Impact indicators
Specific sets of impact metrics on the same theme are combined into a single indicator. Impact scores – out of 42 - are calculated based on a set of rules which takes these combinations into account. A higher score means the project is carrying out more activities related to the theme of the indicator, and is, therefore, more likely to have a higher positive impact in this area.
For example, the first indicator described below is that of “activeness”. Three impact metrics are combined to formulate this indicator. A high score means that the project is carrying out more activities related to “activeness”.
It is possible that the project may receive recommendations for indicators the project is not really interested in, or focused on. For example, the project may not have considered its economic productivity, and may not be interested in improving it. That’s OK. No project is obligated to take action on any of the recommendations MICS proposes.
Society
To measure the impact of citizen science on society, we initially considered two indicators: activeness and involvement.
Activeness
Definition: Activeness is the level of cognitive engagement; where “active” indicates that the participant requires full cognitive engagement during participation, and “passive” suggests there is no engagement beyond setup.
Questions:
- How much responsibility is offered to the participants?
- Are the participants satisfied with the process of participation in the project?
- Are participants aware they are contributing to a research project?
Why we use it:
Activeness is included in the ECSA characteristics of citizen science and explained in the explanation notes of this document.
“Participants need to be aware of the contribution and participate actively and intentionally, as this is necessary for cases where the information that participants produced is not directly used by the project, but only as a secondary use of data (e.g. reusing images that people share on a social networking site). We recommend transparency about roles and expectations…. it is highly recommended to be open and transparent about choices that were made about the roles of participants. The project owner has responsibility for communicating that the participants are contributing to research.”
Activeness is further discussed in the associated peer-reviewed publication, “Contours of citizen science: a vignette study”.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the activeness indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Society 4 |
How much responsibility is offered to the participants? (with options depending on interests, availability and knowledge). |
Not much |
0 |
Something in the middle |
8 |
||
A lot |
16 |
||
I don't know |
4 |
||
Society 8 |
Are the participants satisfied with the process of participation in the project? |
Yes, and it has been measured |
12 |
Yes, but it has not been measured |
10 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
4 |
||
Society 12 |
Are participants aware they are contributing to a research project? |
Yes |
14 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
4 |
Recommendations | Lower score | Higher score |
The activeness of participants within a project is an important aspect of citizen science. Efforts should be made to make participants aware they are contributing to a research project through clear communication channels, and to offer them the opportunity to be responsible for their activities. If the project has not measured their degree of satisfaction in the process, it might want to consider to consider investigating this further using this paper as a starting point. | 0 | 12 |
The activeness of participants within a project is an important aspect of citizen science. Activeness depends on participants being aware that they are contributing to a project, having a lot of responsibility in the project, and being satisfied with the process of participation. This project should ensure that all aspects of activeness have been considered. | 13 | 33 |
The activeness of participants within a project is an important aspect of citizen science, and this project has made great efforts to ensure participants are aware they are contributing to a research project, have responsibility in the project, and are satisfied with the process of participation. Great job! | 34 | 42 |
Involvement
Definition: Involvement is the degree of participation in different stages of a process.
Questions:
- In which phases of the project do participants play a role?
- Are participants offered multiple project activities which they can take part in?
- Are participants offered different levels of involvement in each project activity depending on their interest, availability and knowledge?
Why we use it:
Involvement is included in the ECSA characteristics of citizen science.
“Research involving citizen science can take many forms, and the roles of the participants can include, for example: identifying a research question, collecting or analysing data to support or refute a hypothesis; monitoring environmental or health conditions for management or policy outcomes; and creation of generic data within a domain to support a wide range of research questions.”
