Challenges and solutions to establishing and sustaining citizen science projects in South Africa

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dc.contributor.authorHulbert, J. M.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorTurner, S. C.en_ZA
dc.contributor.authorScott, S. L.en_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2019-08-08T06:34:21Z
dc.date.accessioned2021-08-30T10:57:23Z
dc.date.available2019-08-08T06:34:21Z
dc.date.available2021-08-30T10:57:23Z
dc.date.issued2019-07-30
dc.descriptionCITATION: Hulbert, J. M., Turner, S. C. & Scott, S. L. 2019. Challenges and solutions to establishing and sustaining citizen science projects in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 115(7/8):5844, doi:10.17159/sajs.2019/5844.
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://sajs.co.za
dc.description.abstractCitizen science is a term for research that engages non-scientists in the collection and generation of data. Many citizen science projects exist within South Africa and, because of their success, we expect more projects will be initiated. In this Commentary, we discuss three projects based in, but not confined to, the Western Cape Province to provide context for their methods, specific objectives and overall desired impacts. We then identify a few challenges that we have faced from the researcher perspective and we provide recommendations for those interested in initiating a citizen science project in South Africa. Many projects involve citizen scientists because their participation enhances the breadth of the research through the collection of data over greater spatio-temporal scales.1-3 However, not all projects in South Africa have purely research objectives, some are education-oriented with the specific objective of empowering the participants. In some cases, the educational objectives may be motivated by the desire to engage local communities or by the understanding of ubuntu wisdom. Citizen science is therefore a powerful approach to address multiple objectives, but there are many challenges to achieving the desired outcomes. We outline these challenges below within the context of an education-oriented project, a research-oriented project and a project that combines the two objectives.
dc.description.urihttps://sajs.co.za/article/view/5844
dc.description.versionPublisher's version
dc.format.extent4 pages
dc.identifier.citationHulbert, J.M., Turner, S.C. and Scott, S.L. (2019). Challenges and solutions to establishing and sustaining citizen science projects in South Africa. South African Journal of Science 115, #5844, 4 pages. DOI: 10.17159/sajs.2019/5844.en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationHulbert, J. M., Turner, S. C. & Scott, S. L. 2019. Challenges and solutions to establishing and sustaining citizen science projects in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, 115(7/8):5844, doi:10.17159/sajs.2019/5844.
dc.identifier.issn1996-7489 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.17159/sajs.2019/5844
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/122890
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherAcademy of Science of South Africa
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyright
dc.subjectScience educationen_ZA
dc.subjectPublic engagementen_ZA
dc.subjectScience outreachen_ZA
dc.subjectScience projects -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.subjectScience -- Study and teaching -- South Africaen_ZA
dc.titleChallenges and solutions to establishing and sustaining citizen science projects in South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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