How can cities successfully implement Citizen Science projects for biodiversity monitoring and public engagement? Key insights from the Urban Nature Exchange #4

Organized by scientists from the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research (UFZ) and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research Halle-Jena-Leipzig (iDiv), the final session of the 2024 Urban Nature Exchange series, held on December 18th, focused on the potential of Citizen Science (CS) both for collecting data and for empowering citizens to participate in an evidence-based dialogue on the value and quality of urban green spaces. It provided a platform for city representatives and academics to exchange ideas on what cities need to effectively promote and utilize CS.

Scientists from UFZ/ iDiv opened the session by introducing the concept of CS, outlining strategies for successfully implementing CS projects, and sharing their experiences with the CS project VielFalterGarten established in Leipzig, which focuses on monitoring butterfly biodiversity. Butterflies serve as important biodiversity indicators due to their high sensitivity to environmental changes. Additionally, they are easy to identify, even for beginners, and their beauty often evokes emotional connections which can help to effectively drive societal transitions and actions. Mannheim was the first of the UNP+ greening cities to implement the VielFalterGarten project in the 2024 season, and city representatives shared their experiences with its rollout. 

Based on the key learnings of the presentations, as well as the answers of the cities to predefined questions, the session revealed interesting key outcomes:  

1. Cities’ previous experiences with CS projects:

• Lighthouse cities already use CS projects for monitoring a variety of taxa, including insects, amphibians, mammals, birds, fish, crustaceans, mollusks and plants
• Lighthouse cities collaborate with a variety of organizations and research institutions
• Greening cities have little to no prior experience with CS projects but recognize its value for biodiversity monitoring, raising awareness and engaging citizens into environmental protection, and measuring impacts of greening plans

  2.  Key challenges/barriers to promote and use CS:

• Keeping citizens engaged over long periods of time (reasons include: short term funding, not enough feedback to the citizens to show the impact of their actions or not enough community events, interaction with people is very time demanding)
• Not enough awareness about CS and its benefits is raised (not enough advertising, CS is a foreign concept to a lot of citizens)
• If the protocol or tools of the protocol are not user friendly enough it becomes more difficult to engage people
• Lack of experience with CS among staff and citizens
• Technical difficulties due to a lack of previous experience

  3.  Factors for success:

• Continuous engagement, feedback and communication through various channels (e.g. newsletters, social media, workshops, online courses (train the trainer), on-site events) with citizen scientists are essential 
• Have at least one expert for the topic of the CS project on the team and/or collaborate with a research institution and/ or NGO
• Provide the necessary materials and tools for the CS project to the community, including small gifts as incentives
• Reporting results back to the citizen scientists is highly motivating

The subsequent group discussion provided valuable insights into the type of information needed for a guidance document that will help cities successfully implement CS projects. This document will be developed by the UFZ/iDiv team as part of the UNP+ capacity-building program. Questions such as “How can we best reach marginalized groups and unconventional participants to engage them in CS?” remain challenging, even for highly experienced cities, and require further exploration. The discussion has only just begun on this fascinating topic—stay tuned for more developments!

Author: Dr. Stefanie Henkel, UFZ/iDiv

Publishing date: 20 January 2025