Involvement is further discussed in the associated peer-reviewed publication, “Contours of citizen science: a vignette study” as well as Kieslinger’s paper, “ The Challenge of Evaluation: An Open Framework for Evaluating Citizen Science Activities”.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the involvement indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Society 1 |
In which phases of the project do participants play a role? |
Background research |
2 |
Identifying a research question |
2 |
||
Grant proposal writing |
2 |
||
Project initiation |
1 |
||
Definition of project activities |
1 |
||
Design and development of technology and equipment for the project |
1 |
||
Collecting data |
1 |
||
Analysing data |
1 |
||
Monitoring in ways other than collecting data |
1 |
||
Passive participation (for example, contributing computer resources or social media information which is harvested by the project) |
0 |
||
Recruiting or engaging other participants |
1 |
||
Training other participants |
1 |
||
Sharing of outputs (including publications and arranging project events) |
1 |
||
Assessment of project impacts |
1 |
||
Acting on the results of the project |
1 |
||
Closure or handover of the project |
1 |
||
I don't know |
0 |
||
Society 2 |
Are participants offered multiple project activities which they can take part in? |
Yes |
13 |
No; participants only have one activity they can take part in |
0 |
||
I don’t know |
4 |
||
Society 3 |
Are participants offered different levels of involvement in each project activity depending on their interest, availability and knowledge? |
Yes |
13 |
No |
0 |
||
I don’t know |
4 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
Participants can contribute to many more phases of a project than collecting or analysing data. Think about other phases of the project participants could be involved with in the future, such as sharing the outputs or assessing impact. Remember that different participants will have different interests, knowledge and availability, so try to offer them different levels of involvement and multiple project activities to take part in. |
0 |
10 |
The degree of involvement of participants in a project is an important aspect of citizen science, and includes involving participants in multiple stages of the project, offering them multiple activities to take part in, and offering different levels of involvement depending on individual interests and availability. This project could consider whether there are more stages of the project that participants could be involved in for example by considering co-design or co-evaluation. |
11 |
29 |
The degree of involvement of participants in a project is an important aspect of citizen science, and this project goes to great lengths to ensure that participants are involved in multiple stages of the project. It is positive that participants are offered multiple project activities to take part in, and that they are offered different levels of involvement depending on their individual interests and availability. Good work! |
30 |
42 |
Governance
To measure the impact of citizen science on governance, we initially considered two indicators: policy and the sustainable development goals.
Policy
Definition: Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol.
Questions:
- Does the project's data or findings lead to the enforcement of existing regulations or policies?
- Which policy frameworks does the project consider?
- Does the project explicitly inform any governmental policy process?
- Does the project have any explicit impact on external organisational policy?
Why we use it:
Policy is addressed in the ECSA characteristics of citizen science where it is covered under “Links to decision-making”.
“Citizen science projects may include an intervention into the current state of affairs, such as local decision making. This might happen in activities that fall under banners such as participatory action research, community science, or addressing environmental injustice.”
In the explanation notes of this document, it is also noted that “Citizen science can be used in cases where the participants are concerned with an issue and want to actively change the situation, be it concern over public health, medical support to a group of patients, or addressing a pollution issue.”
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the policy indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Governance 34 |
Does the project's data or findings lead to the enforcement of existing regulations or policies?
|
Yes |
8 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
4 |
||
Governance 35 |
Which policy frameworks does the project consider?
|
Organisational frameworks |
1 |
Local frameworks |
1 |
||
Regional frameworks |
1 |
||
National frameworks |
1 |
||
Global frameworks |
1 |
||
The project does not consider any policy frameworks |
0 |
||
I don't know |
0 |
||
Governance 36 |
Does the project explicitly inform any governmental policy process? |
Yes, at the local level |
4 |
Yes, at the regional level |
6 |
||
Yes, at the national level |
8 |
||
Yes, at the international level |
10 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
1 |
||
Governance 37 |
Does the project have any explicit impact on external organisational policy? |
Yes |
8 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
4 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
It looks like policy influence might not be a priority for the project. Of course, not every project can affect policy and some projects have a large impact on governance without ever interacting with official policy. If you're interested in the idea of citizen science as a form of socio-technical governance you can read more in this paper If the project is interested in influencing policy, it could find inspiration from example projects in this report. It might not be a viable option if the project has already started, but citizen-science projects most often have success influencing policy when specific policies are considered in the design of the project and policy makers are engaged from the start of the project. |
0 |
7 |
The project's score for this indicator suggests it has started to have some impact on policy already. Well done! A common barrier to policy influence for citizen science is concerns about the data. The project could therefore consider addressing concerns surrounding the quality of citizen-science data and aligning the project with the data standards of the policy makers. |
8 |
19 |
The project might not look like it has the highest score for policy influence, but the answers given suggest it is actually among the more successful citizen-science projects in terms of policy. The most commonly considered impact on policy is citizen-science data as a source of information for decision makers. But citizen science can also directly impact policy as an object of research policy or as a policy instrument. Policy influence can also include affecting organisational policy not just governmental policy. It might be helpful to consider how the project is influencing policy currently and whether any of the other forms of policy influence could also be achieved in the project. The project might find further inspiration from example projects in this report. |
20 |
31 |
The project is among the most successful on this platform at influencing policy. Congratulations! To get a score this high, the project must already have a lot of experience interacting with policy. But if the project wants to achieve the top scores for this indicator, it will have to consider and explicitly inform governmental policy at all scales (local, regional, national and global). Additionally, the project needs to be confident it has had an impact on external organisational policy and contributed to the enforcement of existing regulations or policies. It's a lot to ask, so don't be worried if the project is happy as it is; it has already achieved a lot! |
32 |
37 |
The project is among the most successful on this platform at influencing policy. Congratulations! This suggests the project is quite exceptional in its interactions with policy makers. Maybe consider how you could share your experience with other projects so they can get inspiration and have similar success with policy influence. |
38 |
42 |
Sustainable development goals
Definition: The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". The SDGs were set up in 2015 by the United Nations General Assembly and are intended to be achieved by 2030.
