In the past years, literally hundreds of citizen science projects have enlisted the help of Scivil. Isaak Vandermaesen and Sven Speybrouck have just joined as project officers at amai!. The projects are still new to them, but Karen, Charlotte, Sanne, Jef, and general coordinator Annelies Duerinckx have been immersed in citizen science for longer. In their roles, they promote, connect, innovate, and support citizen science in Flanders daily. They have witnessed and continue to witness the professionalization of the citizen science landscape. In a roundtable discussion, they address the challenges in their beloved sector.

Open domains

You're the perfect group to pinpoint the major strengths of a citizen science project. What is the great power of citizen science?

Karen Verstraelen, project coordinator amai!: "Projects originating from citizens illustrate, in my opinion, the true power of citizen science. Citizens collectively address a societal issue and take action. I was struck by the amai! project Waste Watchers, where citizens work alongside scientists to clean up litter on the Scheldt riverbanks.
Charlotte Hens, project officer education and citizen science advisor: "What strikes me is the existence of broad, media-supported projects, where a massive number of citizens participate, and on the other hand, equally valuable, smaller initiatives emerge, such as Vierkante meter, iedereen archeoloog ('Square Meter, everyone an archaeologist'). Large and small projects in very diverse research domains are being picked up by the media and receiving attention. Citizen science is now an option in all domains."
Annelies Duerinckx, general coordinator Scivil: "You can rightly say that in Flanders, an enormous amount of expertise has been built up in just five years. In 2018, the Flemish government launched a general call for projects to familiarize people with the method of citizen science. Twenty projects were selected, funded, and realized. Scivil advised the government and supported the selected projects. Subsequently, more specific Flemish calls focusing on certain themes such as AI or the Flemish food strategy emerged. Now, in a next stage, we see universities like VUB and KU Leuven launching their own internal calls in the domain of citizen science, and more and more organizations are embedding citizen science in their overall policies. Scivil is not only there for concrete citizen science projects, but also guides organizations in integrating citizen science into their general workings."

Engine of change

What prejudices against citizen science have you seen melt away over the past five years?

Sanne Strouven, communication advisor Scivil and Brightlab: "Remarkably, scientists find us more easily now, and also much earlier in the process, before the rollout of their projects. That was different before. In the past, involving citizens was more incidental, and people wanted to add that component only at the last moment. In recent years, there has certainly been a more mature view of citizen science. There is also a turning point at the European level, where European project calls increasingly refer explicitly to citizen science. In short, citizen science is being taken more seriously, and certain myths have been debunked. For instance, we haven't received the question 'Is citizen science a cost-saving method?' for a while now."
Jef Van Laer, citizen science advisor: "We know that citizen research can yield data as reliable as traditional scientific research. The prejudice against citizen science, namely that it would lead to careless or unscientific findings, is less prevalent today than it was a few years ago. Citizen science projects work with meticulous protocols and rigorously monitor data quality. Thus, citizen science as an approach can lead to excellent science with peer-reviewed publications and new knowledge."
Annelies: "We also see a real evolution. Since CurieuzeNeuzen put citizen science on the map in 2018, a realm of possibilities has opened up. Citizens collect data and use the power of that data to highlight and, in many cases, solve a societal issue. Data can be a lever. Both scientists and politicians pick up on concerns. In many cases, we are evolving towards data-driven policy. Citizens can thus be the engine of societal change."
Sven Speybrouck, communication officer at amai!: "Citizen science brings scientific research out of the ivory tower. 'Resistance does not begin with big words but with small deeds,' begins a beautiful poem by Remco Campert. It ends with: 'Asking yourself a question. That's where resistance begins. And then asking someone else that question.' That's exactly how citizen science works. Whether you're a scientist or not doesn't matter. It's the shared curiosity that counts. How it can bring people together and inspire them to move mountains together, I find that very beautiful."

What changes do you anticipate in the near future? What are you looking forward to?

Charlotte: “What I personally look forward to is the completion of the CitSciScan, an inventory of citizen science projects in Belgium. Over the summer, three students conducted an extensive online search, according to a predetermined protocol. This resulted in a dataset of nearly 300 projects, which we then surveyed more thoroughly. Key elements such as themes, initiators, funding, and timing were addressed. This means that we now have a fairly comprehensive dataset that we can analyze. Not only regarding the topics covered and the approaches taken but also in terms of funding and collaborating partners. The CitSciScan will give policymakers the opportunity to see in which scientific or societal domains there are, for example, still few initiatives at the moment and whether it would be worthwhile to take specific actions there."
Jef: "I see a general trend towards participation. It's fair to say that citizen science and participation in the broad sense are increasingly penetrating, not only research institutions but also in societal organizations and umbrella organizations. There is attention to citizen science in knowledge institutions and governments, but also in patient organizations, in the heritage sector, and the social sector. Participation and citizen science are often a matter of matchmaking. On the one hand, there are scientists looking for scientific answers in a specific domain such as sleep or environmental noise; they are looking for citizens who can help answer their questions. On the other hand, civil society organizations or local governments pose certain research questions, but they cannot delineate them sharply and do not immediately know which researchers or institutions to approach."

Networks work

To what extent is Scivil active internationally, and will that presence increase in the future?

Charlotte: "Despite, or perhaps because, we are a small, tight-knit team, we can generate a lot, including international output at Scivil. We work at Scivil with only five employees, and since the arrival of Isaak and Sven, with seven employees. Nevertheless, we have a broad-reaching, strong network. It pays off; we receive extremely positive feedback on our events and publications, also on our Dutch and English newsletters, incidentally."
Karen: "That's true; I see a lot of potential in expanding our international aspect. We see that our online toolkits, templates, and guides, such as the guide for policymakers, the education guide, and the communication guide, are very successful. Where relevant, we translate those into English. For example, we can also promote the amai! method internationally and make complex policy issues manageable for the international citizen science community."
Annelies: "In Flanders, we establish our name as a knowledge centre for citizen science every day with the support of the Flemish government, but we also elevate that expertise to the European level. Within the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), we are an active partner. We promote Flanders as an active, mature citizen science region and exchange knowledge with other European partners. It's an enthusiastic, passionate network where we have many good contacts. Recently, we have also been seeking closer ties with the Belgian (federal) and Walloon levels. The intention is mainly that all our networks will strengthen each other in the future."

Integrating technology

How do you see your own job evolving in the future? What project is on your bucket list?

Sanne: "My job will not fundamentally change, but there are significant new developments in communication technology, such as AI, and we at Scivil certainly should not miss out on that. It's an extra tool, a power we can harness."
Isaak: "It goes without saying that I can't make any big statements now in my third week of work, but as a project officer at amai!, my focus is certainly on bridging the gap between AI and citizens. Essentially, it's about building the future together and ensuring a democratic transfer of AI knowledge. It's actually a dream mission to pass on that love and passion for AI."
Charlotte: "For me, the challenge lies in education. Involving more teachers in citizen science projects is a must. We currently see that certain teaching packages or post-training sessions, such as those on AI and ChatGPT, are very successful, but those are just the start. We could really fully integrate citizen science into education, in teaching packages but also in broad school projects, even in homework assignments. Scientists and research groups currently do not yet fully appreciate the potential of students and teachers."
Jef: "Scivil is embedded within imec, and precisely in the field of computer science, mathematics, engineering, or nano and chip technology, we see relatively few citizen science initiatives emerging. It seems like a nice challenge for the future to introduce citizen science into those research domains where it has not yet gained much ground."
Annelies: “As Scivil, we want to continue to grow steadily, sharpen our expertise, and remain the trusted beacon we already are for many initiators. A fun side project I'm looking forward to is our quiz 'What type of citizen scientist are you?', which can tell you what type of citizen science suits your profile, so that you as a citizen can contribute to a project in your area of interest. We also have many ideas for new guides that I would like to realize together with our network, such as a guide on the legal and privacy aspects of citizen science."

Diversification

Where do you see growth and potential for Scivil, what are the untapped areas you'd like to explore?

Jef: "When Scivil started five years ago, our focus was on the academic world. Gradually, we have expanded our antennae to (local) governments, civil society organizations, and education. In the next five years, we want to explore other corners of society, such as social organizations and umbrella organizations, libraries, and colleges. Especially in the latter partner, I strongly believe; we have seen that many colleges signed up for the amai! call from the Flemish government. That is certainly not strange because colleges are strongly embedded in the local social fabric and conduct research closely related to socially relevant questions."
Annelies: "What we mainly want to focus on is the trust of citizens in science and scientists. Citizen science is the ideal way to strengthen that trust and especially to counteract distrust. Those who do science as citizens are open to it, experience the difficulties and successes together, also realize what the societal impact can be. And that process can start at a young age. In essence, these are all ways to let citizen science grow and flourish through networks and partners. That's what we're here for."