Citizen Science Resource Hub
The OTTERS Citizen Science Resource Hub collects together guidelines, training resources, educational materials, factsheets, campaign toolkits and more, which can be utilised when organising and running citizen science campaigns in freshwater and marine settings.
These resources also provide general guidance for citizen science projects, and what needs to be considered from a practical, legal, ethical and training standpoint. The Hub contains resources developed within the OTTERS project, as well as some useful external links.
The Hub is an ongoing resource which we will continue to update as new materials are developed, and we will also develop the functionality of the Hub as time goes on.
Guidelines and tools
Recordings
OTTERS Workshop: Legal Issues Regarding Citizen Generated Data for The Water Domain
OTTERS Workshop: Ethical Issues & Water Stewardship
OTTERS Workshop: Co-designing Water Citizen Science Projects
OTTERS Seminar: Citizen-Generated Data for Water Research
Guidelines
Draft whitepapers on the effectiveness of citizen science in the water domain:
- The role of citizen science within WFD and SDGs, and how to incentivize the collaboration with environmental regulators
- Riparian Ecotone Citizen Science
- Citizen Science as a contributor to the Marine Strategy Framework Directive implementation
Toolkits
PREP4BLUE – Engaging Citizens with Mission Ocean and Waters: A toolbox of approaches
European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) – Ten Principles of Citizen Science
Presentations
CSIC – Spring to Sevan Stewardship Workshop: Blue education for Armenian teachers
EMBIMOS – Citizen-generated Data for Water Research
CSIC – Citizen-generated Data for Water Research: Projects on sensor development
This online course blends the theoretical foundations of citizen science with hands-on tools and practices. It offers participants a comprehensive perspective—starting with the key challenges facing water ecosystems and moving toward concrete methods by which citizen science can raise awareness and support solutions. No prior experience is necessary to enroll.
The course was developed by the American University of Armenia Acopian Center for the Environment within the frame of the OTTERS project.
The OTTERS Citizen Science information package (CSIP) is created for university educators to guide them through the incorporation of citizen science into their curricula. It comprises (links to) readily available citizen science materials, a toolkit with guidelines for decision making and citizen science project design, whitepapers, and examples of existing citizen science courses. The CSIP also provides free open-source software for use at various stages of citizen science projects. To access the material, click on the link provided and self-enroll using any google based email account.
The course was developed by RAMANI within the frame of the OTTERS project.
Toolkits
Building upon insights from the OTTERS Co-Creation sessions and the first series of Toolkits, which guided stakeholders in organizing co-creation sessions, this Final OTTERS Citizen Science (CS) Toolkit represents the collective efforts and shared expertise. It integrates the outcomes of these sessions and provides tailored messages and visual resources for the most represented stakeholder groups, ensuring targeted and impactful engagement for their major water-related challenges.
This toolkit serves as a guide for educators to measure freshwater quality. It developed by the American University of Armenia (AUA), in the frame of the EU-funded OTTERS project with the active engagement of AUA students.
This co-creation toolkit enable any interested stakeholders to organise a session and afterward, a campaign that will change hearts and minds by integrating citizen science components that engage citizens, empower younger and older generations to take action to resolve the issue of river and lake pollution.
CS is a collaborative effort where members of the general public voluntarily contribute to scientific research.
This co-creation toolkit enable any interested stakeholders to organise a session and afterward, a campaign that will change people’s Hearts and Minds in terms of water stewardship.
CS can help address different problems and involve various tasks such as data collection, analysis, and reporting, often in collaboration with professional scientists.
This co-creation toolkit enable any interested stakeholders to organise a session and afterward, a campaign that will change people’s Hearts and Minds in terms of clean beaches.
Enrich citizen science and community engagement with these designed and printable postcards offer in curtesy of the EU-funded OTTERES project.
Inventory of citizen science projects
Educational materials
External resources
NUCLIO, Blackrock Castle Observatory: Rubrics for green competences assessment