Questions:
- Is the project team aware of what the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are?
- Is the project at all related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
- Which of the following Sustainable Development Goals is the project related to?
- Does the project include data which match a specific indicator of a Sustainable Development Goal?
- Does the project contribute data to the official reporting for a Sustainable Development Goal indicator?
Why we use it:
Aside from the SDGs becoming the latest buzzword in citizen science (see Fritz et al., 2019, for example) and MICS’ commitment to considering the SDGs in our project Grant Agreement, the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is an ambitious plan for “people, planet and prosperity”, aimed at achieving a sustainable future for all; what’s not to like about it?!
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the SDG indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Governance 38 |
Is the project team aware of what the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are? |
Yes |
2 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
1 |
||
Governance 39 |
Is the project at all related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
|
Yes |
4 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
2 |
||
Governance 40 |
Which of the following Sustainable Development Goals is the project related to?
|
(1) No Poverty |
2 |
(2) Zero Hunger |
2 |
||
(3) Good Health and Well-being |
2 |
||
(4) Quality Education |
2 |
||
(5) Gender Equality |
2 |
||
(6) Clean Water and Sanitation |
2 |
||
(7) Affordable and Clean Energy |
2 |
||
(8) Decent Work and Economic Growth |
2 |
||
(9) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure |
2 |
||
(10) Reducing Inequality |
2 |
||
(11) Sustainable Cities and Communities |
2 |
||
(12) Responsible Consumption and Production |
2 |
||
(13) Climate Action |
2 |
||
(14) Life Below Water |
2 |
||
(15) Life On Land |
2 |
||
(16) Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions |
2 |
||
(17) Partnerships for the Goals |
2 |
||
Governance 41 |
Does the project include data which match a specific indicator of a Sustainable Development Goal? |
Yes |
12 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
6 |
||
Governance 43 |
Does the project contribute data to the official reporting for a Sustainable Development Goal indicator? |
Yes |
18 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
6 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
The Sustainable Development Goals are a collection of 17 interlinked global goals designed to be a "blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all". However, citizen science has a much broader remit, so it is ok that your project does not directly consider them. You can find more information on SDGs here, to see if there are any possible links between their aims and your project. |
0 |
2 |
The project must be very closely aligned to the SDGs, either contributing data to the official reporting of the SDGs or with targets related to the majority of the goals. This makes this project one of the most impactful citizen-science projects with regards to the SDGs. |
36 |
42 |
The project is related to an improbably high number of SDGs. So improbably high, in fact, that it has broken our scoring system for this indicator. Excellent work! |
43 |
100 |
Economy
To measure the impact of citizen science on economy, we initially considered two indicators: economic productivity and financial sustainability.
Economic productivity
Definition: Economic productivity measures output per unit of input, such as labour, capital, or any other resource. It is often calculated for the economy as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP) to hours worked.
Questions:
- Does the project explicitly improve economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading or innovation?
Why we use it:
Economic productivity relates to SDG 8.2 Diversify, innovate and upgrade for economic productivity: Achieve higher levels of economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading and innovation, including through a focus on high-value added and labour-intensive sectors
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the economic productivity indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Economy 16 |
Does the project explicitly improve economic productivity through diversification, technological upgrading or innovation? |
Yes; the project doubled the GDP of a country |
420* |
Yes; but it wasn't as successful as that! |
42 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
21 |
* This is a humorous note. The MICS team will work to include lighter elements into the platform without compromising its scientific rigour. So, this is an initial experiment in this sense.
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
Well done! Can you give us a loan to improve MICS further? |
420 |
420 |
It is great that the project has produced outputs that contribute to the economy through industry, commerce, innovation or technological development. If you haven't already, it might be worth considering any legal implications through a dedicated IPR plan |
42 |
42 |
We know that economic productivity isn't a priority for most citizen-science projects. If you are interested in improving the economic productivity of the project, it might help to fully appraise any potential developments and advances made through the creation of a dedicated IPR plan. This will help reveal any economic potential that might have been overlooked, and support its exploitation. |
0 |
21 |
Financial sustainability
Definition: Financial sustainability is the assessment that a project will have sufficient funds to meet all its resource and financial obligations, whether the fund continues or not.
Questions:
- Does the project have explicit plans to sustain its activities after the current funding received has ended?
- Does the project have an explicit exploitation plan?
- Does the project require recurring investments in technology (for example, software licences or app/platform maintenance) that affect its long-term sustainability?
- What is the estimated, approximate cost per observation (in £, € or $) (observations as defined by the project)?
Why we use it:
Citizen science is frequently hailed as being an inexpensive alternative to traditional science. Palmer et al. note, “with its relatively low cost centred on non-recurring investments, citizen science is inherently more scalable than traditional tools”. But financial sustainability is more than simply using cheap equipment - it’s also about planning ahead for the exploitation of outputs, for example - which is why this indicator is a little broader than Palmer’s original definition.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the financial sustainability indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Economy 15 |
Does the project have explicit plans to sustain its activities after the current funding received has ended? |
Yes |
11 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
5 |
||
Economy 12 |
Does the project have an explicit exploitation plan? |
Yes |
10 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
5 |
||
Economy 24 |
Does the project require recurring investments in technology (for example, software licences or app/platform maintenance) that affect its long-term sustainability? |
Yes |
0 |
No |
11 |
||
I don't know. |
5 |
||
Economy 25 |
What is the estimated, approximate cost per observation (in £, € or $) (observations as defined by the project)? |
Observations are not a significant element of the project and quantifying their cost is not important. |
10 |
Less than 2 (Just for comparison, this is the income per day of one seventh of the world population.) |
10 |
||
2-8 (Just for comparison, this is the income per day of three sevenths of the world population.) |
6 |
||
9-32 (Just for curiosity, this is the income per day of two sevenths of the world population.) |
4 |
||
More than 32 (Just for curiosity, this is the income per day of one seventh of the world population.) |
2 |
||
I don't know |
5 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
If the project wants to improve its financial sustainability, it could consider creating an exploitation plan. To reduce recurring investments in technology and the cost per observation, the project could consider using open-source software and tools. |
0 |
9 |
Well done! The project has a high score due to forward thinking in creating an exploitation plan, planning sustainability activities to prolong the project's influence and fully appraising any recurring costs and maintenance. |
33 |
42 |
You are on the right path! It is clear that the project has considered its financial sustainability into the future. However, there could be more to do. If one does not already exist, an exploitation plan could help sustain project outputs, whilst considering open-source software and tools could reduce costs. |
10 |
32 |
Science and technology
To measure the impact of citizen science on science and technology, we initially considered two indicators: scientific productivity and interdisciplinary science.
Scientific productivity
Definition: Scientific productivity refers to the productivity of scientists in their research performance. In other words, the term concerns how much output scientists produce within a certain time period, or compared to the inputs that are utilized for the research.
Questions:
- How many publications, indexed by Google Scholar, resulted from the project?
- How many citations have the publications produced by the project received, in total (according to Google scholar)?
- What is the highest impact-factor (or impact-index) of the publications produced by the project? (Just Google: "[journal name]" impact factor
- Has the project supported student's dissertations or theses?
- How are the project outcomes shared?
Why we use it:
Scientific productivity is included in the ECSA characteristics of citizen science under the heading of data and knowledge generation.
“Citizen science, scientific, academic, and policy-oriented research can include different forms of data and knowledge generation, including novel data generation, creation of new analyses, or production of new knowledge in written and other forms. The knowledge produced in such projects should aspire to disciplinary standards, such as appropriate data quality and quality assurance, the peer review of project publications and materials, or policy-relevant evidence that is fit for decision-making.”
