Welcome to the SOCIOBEE ( GA n.º 101037648) inclusion questionnaire. This questionnaire has been designed to help Citizen Science projects reflect on inclusion processes and equality at all stages. The aim of this questionnaire is not only to encourage reflection and debate on the need to take into account the criteria of inclusion and equality in citizen science, but also to help projects and the people involved in them to improve their dynamics of participation and management of the knowledge generated. This questionnaire is structured in 4 blocks:
1) Community participation and representativeness (hive)
Citizen science aims to involve the community in the science processes it creates. To this end, it is essential to take into account the different perspectives, interests and values of the people who are part of that community in its creation. While representation need not be a direct replica of the composition of a population, participation in citizen science needs to reflect as much as possible the characteristics and sensitivities that are part of a diverse society (Pandya, 2012; Paleco, 2021). This is both for reasons of legitimacy and for reasons of influence. First, inclusive citizen science, to the extent that it incorporates the contributions of people and groups with different perspectives (Doyle, 2010), benefits from a greater number and diversity of data and sources, and its scientific results are more consistent.
Despite most citizen science projects state their ambition to be inclusive, recent research by Paleco et al. (2021) shows a series of trends that indicate vulnerable groups and minority groups in society tend to be under-represented.
2) Inclusive Data and data analisisRecent works affirm that in order to foster a meaningful participation of the diverse groups in the citizen science, their involvement is needed not only in the data gathering, but also in the design of the project, in the analysis of the data, and in acting on the results, (Ehrlich and Ehrlich, 2013; Daguitan et al., 2019).
Data sovereignty in these processes should minimise the risk that the collection and analysis of data may pose to the participants, especially when data managers handle information from or collected by vulnerable groups. Therefore, we share the concern of ensuring that participants from the vulnerable groups and other local communities with whom we collaborate retain full control of the data that they facilitate collecting.
3)Accesibility of the toolsPutting people at the centre means that the whole system/platform designed to operate our hive must be accessible and understandable for all participants.
Universal Design is a strategy aimed at the development of environments, products, information and communication technologies and services that are accessible to all and usable by all "Universal Design" means the design of products, environments, programmes and services so that they can be used by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialised design. Universal design" shall not exclude assistive devices for particular groups of persons with disabilities where necessary. (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 2006, Article 2)
4) Secure Spaces and Inclusive participationWe understand safe environment as any physical or digital space (Gibson, 2019) in which any of the activities that are developed and the relationships that are established are aimed at promoting the well-being of the person, promoting the culture of Good Treatment, guaranteeing respect among all, asserting the rights of each person and collaborating in the personal growth of each individual. Involving all key agents, including external institutions. (Deusto, 2022).
To address the issue of safe environments in citizen science projects we can build on what has already been advanced by large citizen science associations, such as ECSA, but we can also enrich the approach with contributions that have been made from corporate safe environments.
This questionnaire is intended as an iterative questionnaire in which each question can be answered by means of a likerd scale. To guide the answers, rubrics are provided to establish the assessment criteria. In addition, in each item you will find links and complementary sources of information.
The answers never collect personal information and will only be used to provide feedback according to the needs of each project. The research team that created the questionnaire will only use this information for statistical and analytical purposes.
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If you need help during the process or would like to receive personalised coaching you can contact: