context, and its purpose;• Including a mention of the funding agency (in this case, NASA);• A preview of

Realizing Their Needs — Women's Access to Public Services in ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

According to its advocates, sectoral decentralization reforms can make water management, health, education, local economic development, and other public functions more efficient, responsive, and accountable to citizens. Citizen participation in the user groups and local management committees that often accompany ...

Countries compared on public performance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jedid-Jah Jonker

2012-01-01

How well is the public sector performing? Are citizens being well served? This report compares the performance of nine public services in 28 developed countries over the period 1995-2009. Four sectors - education, health care, social safety and housing - are studied in some detail, while the

Monitoring of insects with public participation (MIPP; EU LIFE project 11 NAT/IT/000252: overview on a citizen science initiative and a monitoring programme (Insecta: Coleoptera; Lepidoptera; Orthoptera

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Franco Mason

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The LIFE project “MIPP” - Monitoring of Insects with Public Participation (11 NAT/IT/000252 is focused on selected insect species (five Coleoptera, three Lepidoptera, one Orthoptera, all included in the annexes II and IV of the Habitats Directive (HD 92/43/EEC. One important aim is a citizen science initiative where every person may become a citizen scientist and collect faunistic data on the above species throughout Italy. Another objective of the project MIPP is the development of standard methods for monitoring the conserva- tion status of the five target beetle species. One innovative method employed is a sniffer-dog (“Osmodog”, trained to find the rare and endangered hermit beetle, Osmoderma eremita, which lives in veteran, hollow trees. The dog detects the strong smell of mature peach produced by adult males and an odor produced by the larvae. Another objective of the project MIPP is the dissemination of topics such as HD, Natura 2000, importance of dead-wood, Life projects, insect monitoring and conservation.

Making Waves: Marine Citizen Science for Impact

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marie-Lise Schläppy

2017-05-01

Demonstrating citizen science data quality through a precision study on data and analysis of 15 years of standardized Reef Check (RC reef health data in Queensland, Australia.Identifying and responding to data gaps through volunteer monitoring of sub-tropical rocky reefs in South East Queensland, Australia.Adapting citizen science protocols to enhance capacity building, partnerships and strategic natural resource management applications through reef habitat mapping.Tailoring new pathways for sharing citizen science findings and engaging volunteers with the community via a Reef Check Australia Ambassadors community outreach program.These case studies offer insights into considerations for developing targeted and flexible citizen science projects, showcasing the work of volunteers and project stakeholders, and collaborating with partners for applications beneficial to research, management and education.

Icarus Investigations: A Model for Engaging Citizen Scientists to Solve Solar Big Data Challenges

Science.gov (United States)

Winter, H. D., III; Loftus, K.

2017-12-01

Solar data is growing at an exponential rate. NASA's Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) has produced a data volume of over 6 petabytes to date, and that volume is growing. The initial suite of instruments on DKIST are expected to generate approximately 25TB of data per day, with bursts up to 50TB. Making sense of this deluge of solar data is as formidable a task as collecting it. New techniques and new ways of thinking are needed in order to optimize the value of this immense amount of data. While machine learning algorithms are a natural tool to sift through Big Data, those tools need to be carefully constructed and trained in order to provide meaningful results. Trained volunteers are needed to provide a large volume of initial classifications in order to properly train machine learning algorithms. To retain a highly trained pool of volunteers to teach machine learning algorithms, we propose to host an ever-changing array of solar-based citizen science projects under a single collaborative project banner: Icarus Investigations. Icarus Investigations would build and retain a dedicated user base within Zooniverse, the most popular citizen science website with over a million registered users. Volunteers will become increasingly comfortable with solar images and solar features of interest as they work on projects that focus on a wide array of solar phenomena. Under a unified framework, new solar citizen science projects submitted to Icarus Investigations will build on the successes, and learn from the missteps, of their predecessors. In this talk we discuss the importance and benefits of engaging the public in citizen science projects and call for collaborators on future citizen science projects. We will also demonstrate the initial Icarus Investigations project, The Where of the Flare. This demonstration will allow us to highlight the workflow of a Icarus Investigations citizen science project with a concrete example.

Using Citizen Science for Water Quality Monitoring: Preaching the Message Beyond the Choir

Science.gov (United States)

Jollymore, A. J.

2015-12-01

Citizen science has emerged a means for augmenting the scope of research while educating the community. Environmental research has a particularly strong motivation for engagement, given its often-local context. We implemented a citizen science campaign to investigate relationships between land use and dissolved organic matter (DOM) in surface water environments proximal to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Citizen science was intended to increase sampling breadth, and engage the community about human activities and water quality effects. Participants were given a sample kit and a simple sampling protocol; we then used fast and economic absorbance and fluorescence spectrophotometry to determine DOM concentration and composition. Participants, including individuals from over 10 municipalities and community organizations, submitted over 200 samples; these were compared to investigator-led sampling, as well as data mining existing sources, to verify results. Analyzing the fluorescence excitation-emission matrices (EEMs) with a five-component parallel factor (PARAFAC) model showed that samples from watersheds with increased urbanization had unique microbial-like peaks, suggesting variances in DOM lability and origins compared to more pristine watersheds. Community engagement was extended by making data available online in an interactive map, as well as by presenting the project to the public. Despite this, engagement occurred most with community organizations; these participants tended to have scientific training, with a higher knowledge baseline regarding their specific watershed and water quality issues generally. While this served scientific goals, our campaign was less successful at engaging citizens with less-developed scientific backgrounds. In this presentation we will discuss the merits and scientific milestones enabled by citizen science, and lessons learned about how to get beyond 'preaching to the choir' in crafting and implementing such projects.

Environmental information system and odour monitoring based on citizen and technology innovative sensors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ledent, Philippe; Stevenot, Bernard; Delva, Julien

2013-01-01

The challenge is the integration of citizens as ''community-based'' observation providers, giving the odour perception and discomfort and getting feed-back in real time from a learning monitoring system. The level of annoyance depends on how odours are emitted and in what intensity, their dispersion under ambient atmospheric conditions and finally on citizens' exposure and perception. The Environmental Information System and Odour Monitoring developed in the project OMNISCIENTIS funded by the EU brings together state of the art technologies and open communication capabilities in order to mitigate odour annoyance. The project allows for citizen feedback, deepens knowledge on odour measurement and management and aims to support harmonised legislation at EU level. Moreover the project results can provide savings to industries. The core is an information system allowing inhabitants to serve as human sensors, acting according to sociological patterns, which influence odour perception, discomfort and nuisance. It provides a dedicated tool to consider odour acceptability, based on a community-based opinion. Due to the subjective nature of odour perception, odour monitoring and fast modelling is used to assist and adjust the information citizens provide via Smartphone and obtained by e-nose and modelling. Innovative in-situ sensors are improved to monitor ambient odour exposures. A specific odour dispersion model system is developed to obtain interrelated spatial odour exposure levels. This fast and innovative model system helps us to evaluate the performance of measures taken at the very moment odours are emitted and with respect to the way in which these occur. The Living Lab approach ensures stakeholder involvement, citizens' participation in decision-making and supports dissemination activities. The results are conveyed to stakeholders and general public. (orig.)

