Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects
Citizen science is gaining attention as an approach to involving communities in gathering data and contributing to decision-making in public health. Stakeholders interested in citizen science have identified a need for support in applying these approaches and in obtaining evidence of their value. Ho...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Ubiquity Press
2022-07-01
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| Series: | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/488 |
| _version_ | 1811221150685986816 |
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| author | Samantha Rowbotham Yvonne Laird Leah Marks Pippy Walker Katherine Pontifex Amani Sobhan Karen Wardle Kim Jose Kate Garvey Sean O’Rourke Ben Smith |
| author_facet | Samantha Rowbotham Yvonne Laird Leah Marks Pippy Walker Katherine Pontifex Amani Sobhan Karen Wardle Kim Jose Kate Garvey Sean O’Rourke Ben Smith |
| author_sort | Samantha Rowbotham |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Citizen science is gaining attention as an approach to involving communities in gathering data and contributing to decision-making in public health. Stakeholders interested in citizen science have identified a need for support in applying these approaches and in obtaining evidence of their value. However, there have been few attempts to evaluate citizen science approaches within policy and practice contexts in public health. Within this protocol paper, we outline an approach to evaluating stakeholder-led citizen science projects that focuses on fostering innovation and building capacity in the use of citizen science approaches by these stakeholders. We will use developmental evaluation, which focuses on ongoing reflection and adaptation, to guide the development and delivery of four stakeholder-led citizen science projects in public health. We will employ a multiple embedded case study design, using surveys and interviews, observations of project meetings, reflective journaling, and document review to gather perspectives from a range of stakeholders across the four projects. Data will be synthesised to explore how projects using citizen science approaches operate within policy and practice contexts, including the barriers and facilitators to their application, the circumstances under which they are most useful, and the impacts of these approaches. A developmental approach to evaluation will enable us to build capacity in the use of citizen science approaches by sharing insights and learnings as project teams navigate their individual projects. We hope that this paper will stimulate further discussion about the application and evaluation of citizen science approaches in public health and beyond. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:54:23Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-5441c9617e584d7b913d7e5e2c58b58b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2057-4991 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T07:54:23Z |
| publishDate | 2022-07-01 |
| publisher | Ubiquity Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Citizen Science: Theory and Practice |
| spelling | doaj.art-5441c9617e584d7b913d7e5e2c58b58b2022-12-22T03:41:32ZengUbiquity PressCitizen Science: Theory and Practice2057-49912022-07-017110.5334/cstp.488173Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led ProjectsSamantha Rowbotham0Yvonne Laird1Leah Marks2Pippy Walker3Katherine Pontifex4Amani Sobhan5Karen Wardle6Kim Jose7Kate Garvey8Sean O’Rourke9Ben Smith10University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyUniversity of SydneyUniversity of SydneyWellbeing SASouth Western Sydney Local Health DistrictSouth Western Sydney Local Health DistrictUniversity of TasmaniaTasmanian Department of HealthVicHealthUniversity of SydneyCitizen science is gaining attention as an approach to involving communities in gathering data and contributing to decision-making in public health. Stakeholders interested in citizen science have identified a need for support in applying these approaches and in obtaining evidence of their value. However, there have been few attempts to evaluate citizen science approaches within policy and practice contexts in public health. Within this protocol paper, we outline an approach to evaluating stakeholder-led citizen science projects that focuses on fostering innovation and building capacity in the use of citizen science approaches by these stakeholders. We will use developmental evaluation, which focuses on ongoing reflection and adaptation, to guide the development and delivery of four stakeholder-led citizen science projects in public health. We will employ a multiple embedded case study design, using surveys and interviews, observations of project meetings, reflective journaling, and document review to gather perspectives from a range of stakeholders across the four projects. Data will be synthesised to explore how projects using citizen science approaches operate within policy and practice contexts, including the barriers and facilitators to their application, the circumstances under which they are most useful, and the impacts of these approaches. A developmental approach to evaluation will enable us to build capacity in the use of citizen science approaches by sharing insights and learnings as project teams navigate their individual projects. We hope that this paper will stimulate further discussion about the application and evaluation of citizen science approaches in public health and beyond.https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/488citizen scienceevaluationcapacity buildingpublic healthhealth policy |
| spellingShingle | Samantha Rowbotham Yvonne Laird Leah Marks Pippy Walker Katherine Pontifex Amani Sobhan Karen Wardle Kim Jose Kate Garvey Sean O’Rourke Ben Smith Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects Citizen Science: Theory and Practice citizen science evaluation capacity building public health health policy |
| title | Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects |
| title_full | Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects |
| title_fullStr | Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects |
| title_full_unstemmed | Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects |
| title_short | Building Capacity to Apply Citizen Science Approaches in Policy and Practice for Public Health: Protocol for a Developmental Evaluation of Four Stakeholder-Led Projects |
| title_sort | building capacity to apply citizen science approaches in policy and practice for public health protocol for a developmental evaluation of four stakeholder led projects |
| topic | citizen science evaluation capacity building public health health policy |
| url | https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/488 |
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