Kieslinger et al. also note the importance of citizen scientists participating in publications, or having their engagement recognised.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the scientific productivity indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Science 10 |
How many publications, indexed by Google Scholar, resulted from the project? |
The project has not produced any publications |
0 |
Less than 3 |
5 |
||
3-30 |
8 |
||
More than 30 |
9 |
||
I don't know |
1 |
||
Science 12 |
How many citations have the publications produced by the project received, in total (according to Google scholar)? |
Less than 3 |
3 |
3-30 |
5 |
||
31-300 |
8 |
||
More than 300 |
9 |
||
I don't know |
1 |
||
Science 13 |
What is the highest impact-factor (or impact-index) of the publications produced by the project? (Just Google: "[journal name]" impact factor |
Less than 2 |
5 |
2-5 |
7 |
||
More than 5 |
9 |
||
I don't know |
1 |
||
Science 15 |
Has the project supported students' dissertations or theses?
|
Yes |
5 |
It's in progress. |
4 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Science 26 |
How are the project outcomes shared?
|
Scholarly outputs, e.g. peer-review publications, open data sets |
4 |
Grey literature, e.g. reports, working papers, policy briefs |
2 |
||
Popular media, e.g. social media, magazine or newspaper articles, TV or radio, newsletters, leaflets |
1 |
||
Events, e.g. conferences, community talks, lectures, workshops, fairs, seminars or webinars |
3 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
It is essential to share the outputs of a citizen-science project - through events, media and publications - otherwise learnings will not extend beyond the sphere of the project. Not every citizen-science project has an academic focus on publications. Nevertheless, by publishing the results of the project in peer-reviewed journals, the project could improve its scientific impact. Try to publish in high-impact-factor journals so the publications will be cited more. Perhaps the project could even support students' dissertations or theses in the future. |
0 |
6 |
Congratulations - in a world of "publish or perish", this project has high scientific productivity. With many publications in high-impact-factor journals, the project's research has been well cited, indicating outcomes have been widely shared. |
30 |
42 |
Interdisciplinary science
Definition: Interdisciplinary science is the collaborative process of integrating knowledge/expertise from trained individuals of two or more disciplines.
Questions:
- Which disciplines are the focus of the project's research?
- Does the project explicitly promote interdisciplinary ways of working?
Why we use it:
There is evidence that interdisciplinarity is statistically significantly and positively associated with research impact (Okamura, 2019).
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the interdisciplinary science indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Science 1 |
Which disciplines are the focus of the project's research?
|
Citizen science (If you don't select this one, you are in trouble) |
1 |
Agricultural and veterinary sciences (including forestry sciences, fisheries sciences, and land and farm management) |
1 |
||
Art theory and criticism |
1 |
||
Biological sciences (including ecology, zoology, genetics, and biodiversity) |
1 |
||
Chemical sciences (including medicinal and biomolecular chemistry) |
1 |
||
Earth sciences (including geology, atmospheric sciences, and oceanography) |
1 |
||
Engineering (including food sciences, environmental engineering, and biomedical engineering) |
1 |
||
Environmental sciences (including ecological applications, environmental management, and soil sciences) |
1 |
||
Information and computing sciences (including artificial intelligence and image processing, distributed computing, and computer software) |
1 |
||
Language, communication and culture (including linguistics, and literary studies) |
1 |
||
Law and legal studies |
1 |
||
Mathematical sciences and statistics |
1 |
||
Medical and health sciences (including neurosciences, public health and health services, nutrition and dietetics, and human movement and sports science) |
1 |
||
Philosophy and religious studies (including applied ethics, and history and philosophy of specific fields) |
1 |
||
Physical sciences (including astronomical and space sciences, atomic, molecular, nuclear, particle and plasma physics, and quantum physics) |
1 |
||
Psychology and cognitive sciences |
1 |
||
Studies in human society (including human geography, history, archaeology, policy and administration, sociology, and education) |
1 |
||
Technology (including communications technologies, and computer hardware) |
1 |
||
I don't know |
0 |
||
Science 2 |
Does the project explicitly promote interdisciplinary ways of working? |
Yes |
30 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know |
15 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
It is essential to share the outputs of a citizen-science project - through events, media and publications - otherwise learnings will not extend beyond the sphere of the project. Not every citizen-science project has an academic focus on publications. Nevertheless, by publishing the results of the project in peer-reviewed journals, the project could improve its scientific impact. Try to publish in high-impact-factor journals so the publications will be cited more. Perhaps the project could even support students' dissertations or theses in the future. |
0 |
6 |
Congratulations - in a world of "publish or perish", this project has high scientific productivity. With many publications in high-impact-factor journals, the project's research has been well cited, indicating outcomes have been widely shared. |
30 |
42 |
Environment
To measure the impact of citizen science on environment, we initially considered two indicators: environmental footprint and environmental awareness.
Environmental footprint
Definition: The environmental (or ecological) footprint measures how fast we consume resources and generate waste compared to how fast nature can absorb our waste and generate resources.
Questions:
- Does the project take measures to decrease its material footprint?
- Does the project take measure to reduce its polluting emissions?
- Does the project have a procurement policy that is sustainable?
- Do the project activities include pro-environmental actions g. litter picking?
Why we use it:
Environmental footprint relates to SDG 9.4 Upgrade all industries and infrastructures for sustainability: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.
It also relates to SDG 12.2 Sustainable management and use of natural resources and SDG 12.7 Promote sustainable public procurement practices.
Moreover, even if a citizen-science project does not aim to have a positive impact on the environment, there are still ways in which the environmental footprint can be addressed; thus, this indicator is relevant to all citizen-science projects.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the environmental footprint indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Environment 1 |
Does the project take measures to decrease its material footprint?
|
Yes |
11 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Environment 2 |
Does the project take measures to reduce its polluting emissions? |
Yes |
11 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Environment 3 |
Does the project have a procurement policy that is sustainable?
|
Yes |
10 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Environment 9 |
Do the project activities include pro-environmental actions e.g. litter picking? |
Yes |
10 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
The project could do more to decrease its material footprint (see about.mics.tools/material-footprint), take measures to reduce its polluting emissions (see about.mics.tools/polluting-emissions), or use a sustainable procurement policy (see UCL's as an example). |
0 |
9 |
This indicator considers the project's material footprint, polluting emissions, procurement policy, and pro-environmental actions for participants (such as litter picking). The project's score for this indicator shows that the project has considered some of these elements but to get a higher score the project needs to take measures to improve its environmental footprint in all these areas. |
10 |
34 |
The project has taken actions to improve its environmental footprint by decreasing its material footprint, reducing its polluting emissions, using a sustainable procurement policy, and including pro-environmental actions for participants (such as litter picking). Congratulations! |
35 |
42 |
Environmental awareness
Definition: Environmental awareness can be broadly defined as the attitude regarding environmental consequences of human behaviour (Ham et al., 2016)
Questions:
- Does the project explicitly disseminate information on sustainable development or lifestyles?
- Does the project educate participants on environmental challenges?
- Does the project explicitly contribute to a higher awareness of, or positive attitude towards, the natural environment, on this planet or others?
- Does the project lead to an increased stewardship of the natural environment among participants?
Why we use it:
Environmental awareness relates to SDG 12.8 Promote universal understanding of sustainable lifestyles and SDG 13.3 Build knowledge and capacity to meet climate change.
All indicator scores are calculated by summing the weights of the answer options selected. Weights for the environmental awareness indicator are given below:
Question number |
Question text |
Answers |
Weights |
Environment 4 |
Does the project explicitly disseminate information on sustainable development or lifestyles?
|
Yes |
7 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Environment 5 |
Does the project educate participants on environmental challenges? |
Yes |
7 |
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
||
Environment 6 |
Does the project explicitly contribute to a higher awareness of, or positive attitude towards, the natural environment, on this planet or others? |
Yes, and it has been measured |
21 |
Yes, but it has not been measured |
14 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
7 |
||
Environment 7 |
Does the project lead to an increased stewardship of the natural environment among participants? |
Yes, and it has been measured |
7 |
Yes, but it has not been measured |
5 |
||
No |
0 |
||
I don't know. |
2 |
Recommendations |
Lower score |
Higher score |
Being environmentally aware means understanding how our behaviour impacts the environment and committing to making changes to our activities. The project could do more to educate participants on environmental challenges and contribute to participants' awareness of the natural environment, by explicitly disseminating information on sustainable lifestyles. |
0 |
6 |
The project clearly promotes environmental awareness, by educating participants on environmental challenges, or by contributing to participants' awareness of the natural environment through dissemination activities. Want to be able to measure participants' higher awareness, or increased stewardship? You might want to consider this paper. |
7 |
37 |
Congratulations! This project goes to great lengths not only to promote environmental awareness and educate participants on environmental challenges, but also to measure improvements in participants' environmental attitudes, behaviour and knowledge. |
38 |
42 |