Franchise and Electoral Participation of Third Country Citizens Residing in the European Union and of European Union Citizens Residing in Third Countries

OpenAIRE

Arrighi, Jean-Thomas; Bauböck, Rainer; Collyer, Michael; Hutecheson, Derek; Moraru, Madalina; Khadar, Lamin; Shaw, Jo

2013-01-01

This Study analyses some key trans-border situations in which citizens may finddifficulties in exercising their electoral rights – both to vote in elections, and to stand as candidates. It focuses on the electoral rights of EU citizens when resident outside the state where they are citizens, and on the electoral rights of third country citizens resident in the EU Member States. It also covers several complementary issues by examining the consular representation of EU citizensoutside the terri...

LandSense: A Citizen Observatory and Innovation Marketplace for Land Use and Land Cover Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Moorthy, Inian; Fritz, Steffen; See, Linda; McCallum, Ian

2017-04-01

numerous pathways of citizen empowerment via the LandSense Engagement Platform, i.e. tools for discussion, online voting collaborative mapping, as well as events linked to public consultation and cooperative planning. In addition to creating tools for data collection, quality assurance, and interaction with the public, the project aims to drive innovation through collaboration with the private sector. LandSense will build an innovation marketplace to attract a vast community of users across numerous disciplines and sectors and boost Europe's role in the business of ground-based monitoring. The anticipated outcomes of LandSense have considerable potential to lower expenditure costs on ground-based data collection and greatly extend the current sources of such data, thereby realizing citizen-powered innovations in the processing chain of LULC monitoring activities both within and beyond Europe.

Creating Global Citizens through Study Abroad

Science.gov (United States)

Bellamy, Carol; Weinberg, Adam

2006-01-01

One of the greatest challenges for a student today is how to live as a responsible citizen in a globalizing world. Today's interconnected world cannot afford bystanders or passive participants. It demands confident, skilled citizens who will make responsible choices that take into consideration how educators allocate resources and what impact…

Engaging Citizen Scientists across North America to Monitor Eclipse-driven Environmental Change through NASA GLOBE Observer, Results and Lessons Learned

Science.gov (United States)

Riebeek Kohl, H.; Weaver, K.; Overoye, D.; Martin, A.; Andersen, T.

2017-12-01

How cool was the eclipse? NASA GLOBE Observer challenged citizen scientists across North America to answer that question by observing temperature and cloud changes throughout the August 2017 Total Solar Eclipse. The experiment was meant to chart the impact of changes in solar energy at Earth's surface across all regions that experienced the eclipse, both partial and total. Citizen scientists reported air temperature every 5-10 minutes from first contact to last contact through the free GLOBE Observer app. They also reported cloud cover and cloud type every 15-30 minutes or as changes happened as a proxy for changes in the atmosphere. No data were collected during totality, as we wanted citizen scientists to focus on the eclipse at that time. To recruit citizen scientists, members of the GLOBE Observer Team participated in six large outreach events across the path of totality. We also encouraged participation outside the path of totality though partnerships with informal education institutions and direct communication to the public through NASA communication channels. This presentation will report statistics on citizen science participation and lessons learned about citizen science as an outreach tool. Did participation in the experiment enhance a person's eclipse experience? Did citizen scientists find enough value in the experiment to continue to participate in GLOBE Observer, a long-term citizen science program, after the eclipse? We will also present early results of observed temperature and cloud changes.

Researcher or Fellow Citizen?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Alex Young; Caviglia, Francesco

2018-01-01

The idea of a team of researchers working at advancing knowledge represents a strong role model for STEM education. The article suggests that an alternative role model – a community of fellow citizens engaged in solving problems of how to better live together – can be an equally compelling model...... for the Humanities. Mode 1 knowledge building rooted in learning within the disciplines is compared with a mode 2 focusing on context-specific knowledge, transdisciplinarity and collaborative rationality as essential ingredients of a new role model for the humanities: The fellow citizen. Two cases – a collaborative...

Public service providers and users in the information society

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bernt Krohn Solvang

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The issue to be discussed in this article is to what extent does ICT create new challenges for the relationship between public service providers and users? It is important to recognize the concept of social capital because the concept is vital to the understanding of access to the information society and efficient functioning of government in its service to citizens. In this way we see social capital as a mediating “institution” between public authorities and the citizens (users.

Exploring the Potential of Dutch Pig Farmers and Urban-Citizens to Learn Through Frame Reflection.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Benard, M.; de Cock Buning, J.T.

2013-01-01

The Dutch pig husbandry has become a topic of public debate. One underlying cause is that pig farmers and urban-citizens have different perspectives and underlying norms, values and truths on pig husbandry and animal welfare. One way of dealing with such conflicts involves a learning process in

Citizen involvement in future drug R&D

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Møldrup, Claus; Morgall, Janine Marie; Almarsdóttir, Anna Birna

2000-01-01

This article adopts a prospective approach in an attempt to explore the potential benefit of citizen involvement in decision making concerning future drug R&D. This is one of the first Delphi studies to fully utilize internet technology to collect and process data. The results show an increasing...... individual autonomy among respondents, which also affects the drug R&D process in general. Human, liberal and ethical values are reported as crucial values to citizens. On this basis, respondents reported that patient organizations, representative citizen groups and ethical councils can contribute...... with important input to ensure these values in decision making concerning future drug R&D. Paying attention to citizen needs, demands and ideas may protect the research, development and eventual marketing of unacceptable drugs on a societal and ethical level....

Public optimism towards nanomedicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Bottini, Massimo; Rosato, Nicola; Gloria, Fulvia; Adanti, Sara; Corradino, Nunziella; Bergamaschi, Antonio; Magrini, Andrea

2011-01-01

Previous benefit-risk perception studies and social experiences have clearly demonstrated that any emerging technology platform that ignores benefit-risk perception by citizens might jeopardize its public acceptability and further development. The aim of this survey was to investigate the Italian judgment on nanotechnology and which demographic and heuristic variables were most influential in shaping public perceptions of the benefits and risks of nanotechnology. In this regard, we investigated the role of four demographic (age, gender, education, and religion) and one heuristic (knowledge) predisposing factors. The present study shows that gender, education, and knowledge (but not age and religion) influenced the Italian perception of how nanotechnology will (positively or negatively) affect some areas of everyday life in the next twenty years. Furthermore, the picture that emerged from our study is that Italian citizens, despite minimal familiarity with nanotechnology, showed optimism towards nanotechnology applications, especially those related to health and medicine (nanomedicine). The high regard for nanomedicine was tied to the perception of risks associated with environmental and societal implications (division among social classes and increased public expenses) rather than health issues. However, more highly educated people showed greater concern for health issues but this did not decrease their strong belief about the benefits that nanotechnology would bring to medical fields. The results reported here suggest that public optimism towards nanomedicine appears to justify increased scientific effort and funding for medical applications of nanotechnology. It also obligates toxicologists, politicians, journalists, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to establish a more responsible dialog with citizens regarding the nature and implications of this emerging technology platform.

Complexity and conundrums. Citizens' evaluations of potentially contentious novel food technologies using a deliberative discourse approach.

Science.gov (United States)

Greehy, Gráinne M; McCarthy, Mary B; Henchion, Maeve M; Dillon, Emma J; McCarthy, Sinéad N

2013-11-01

This research considers the processes involved in the formation of attitudes by citizens on potentially contentious novel food technologies (NFTs). Observations of one-to-one deliberative discourses between food scientists and citizens, during which they discussed these technologies, form the basis of this enquiry. This approach enables an exploration of how individuals construct meaning around as well as interpret information about the technologies. Thematic analysis identifies key features that provide the frameworks for citizens' evaluations. How individuals make sense of these technologies is shaped by their beliefs, values and personal characteristics; their perceptions of power and control over the development and sale of NFT related products; and, the extent to which these products are relevant to their personal lives. Internal negotiations between these influences are evident, and evaluations are based on the relative importance of each influence to the individual. Internal conflicts and tensions are associated with citizens' evolving evaluative processes, which may in turn present as attitude ambivalence and instability. Many challenges are linked with engaging with the general public about these technologies, as levels of knowledge, understanding and interest vary. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citizen journalism in a time of crisis: lessons from a large-scale California wildfire

Science.gov (United States)

S. Gillette; J. Taylor; D.J. Chavez; R. Hodgson; J. Downing

2007-01-01

The accessibility of news production tools through consumer communication technology has made it possible for media consumers to become media producers. The evolution of media consumer to media producer has important implications for the shape of public discourse during a time of crisis. Citizen journalists cover crisis events using camera cell phones and digital...

The Peruvian Citizen Perception and Expectation toward the e-Government. The Electronic Tax Payment as a Successful e-Gov Project

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Cardona

2010-05-01

Full Text Available In this chapter, the authors try to stand out how the Latin American governments, specifically the Peruvian government, can evaluate its efforts implementing electronic administration initiatives, identifying what the citizen expects from the electronic administration and how he or she perceives it, applying an evaluation model to the electronic tax payment service implemented, as a successful initiative at Latin-America. The proposed model to achieve this, was developed by one of the authors during his doctoral dissertation (Cardona, 2004 and evaluated by the other one as dissertation judge. It includes five different independent and latent constructs, Attitude, Aptitude, Trust, Relevance and Satisfaction that affect two dependent and latent constructs, the Citizen Perception and the Citizen Expectative towards its relationship with the Public Administration through the use of Information and Communication Technologies - ICT, under the effect of illustrative variables related with citizen, institutions and context.

How citizen seismology is transforming rapid public earthquake information: the example of LastQuake smartphone application and Twitter QuakeBot

Science.gov (United States)

Bossu, R.; Etivant, C.; Roussel, F.; Mazet-Roux, G.; Steed, R.

2014-12-01

Smartphone applications have swiftly become one of the most popular tools for rapid reception of earthquake information for the public. Wherever someone's own location is, they can be automatically informed when an earthquake has struck just by setting a magnitude threshold and an area of interest. No need to browse the internet: the information reaches you automatically and instantaneously! One question remains: are the provided earthquake notifications always relevant for the public? A while after damaging earthquakes many eyewitnesses scrap the application they installed just after the mainshock. Why? Because either the magnitude threshold is set too high and many felt earthquakes are missed, or it is set too low and the majority of the notifications are related to unfelt earthquakes thereby only increasing anxiety among the population at each new update. Felt and damaging earthquakes are the ones of societal importance even when of small magnitude. LastQuake app and Twitter feed (QuakeBot) focuses on these earthquakes that matter for the public by collating different information threads covering tsunamigenic, damaging and felt earthquakes. Non-seismic detections and macroseismic questionnaires collected online are combined to identify felt earthquakes regardless their magnitude. Non seismic detections include Twitter earthquake detections, developed by the USGS, where the number of tweets containing the keyword "earthquake" is monitored in real time and flashsourcing, developed by the EMSC, which detect traffic surges on its rapid earthquake information website caused by the natural convergence of eyewitnesses who rush to the Internet to investigate the cause of the shaking that they have just felt. We will present the identification process of the felt earthquakes, the smartphone application and the 27 automatically generated tweets and how, by providing better public services, we collect more data from citizens.

The Internet and Increased Citizen Participation in Government

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael E. Milakovich

2010-04-01

Full Text Available What roles do communication systems, information technologies and the internet play in fostering citizen participation and influencing the electoral and administrative decisions of government? The internet is simultaneously a world-wide broadcasting network, a mechanism for information dissemination, and a medium for collaboration and interaction between individuals and their computers without regard for geographic boundaries or time zones. This article describes the origins of participatory democracy, discusses how modern concepts of democracy link to citizen participation, and describes the ways that newly-created spaces on the internet referred to as “polispheres” are being used by political activists and candidates to facilitate wider collaboration and citizen participation. The following questions are addressed: What role does the internet play in fostering and aiding citizen participation in government? Does increased involvement lead to greater trust and confidence in government? What role did the internet play in apparently reversing downward trends in citizen apathy and drawing 8 million new voters to the United States 2008 presidential election? The article suggests that information technology facilitates broader citizen participation and identifies the challenges facing governments in adopting internet-based ICT strategies.

Public Participation: What has the Constitutional Court given the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Public Participation: What has the Constitutional Court given the public? ... Linda Nyati explores the duty to facilitate public participation in legislative processes in terms of ... This issue, the article demonstrates, is highly pertinent to citizens in ...

Aplikasi Citizen Journalism di Era Konvergensi Media

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rahmat Edi Irawan

2014-10-01

Full Text Available Citizen journalism has now become one of the most developed television program concepts. If the concept was initially more widely used in radio and online media, this time with easier and cheaper technology coverage and delivery of images, it is a concept that provides a place for people to become amateur journalist that can also be easily applied in the medium of television. Research raised the issue on how the concept and implementation of citizen journalism on television in the era of media convergence. The purpose of this study is to explain concepts and demonstrate the implementation of citizen journalism on television in the era of media convergence. Research used qualitative method in which data were obtained using literature study. Results of the study showed that the implementation of citizen journalism on television is also increasingly facilitated by the entry of the television in the era of media convergence, or different media mingle, such as television with printed, radio, and Internet media. The era of media convergence makes the concept of citizen journalism can be more developed, because the platform or media distribution is also increasingly varied for amateur journalist. However, the system equipment that must be provided, human resources that must be owned, as well as huge capital to be owned make a few television stations open a lot of platforms to provide space for amateur journalist in citizen journalism. 

A Semantically Enabled Portal for Facilitating the Public Service Provision

Science.gov (United States)

Loutas, Nikolaos; Giantsiou, Lemonia; Peristeras, Vassilios; Tarabanis, Konstantinos

During the past years, governments have made significant efforts to improve both their internal processes and the services that they provide to citizens and businesses. These led to several successful e-Government applications (e.g., see www.epractice.eu). One of the most popular tools that was used by governments in order to modernize their services and make them accessible is e-Government portals, e.g., (Drigas et al. 2005), (Fang 2002). The main goals of such portals are: To make available complete, easy to understand, and structured information about public services and public administration's modus operandi, which will assist citizens during the service provision process. To facilitate the electronic execution of public services. Nevertheless, most of such efforts did not succeed. Gartner argues that most e-Government strategies have not achieved their objectives and have failed to trigger sustainable government transformation to greater efficiency and citizen-centricity (DiMaio 2007).

NASA Citizen Science: Looking at Impact in the Science Community and Beyond

Science.gov (United States)

Thaller, M.

2017-12-01

NASA's Science Mission Directorate has invested in several citizen scinece programs with the goal of addressing specific scientific goals which will lead to publishable results. For a complete list of these programs, go to https://science.nasa.gov/citizenscientists. In this paper, we will look at preliminary evalution of the impact of these programs, both in the production of scientific papers and the participation of the general public.

Globe at Night Citizen Science: Reaching for the Stars

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, C. E.; Pompea, S. M.

2017-12-01

Citizen-science is a rewardingly inclusive way to bring awareness to the public on the disappearance of the starry night sky, its cause and solutions. Globe at Night (GaN) encourages citizen-scientists worldwide to record the brightness of the night sky. During ten-days per month of moonless evenings, children and adults match the appearance of a specific constellation with 7 star maps of progressively fainter stars found at www.globeatnight.org. They then submit their choice of star map in-situ using the "webapp" on a smart device. In eleven years of the program, over 160,000 observations from 180 countries have been contributed to a light pollution map. The GaN (open) database is a source of research projects. For example, students conducted research to understand the lesser long-nosed bats' avoidance of city center at night. With its analytical tools, Fieldscope will be a conduit for comparing GaN to other databases. On-the-fly mapping enables citizen-scientists to see observations immediately. There are 4 ways of taking measurements. The online app for data reporting is in 26 languages. STEM activities for young children and problem-based learning activities for older students were created to experience real-life scenarios: role-playing sea turtles hatching (misdirected by lights on shore) or analyzing an ISS image of Houston to estimate the wasted energy, cost and carbon footprint. In-situ and on-line workshops have been given on using GaN, as well as the activities. Our Facebook page exists to encourage dialogue and bring cutting edge news. To entice interest, we had monthly newsletters and serial podcasts starring the Dark Skies Crusader. GaN has been part of special campaigns like with the National Park Service, the National Geographic BioBlitz and Tucson in 2011. We have built a community of practitioners in various ways worldwide and have metrics on behavioral changes. To maintain the community and create new partnerships, we have teamed with Sci

Enhancing Public Participation to Improve Natural Resources Science and its Use in Decision Making

Science.gov (United States)

Glynn, P. D.; Shapiro, C. D.; Liu, S. B.

2015-12-01

The need for broader understanding and involvement in science coupled with social technology advances enabling crowdsourcing and citizen science have created greater opportunities for public participation in the gathering, interpretation, and use of geospatial information. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is developing guidance for USGS scientists, partners, and interested members of the public on when and how public participation can most effectively be used in the conduct of scientific activities. Public participation can provide important perspectives and knowledge that cannot be obtained through traditional scientific methods alone. Citizen engagement can also provide increased efficiencies to USGS science and additional benefits to society including enhanced understanding, appreciation, and interest in geospatial information and its use in decision making.The USGS guidance addresses several fundamental issues by:1. Developing an operational definition of citizen or participatory science.2. Identifying the circumstances under which citizen science is appropriate for use and when its use is not recommended. 3. Describing structured processes for effective use of citizen science. 4. Defining the successful application of citizen science and identifying useful success metrics.The guidance is coordinated by the USGS Science and Decisions Center and developed by a multidisciplinary team of USGS scientists and managers. External perspectives will also be incorporated, as appropriate to align with other efforts such as the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing Toolkit for the Federal government. The guidance will include the development of an economic framework to assess the benefits and costs of geospatial information developed through participatory processes. This economic framework considers tradeoffs between obtaining additional perspectives through enhanced participation with costs associated from obtaining

Democratic Theory and Citizen Participation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Biegelbauer, Peter; Hansen, Janus

2011-01-01

Citizen participation in terms of participatory technology assessment (PTA) has caused a lot of debate in science and technology policy. However, there are still many open questions: What is the actual impact of PTA on policy-making? On which normative theory of democracy is the evaluation of PTA...... based and does it make a difference which theory is used? Which framework is appropriate to evaluate the often fuzzy impact of PTA on policy-making? Is PTA actually a central element for policy-making or are other factors much more relevant such as politicians' involvement or the presence of industry...... interests? What is the ‘nature’ of the public in different national and institutional contexts? How are expectations of policy-makers played out in the perceived need for regulation? These issues are addressed in a series of comparative papers in this issue which focus on the regulation...

Participation in design between public sector and local communities

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bødker, Susanne; Zander, Pär-Ola

2015-01-01

This paper discusses three cases where design was carried out at the intersection between public sector and citizen communities. Based on three dominant traditions meeting there–public (municipal) decision-making, Web 2.0 and participatory design–we identify challenges and solutions regarding......-win situations, rather than to maximize participation; to work with motivation for long-term projects across municipality and communities; to identify and work with early movers, and not just representative citizens; and to create space for local municipal agencies to develop bottom-up technological solutions...

In black and white: Media's role in shaping public opinion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Choi Yearn-hong

2004-01-01

In a modern, democratic society, the newspaper's role is important and critical in shaping citizens' opinions on nuclear power and other issues. Citizens acquire knowledge on current issues in their society, nation, and the world through newspapers. Today, television and internet media is increasingly becoming more popular among citizens, but newspaper media continues to affect intellectual citizens, policy makers and think tanks. Therefore, assessing major daily newspaper editorials covering nuclear issues and affairs is necessary for their sound bridging between nuclear science and engineering and the public. Bridging the two cultures, science and humanities, is an enormous task for modern democratic society

Governance and Citizens' Engagement in Terms of Local Sustainable Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Sobol

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Local sustainable development emphasizes the role of a community. One of the key prerequisite of this process is therefore participation of inhabitants. Nevertheless traditional way of managing cities does not work very well in terms of public engagement. Local sustainable development requires both i.e. governance mechanisms introduced by the local authorities and positive reaction of inhabitants for the invitation for cooperation. The paper is intended to explore some critical issues and dimensions of governance and citizens' engagement in terms of local sustainable development. It shows the general outlook on the most relevant conditions, factors, problems and barriers of this process in Poland. It presents experiences of the city of Rybnik in its work towards public engagement in local development.

The contradictory effects in efficiency and citizens' participation when employing geo-ICT apps within local government

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kurniawan, M.; de Vries, W.T.

2015-01-01

With the increasing use of web-based mapping applications, inter-mediation between public planning agencies and citizens is changing. This article investigates how one form of inter-mediation, geo-ICT-enabled apps (applications on mobile phones and/or internet that use maps or locations as basic

HiggsHunters - a citizen science project for ATLAS

CERN Document Server

AUTHOR|(INSPIRE)INSPIRE-00053405; The ATLAS collaboration

2017-01-01

Since the launch of HiggsHunters.org in November 2014, citizen science volunteers have classified more than a million points of interest in images from the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. Volunteers have been looking for displaced vertices and unusual features in images recorded during LHC Run-1. We discuss the design of the project, its impact on the public, and the results of how the human volunteers performed relative to the computer algorithms in identifying displaced secondary vertices. People were better than existing algorithms at identifying displaced vertices for some masses and lifetimes, and showed good ability to recognize unexpected new features in the data.

Developing a user-friendly photometric software for exoplanets to increase participation in Citizen Science

Science.gov (United States)

Kokori, A.; Tsiaras, A.

2017-09-01

Previous research on Citizen Science projects agree that Citizen Science (CS) would serve as a way of both increasing levels of public understanding of science and public participation in scientific research. Historically, the concept of CS is not new, it dates back to the 20th century when citizens where making skilled observations, particularly in archaeology, ecology, and astronomy. Recently, the idea of CS has been improved due to technological progress and the arrival of Internet. The phrase "astronomy from the chair" that is being used in the literature highlights the extent of the convenience for analysing observational data. Citizen science benefits a variety of communities, such as scientific researchers, volunteers and STEM educators. Participating in CS projects is not only engaging the volunteers with the research goals of a science team, but is also helping them learning more about specialised scientific topics. In the case of astronomy, typical examples of CS projects are gathering observational data or/and analysing them. The Holomon Photometric Software (HOPS) is a user-friendly photometric software for exoplanets, with graphical representations, statistics, models, options are brought together into a single package. It was originally developed to analyse observations of transiting exoplanets obtained from the Holomon Astronomical Station of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki. Here, we make the case that this software can be used as part of a CS project in analysing transiting exoplanets and producing light-curves. HOPS could contribute to the scientific data analysis but it could be used also as an educational tool for learning and visualizing photometry analyses of transiting exoplanets. Such a tool could be proven very efficient in the context of public participation in the research. In recent successful representative examples such as Galaxy Zoo professional astronomers cooperating with CS discovered a group of rare galaxies by using

Visual truths of citizen reportage

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Allan, Stuart; Peters, Chris

2015-01-01

In striving to better understand issues associated with citizen contributions to newsmaking in crisis situations, this article identifies and elaborates four specific research problematics – bearing witness, technologies of truth-telling, mediating visualities and affectivities of othering...... – in order to recast more familiar modes of enquiry. Specifically, it provides an alternative heuristic to theorize the journalistic mediation of citizen imagery, and the myriad ways this process of negotiation maintains, repairs and at times disrupts the interstices of professional–amateur boundaries...

Environmental information system and odour monitoring based on citizen and technology innovative sensors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ledent, Philippe [SPACEBEL S.A., Angleur (Belgium); Stevenot, Bernard [APS Technology, Namur (Belgium); Delva, Julien [ODOMETRIC SA, Meix-Devant-Virton (Belgium); and others

2013-07-01

The challenge is the integration of citizens as ''community-based'' observation providers, giving the odour perception and discomfort and getting feed-back in real time from a learning monitoring system. The level of annoyance depends on how odours are emitted and in what intensity, their dispersion under ambient atmospheric conditions and finally on citizens' exposure and perception. The Environmental Information System and Odour Monitoring developed in the project OMNISCIENTIS funded by the EU brings together state of the art technologies and open communication capabilities in order to mitigate odour annoyance. The project allows for citizen feedback, deepens knowledge on odour measurement and management and aims to support harmonised legislation at EU level. Moreover the project results can provide savings to industries. The core is an information system allowing inhabitants to serve as human sensors, acting according to sociological patterns, which influence odour perception, discomfort and nuisance. It provides a dedicated tool to consider odour acceptability, based on a community-based opinion. Due to the subjective nature of odour perception, odour monitoring and fast modelling is used to assist and adjust the information citizens provide via Smartphone and obtained by e-nose and modelling. Innovative in-situ sensors are improved to monitor ambient odour exposures. A specific odour dispersion model system is developed to obtain interrelated spatial odour exposure levels. This fast and innovative model system helps us to evaluate the performance of measures taken at the very moment odours are emitted and with respect to the way in which these occur. The Living Lab approach ensures stakeholder involvement, citizens' participation in decision-making and supports dissemination activities. The results are conveyed to stakeholders and general public. (orig.)

Senior citizens retrofits

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1985-02-01

The Seniors' Residential Retrofitting Project was Yukon's most ambitious CREDA, funded demonstration with a total cost of $460,000. The project undertook to demonstrate energy-efficient retrofitting techniques in 38 homes and two apartment complexes for senior citizens. At the same time, the project strove to train Yukon tradesmen in retrofitting techniques, thus creating a local industry and employment within this industry. To this end, two training courses were given for local tradesmen and contractors, the first of their kind in Canada. The training part of the project was given equal importance as the actual demonstration part. Three levels of retrofit work were done on the homes of senior citizens. Level one included caulking, weatherstripping, furnace servicing, and installation of water flow restrictors, water heater blankets and timers. The level two retrofit included the treatment in level one, plus upgrading windows and the insulation levels in walls and ceilings. A level three retrofit involved a total rewrap of the building shell with some of the features in levels one and two incorporated. The demonstration program included the following steps: initial contact with senior citizens; energy audit on each house; determination of level of retrofit work based on individual audit results; contract packages drawn up and put to tender; monitoring of fuel records and air-tightness tests both before and after retrofit; and tabulation of data and information transfer. 10 figs., 4 tabs.

The reading teacher as a trainer of citizens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennie Brand Barajas

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The present is a qualitative study by theorizing, from the approach of the problem of reading as a basic resource for the formation of citizens through education. It starts from the definition of the reading capacity, followed by the revision of the general characteristics of the reading brain proposed by Stalisnas Dehaene (2014, as well as the revolutions in the materials and devices used for the writing, besides the changes in the form of reading, from Sumerian tablets to digital technologies. The process of Education for Development and the distinctive features of digital citizenship are presented, which are: immediacy in the production, transmission and reception of messages; interactivity between receiver and producer; the multi-authoritarian, which gives birth to “the prosumers”; the accessibility of the environment; freedom of expression; the democratization of access and the appropriation of a public space. All this allows contextualizing new forms of reading and new profiles of readers, as well as the generation of virtual reading spaces where communities of dialogue and exchange are formed. The study reaches the teachers and their reading biographies, which largely define their competence to encourage reading among their students and their ability to mobilize them towards citizen responsibility through reading.

Research study on public relations and public participation in the nuclear energy field

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunji, Ikuko; Tabata, Rimiko; Otoshi, Sachio; Kuwagaki, Reiko; Ishibashi, Yoichiro

2006-01-01

The purpose of this research is to clarify the effect of public relations activities in the nuclear energy field and public participation toward the improvement of the risk literacy of nuclear energy. According to the survey results of the actual public relations activities taken by nuclear energy industry, the opportunity for interactive communications between the public and the industry is insufficient. Consequently, we propose building up more opportunities for participation and collaboration of citizens and industries in order to improve interactive communications reflecting public opinions and points of view. (author)

Rigor, Reliability, and Scientific Relevance: Citizen Science Lessons from COASST (Invited)

Science.gov (United States)

Parrish, J. K.

2013-12-01

Citizen science promises fine grain, broad extent data collected over decadal time scales, with co-benefits including increased scientific literacy and civic engagement. But does it only deliver non-standardized, unverifiable data collected episodically by individuals with little-to-no training? How do you know which projects to trust? What are the attributes of a scientifically sound citizen science project? The Coastal Observation and Seabird Survey Team (COASST) is a 15 year old citizen science project currently involving ~800 participants from northern California north to Kotzebue, Alaska and west to the Commander Islands, Russia. After a single 5-hour training delivered in-community by an expert, volunteers have the knowledge and skill sets to accurately survey a coastal site for beached bird carcasses, which they will be able to identify to species correctly ~85% of the time. Data are collected monthly, and some volunteers remain with the program for years, contributing hundreds, even thousands, of survey hours. COASST trainings, data collection materials, and data entry web portal all reinforce 'evidence first, deduction second,' a maxim that allows volunteers to learn, and gives on-staff experts the ability to independently verify all birds found. COASST data go directly into science, as part of studies as diverse as fishery entanglement, historic native uses of seabirds as food sources, and the impacts of sudden shifts in upwelling; as well as into resource management, as part of decisions on fishing regulations, waterfowl hunting limits, and ESA-listed species management. Like professional science, COASST features a specific sampling design linked to questions of interest, verifiable data, statistical analysis, and peer-reviewed publication. In addition, COASST features before-and-after testing of volunteer knowledge, independent verification of all deductive data, and recruitment and retention strategies linked to geographic community norms. As a result

Public Service Integrity Perception: Case Study In Kutai Kartanegara Regency, Indonesia

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Dyah Mutiarin

2014-02-01

Full Text Available This paper was aimed to measure the integrity of public service at Kutai Kartanegara Regency, East Borneo Province, Indonesia. The public service integrity can be seen from many perspective such as how the citizens satisfied with the public services provided by the government, how the public perception on combating corruption, and how success the government providing minimum service standard to the public at large. This three forms of public service integrity was the main focuses of this research in Kutai Kartanegara regency. The phenomenon of public service in Kutai Kartanegara Regency shown out of the tracks and missing to convey the importance of public service values, characterized by uncertainty of charges, time, and procedures. The research used the quantitative methods by scoring 3 indexes, which are the Citizen Satisfaction Index, Corruption Perception Index, and Minimum Service Standard Index. This research used Non-probability Sampling method, also Judgment Sampling procedure, in the development and compilation of the citizens satisfaction index. There were 57 local government agencies that served as the samples. The results of this research were the public service integrity perceptions in Kutai Kartanegara regency was need to be improved on the quantity and quality of public service delivery, commitment and efforts to create a clean government, transparency and accountability especially on e-procurement and to implement minimum service standards in every government offices.

Lessons from COASST: How Does Citizen Science Contribute to Natural Resource Management & Decision-Making?

Science.gov (United States)

Metes, J.; Ballard, H. L.; Parrish, J.

2016-12-01

As many scholars and practitioners in the environmental field turn to citizen science to collect robust scientific data as well as engage with wider audiences, it is crucial to build a more complete understanding of how citizen science influences and affects different interests within a social-ecological system. This research investigates how federal, state, and tribal natural resource managers interact with data from the Coastal Observation & Seabird Survey Team (COASST) project—a citizen science program that trains participants to monitor species and abundance of beach-cast birds on the Pacific Northwest Coast. Fifteen coastal and fisheries managers who previously requested COASST data were interviewed about how and why they used data from the project and were asked to describe how information gained from COASST affected their management decisions. Results suggest that broadly, managers value and learn from the program's capacity to gather data spanning a wide spatial-temporal range. This contribution to baseline monitoring helps managers signal and track both short- and long-term environmental change. More specifically, managers use COASST data in conjunction with other professional monitoring programs, such as the National Marine Fisheries Observer Program, to build higher degrees of reliability into management decisions. Although managers offered diverse perspectives and experiences about what the role of citizen science in natural resource management generally should be, there was agreement that agencies on their own often lack personnel and funding required to sufficiently monitor many crucial resources. Additionally, managers strongly suggested that COASST and other citizen science projects increased public awareness and support for agency decision-making and policies, and indirect yet important contribution to natural resource management.

78 FR 40425 - Draft Environmental Assessment for the J. Phil Campbell, Senior, Natural Resource Conservation...

Science.gov (United States)

2013-07-05

... Environmental Sciences (CAES). This notice is announcing the opening of a 30-day public comment period. DATES... Proposed JPC-NRCC Land Transfer by any of the following methods: Email: [email protected] , Fax: 309... conduct a wide range of research, teaching, extension, and demonstration activities. Since August 2012 it...

Topical issues of transparency in implementing public control in municipalentities

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Denis Stepanovich Mikheyev

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Objective to investigate the mechanisms of citizens and public institutions participation in public control in the municipalities. According to the author the monitoring process should involve the greatest possible range of subjects and the controlling measures are to be taken in a transparent and open manner. Therefore forms of citizen participation in public control should be investigated from the standpoint of the principle of openness of local government. Methods the universal dialectic method which was applied to the analysis of norms of the Federal law quotOn fundamentals of public control in the Russian Federationquot which is the legal base for the implementation of the institution of public control. When studying the problem of adequate legal regulation of the control institution the formal legal method was also used. Other methods were used for evaluation of the acquired knowledge in particular comparative legal and systemicstructural methods. Results on the basis of legal norms analysis based on the legal nature of the local government institution as the level of public authorities which is closest to the citizens the conclusion was made about the lack of legal regulation relating to the public control subjects in municipalities. The numerous public organizations operating in local communities were not fixed by legislative norms as subjects of public control. Scientific novelty the author has grounded the proposals for amending the abovementioned Federal law the legislation of Federation subjects and the municipal regulations by adding a number of new subjects of public control inherent to the municipal level. Practical value the conclusions and suggestions formulated in the study will contribute to the active implementation of public control in the municipalities will enhance the ability of citizens and civil society institutions to monitor the authorities and will have a positive impact on transparency of local selfgovernment. The

[On the clients of public health organizations].

Science.gov (United States)

Duran, Júlia; Villalbí, Joan R; Guix, Joan

2004-01-01

Public services must satisfy a variety of agents: users of these services, the citizens who pay the taxes that finance them, politicians, and those that work in them. To obtain public services that give priority to the citizen-user, knowledge of clients, their expectations, preferences, complaints and degree of satisfaction is essential. This article presents the process of internal discussion in our agency about its clients, who differ from those of an industrial or commercial organization. A proposal for the classification of clients, as well as the process that has led to a client portfolio, are presented and steps to improve services from the perspective of the client are suggested.

Digital citizens Digital nations: the next agenda

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.W. (Bert) Mulder; M.W. (Martijn) Hartog

2015-01-01

DIGITAL CITIZENS CREATE A DIGITAL NATION Citizens will play the lead role as they – in the next phase of the information society – collectively create a digital nation. Personal adoption of information and communication technology will create a digital infrastructure that supports individual and

Big Data for Public Health Policy-Making: Policy Empowerment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mählmann, Laura; Reumann, Matthias; Evangelatos, Nikolaos; Brand, Angela

2018-04-04

Digitization is considered to radically transform healthcare. As such, with seemingly unlimited opportunities to collect data, it will play an important role in the public health policy-making process. In this context, health data cooperatives (HDC) are a key component and core element for public health policy-making and for exploiting the potential of all the existing and rapidly emerging data sources. Being able to leverage all the data requires overcoming the computational, algorithmic, and technological challenges that characterize today's highly heterogeneous data landscape, as well as a host of diverse regulatory, normative, governance, and policy constraints. The full potential of big data can only be realized if data are being made accessible and shared. Treating research data as a public good, creating HDC to empower citizens through citizen-owned health data, and allowing data access for research and the development of new diagnostics, therapies, and public health policies will yield the transformative impact of digital health. The HDC model for data governance is an arrangement, based on moral codes, that encourages citizens to participate in the improvement of their own health. This then enables public health institutions and policymakers to monitor policy changes and evaluate their impact and risk on a population level. © 2018 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Risk Perception of Plastic Pollution: Importance of Stakeholder Involvement and Citizen Science

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Syberg, Kristian; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Christensen, Thomas Budde

2017-01-01

, the public, and policy makers and elaborate on how the eight risk drivers have influenced this process. Plastic pollution has several of the characteristics that can enhance people’s perception of the risk as being important and which has generated great awareness of the problem. The chapter finally...... discusses how risk perception can be improved by greater stakeholder involvement and utilization of citizen science and thereby improve the foundation for timely and efficient societal measures....

[About development of public health of the Russian Federation].

Science.gov (United States)

Shchepin, O P

2013-01-01

The article presents public health system characterized by public responsibility for health of citizen under various forms of property. The issues of management, planning, financing and organization of health care are discussed.

Digital citizenship and neoliberalization: governing digital citizens in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schou, Jannick; Hjelholt, Morten

2018-01-01

Digital citizenship is becoming increasingly normalized within advanced democratic states. As society and governmental institutions become reliant on digital technologies, citizens are expected to be and act digitally. This article examines the governance of digital citizens through a case study...... this case study, the article contributes to current critical perspectives on the digital citizen as a new political figure. It adds new insights into digital citizenship by connecting this figure to wider processes of neoliberalization and state restructuring, pushing for a more pronounced focus...... of digitalization efforts in Denmark. Drawing on multiple forms of data, the article showcases how digital citizens are governed through a combination of discursive, legal and institutional means. The article highlights the political, but also institutional work that goes into making citizens digital. Providing...

Challenges of citizen science contributions to modelling hydrodynamics of floods

Science.gov (United States)

Assumpção, Thaine Herman; Popescu, Ioana; Jonoski, Andreja; Solomatine, Dimitri P.

2017-04-01

Citizen science is an established mechanism in many fields of science, including ecology, biology and astronomy. Citizen participation ranges from collecting and interpreting data towards designing experiments with scientists and cooperating with water management authorities. In the environmental sciences, its potential has begun to be explored in the past decades and many studies on the applicability to water resources have emerged. Citizen Observatories are at the core of several EU-funded projects such as WeSenseIt, GroundTruth, GroundTruth 2.0 and SCENT (Smart Toolbox for Engaging Citizens into a People-Centric Observation Web) that already resulted in valuable contributions to the field. Buytaert et al. (2014) has already reviewed the role of citizen science in hydrology. The work presented here aims to complement it, reporting and discussing the use of citizen science for modelling the hydrodynamics of floods in a variety of studies. Additionally, it highlights the challenges that lie ahead to utilize more fully the citizen science potential contribution. In this work, focus is given to each component of hydrodynamic models: water level, velocity, flood extent, roughness and topography. It is addressed how citizens have been contributing to each aspect, mainly considering citizens as sensors and citizens as data interpreters. We consider to which kind of model (1D or 2D) the discussed approaches contribute and what their limitations and potential uses are. We found that although certain mechanisms are well established (e.g. the use of Volunteer Geographic Information for soft validation of land-cover and land-use maps), the applications in a modelling context are rather modest. Also, most studies involving models are limited to replacing traditional data with citizen data. We recommend that citizen science continue to be explored in modelling frameworks, in different case studies, taking advantage of the discussed mechanisms and of new sensor technologies

Citizen Science in the Age of Surveys

Science.gov (United States)

Henden, Arne A.

2014-06-01

Paid professional astronomers are a new phenomenon - most of astronomical history has been written by amateurs. Modern technology has again leveled the playing field, with quality equipment, computers, software and the Internet giving amateurs the ability to match or exceed the data quality and quantity achievable by professionals. The Internet in particular has come into play, with crowd-sourcing through projects like Zooniverse, worldwide installation of private robotic observatories, and rapid dissemination of information leading the way.The future only shows more of these collaborative activities ahead, as all proposed surveys will require significant input from citizen scientists in order to achieve their goals. How the public is currently helping professional astronomers, how researchers can get involved, and some of the future opportunities will be presented.

Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eitzel, M.V.; Cappadonna, Jessica L.; Santos-Lang, Chris; Duerr, Ruth Ellen; Virapongse, Arika; West, Sarah Elizabeth; Kyba, Christopher Conrad Maximillian; Bowser, Anne; Cooper, Caren Beth; Sforzi, Andrea; Metcalfe, Anya Nova; Harris, Edward S.; Thiel, Martin; Haklay, Mordechai; Ponciano, Lesandro; Roche, Joseph; Ceccaroni, Luigi; Shilling, Fraser Mark; Dörler, Daniel; Heigl, Florian; Kiessling, Tim; Davis, Brittany Y.; Jiang, Qijun

2017-01-01

Much can be at stake depending on the choice of words used to describe citizen science, because terminology impacts how knowledge is developed. Citizen science is a quickly evolving field that is mobilizing people’s involvement in information development, social action and justice, and large-scale

Influence of Public Service Quality in Citizen Satisfaction (Study in Private Hospital Y in Padang, West Sumatra Province

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Aldri Frinaldi

2015-02-01

Full Text Available The main problem in public service particularly health care service is the public’s increasing demand for better quality of service. Therefore, hospitals as one of the means of health care providers should be able to increase public satisfaction. This is important to win the trust of patients and/or families of patients who come for treatment. The lack of patients’ satisfaction in the quality of service in hospitals in Indonesia contributes to the Indonesians’ choice of medical treatment abroad. Therefore, the study aims to determine the influence of quality of services provided by the hospital toward patients’ satisfaction. This quantitative research surveyed patients in Hospital Y in Padang city using questionnaire as a research instrument. The population is all the patients and/or families of patients who are served in the hospital during the data collection in the month of May to August 2014. A sample of 100 people was selected using accidental sampling. The collected data were analyzed using frequencies, percentages and averages using SPSS version16 for windows. Simple linear regression analysis technique was used for data analysis. Location of the study was a private hospital located in the city of Padang, West Sumatra Province, which in this research is referred as private hospital Y. The results of this study indicates that there is a significant relation between the quality of service to the citizen satisfaction with the regression equation Y = 44.967 + 2.612 X with value of correlation (r = 0.760, and the influence of quality of service to the public satisfaction in 57.8%. Then the results Achievement Level Respondents (TCR in the quality of public services obtained a value of 74.8% with quite good category and to the satisfaction of the public to the TCR value of 75.3%with quite good category. It shows the quality of care in hospitals Y must be improved in order to obtain an increase in user satisfaction of the people who

Citizen, Science, Highways, and Wildlife: Using a Web-based GIS to Engage Citizens in Collecting Wildlife Information

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Tracy Lee

2006-06-01

Full Text Available Road Watch in the Pass is a citizen-science project that engages local citizens in reporting wildlife observations along a 44-km stretch of Highway 3 through Crowsnest Pass in southwestern Alberta, Canada. The numbers of wildlife vehicle collisions and a recent proposal to expand the highway have raised concerns from both human safety and wildlife conservation perspectives. Through the use of a web-based GIS, interested citizens can contribute information that will be instrumental in making final decisions concerning measures to mitigate the effects of highway expansion. Currently, 58 people have contributed over 713 observations to Road Watch. We performed a preliminary comparison of 11 months of Road Watch observations and wildlife mortality data for the same time period to demonstrate that the use of citizen science not only augments more conventional approaches, but also results in the emergence of new knowledge and insights. A Kappa index of agreement of 14% indicates poor agreement between the data sets, highlighting that wildlife successfully cross the highway in areas not identified by the wildlife mortality data. This has important implications for design and mitigation efforts for Highway 3 and other roadways.

Sustainable local development in citizen and community spheres. Implications for the governance of natural resources

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Javier Carreón Guillén

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The economic, political, citizen, and community spheres, whether global or local, are regulated by systems of governance, which create public interest agendas including tariffs for public services derived from the use of natural resources. In this regard, this paper presents the agreements and disagreements between entrepreneurial, municipal, citizen, and community organizations to establish local development scenarios in reference to the global market. This discussion will create a series of representations that symbolize the dissonance between prosperity and austerity in order to contrast lifestyles oriented towards globalization and livelihoods aimed at sustainability. In this context, different identities have emerged from the alliances between civil and business organizations, in which development is not necessarily a priority; however, such vicissitudes provide central themes for the discussion of economic models.  This paper is important because it envisages a governance scheme that permits including natural resources in the civil, political, and business agenda.  In other words, governance regulates the intrusion of transnational corporations in communities and the inclusion of SMEs in the international market.

Obese children, adults and senior citizens in the eyes of the general public: results of a representative study on stigma and causation of obesity.

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Claudia Sikorski

Full Text Available Obese individuals are blamed for their excess weight based on causal attribution to the individual. It is unclear whether obese individuals of different age groups and gender are faced with the same amount of stigmatization. This information is important in order to identify groups of individuals at risk for higher stigmatization and discrimination. A telephone interview was conducted in a representative sample of 3,003 participants. Experimental manipulation was realized by vignettes describing obese and normal-weight children, adults and senior citizens. Stigmatizing attitudes were measured by semantic differential. Causal attribution was assessed. Internal factors were rated with highest agreement rates as a cause for the vignette's obesity. Lack of activity behavior and eating too much are the most supported causes. Importance of causes differed for the different vignettes. For the child, external causes were considered more important. The overweight vignette was rated consistently more negatively. Higher educational attainment and personal obesity were associated with lower stigmatizing attitudes. The vignette of the obese child was rated more negatively compared to that of an adult or senior citizen. Obesity is seen as a controllable condition, but for children external factors are seen as well. Despite this finding, they are faced with higher stigmatizing attitudes in the general public, contradicting attribution theory assumptions. Internal and external attribution were found to be inter-correlated. Obese children are the population most at risk for being confronted with stigmatization, making them a target point in stigma-reduction campaigns.

The Role Of New Media In Advancing Citizen Diplomacy Roundtable

OpenAIRE

Nassar, David; Tatevossian, Anoush Rima; U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy

2010-01-01

This Roundtable evaluates the importance of new media in citizen diplomacy.   Published in conjunction with the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy’s U.S. Summit & Initiative for Global Citizen Diplomacy November 16–19, 2010, Washington DC. Materials included in this document are the views of the roundtable authors and are meant to serve as a tool for discussion. © November 2010 | U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy

Nudging the Public Sphere: A Habermasian Perspective on Public Deliberation as an Aim of Moral Education

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Christopher

2015-01-01

This article offers an account of the understanding citizens need in order to justify moral principles in the public sphere and it identifies an important role for moral education in the promotion of that civic understanding. I develop this account through a contrastive analysis of Phillip Kitcher's conception of public knowledge and Jurgen…

Citizens Science for Sustainability (SuScit) Project Briefing

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eames, Malcolm; Mortensen, Jonas Egmose; Adebowale, Maria

This project briefing gives a short overview of the Citizens Science for Sustainability (SuScit) Project.......This project briefing gives a short overview of the Citizens Science for Sustainability (SuScit) Project....

Community and alternative media in the citizen´s protest cycle since the 15M-movement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alejandro Barranquero Carretero

2015-03-01

Full Text Available The current economical and institutional crisis of journalism in Spain has contributed to the revitalization of media and communicational experiences of social movements and non-profit organizations. This revival of citizen participation reaches prominence from the 15M movement in May 2011, which has contributed to the strengthening of networks among the Third Sector of Media, as well as to the first large-scale coordinated broadcasts by community radios in Spain. This article aims at describing the physiognomy of an emerging sector at the margins of public and private-commercial media. Methodology combines observation and documentary research along with structured in-depth interviews to coordinators and citizen reporters of these media coverages.

Redistribution through social health insurance: evidence on citizen preferences.