New development: Citizen science—discovering (new) solutions to wicked problems

IMPACT

The general population can play a pivotal role in future research endeavours, from the inception of research projects through to delivering research impact. Citizen science is the active, co-participation of the public in scientific research. Through true collaboration, this article shows how citizen science has the potential to discover new solutions to wicked problems. Climate change, extreme poverty, pandemics, health inequalities, and natural disasters are just a few examples of where citizens may hold the key to driving (partial) solutions for a better world.

ABSTRACT

The article explores the role citizen science can play in discovering new solutions to pressing wicked problems. Using illustrations of citizen science projects to show how and where citizens have been fundamental in creating solutions and driving change, the article calls for wider recognition and use of citizen science in public administration and management research. For wider utilization of citizens’ active co-participation in research design, delivery and dissemination, the article presents a set of citizen science pathways.

KEYWORDS:

• Citizen science
• co-participation
• public administration
• public management
• research design
• solutions
• wicked problems

Wicked problems

Many public policy problems are considered wicked (Termeer et al., 2015), as they are often complex, unpredictable, open-ended, with conclusive solutions rarely found (Head and Alford, 2015). Wicked problems are particularly challenging for public administrations given the wide ranging and far-reaching interests and values of stakeholders, the institutional complexity of inter-organizational co-operation and multilevel governance, and fragmentation and gaps in reliable knowledge (Head & Alford, 2015). Consequently, such problems attract debate due to the different approaches to problem framing linked to ‘different evidence bases and different approaches to policy resolution’ (Head, 2014, p. 664).

The presence of different ontologies that have framed wicked problems’ definition and solution in the public sector has been magnified by a public sector ecosystem that crosses the public, private and third sectors. This complexity has resulted in a diverse set of institutional logics that are often in conflict, which can be destructive for collective action in response to wicked problems. Nevertheless, addressing wicked problems requires integrative thinking across organizations, domains, and sectors and, in some cases, across countries (for example Fisher, 2014).

The wicked problems facing public administrations and often cited in the public administration and management literature encompass climate change, extreme poverty, pandemics, human rights abuses, violent crime, infant mortality, child abuse and neglect, illiteracy, racism, social prejudice, forced migration, health inequalities, obesity, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, industrial and infrastructure failures, sustainable food production, and societal ageing. Given the inherent complexity involved, it may only be possible to frame partial and provisional courses of action to address such problems (Head and Alford, 2013), but the question remains how?

Solving wicked problems

To date, research on wicked problems typically concerns ‘how-to’ action strategies (Termeer et al., 2015). Though valuable to our understanding of meeting the challenges of wicked problems, existing insights neglect co-participants in the management of wicked problems, for example the citizens who are affected by such problems and who can help in the discovery of new solutions. Geuijen et al. (2017) provide one of the few exceptions to this by emphasising the role of public value theory. Specifically, they demonstrate how a public value lens applied to the management of wicked problems can enable value creation for all, by including voices of ‘all affected interests’.

Extending this line of thinking, it is arguably no longer appropriate to assume that traditional decision-makers (for example public agencies, local government, policy-makers) will necessarily be best placed to find solutions to wicked problems. Clearly such actors’ governance capabilities are important, such as reflexivity (the capability to deal with multiple frames); resilience (the capability to adjust actions to uncertain changes); responsiveness (the capability to respond to changing agendas and expectations); and revitalization (the capability to unblock stagnations), as outlined by Termeer et al. (2015). Nevertheless, there is a need for a paradigm shift in how collective action can be cultivated against wicked problems—central to this is citizen science.

The centrality of citizens is espoused in the public management field through the public service dominant logic (for example Osborne et al., 2013) and, more recently, public service logic (Osborne, 2020). These important developments have led to a large body of work on co-design, co-production, and value co-creation in the public management field, with several specific applications of these concepts in the context of wicked problems (for example Bianchi et al., 2017). Yet, a citizen science perspective has been neglected—despite being the potential origin of scientific solutions to pressing wicked problems.

What is citizen science?

In the past two decades, citizen scientists have augmented the work of professional scientists, with the two groups conducting research in collaboration. An increasing number of scientific research projects are now carried out in an open and collaborative way by engaging volunteers from the general population, who are not trained scientists, in different aspects of research projects (for example designing and suggesting hypotheses, collecting, categorizing, and ana­lysing data, and communicating findings) (Bonney et al., 2014; West & Pateman, 2016).

Citizen science projects cover a broad range of topics across diverse disciplines such as biology, art, history, climate, nature, social science, literature, and space. Sometimes referred to as ‘crowd science’, ‘networked science’, or ‘massively-collaborative science’ (Franzoni & Sauermann, 2014), the term ‘citizen science’ was first defined by sociologist Irwin (1995) as ‘a science which assists the needs and concerns of citizens … a form of science developed and enacted by citizens themselves’ (p. xi). More recently, the European Commission’s white paper on citizen science defined it as ‘general public engagement in scientific research activities when citizens actively contribute to science either with their intellectual effort or surrounding knowledge or with their tools and resources’ (EC, 2014, p. 8).

Based on the stages of the scientific process in which volunteer citizens are involved and their degree of control and participation, citizen science projects can be classified as either contribu­tory, collaborative, or co-created (Bonney et al., 2009). Contributory projects are those where scientists generally shape the project design and research questions, and members of the public mainly help to collect data; col­laborative projects involve the public in project design, data analyses, or dissemination of findings; and co-created projects involve citizens throughout, where at least some members of the public are actively involved in most or all stages of the scientific process.

In recent years, the number of citizen science projects has increased dramatically, along with the volume of scientific reports and peer-reviewed articles produced from their data. A driver of this observed growth is the internet and digital technologies, which have aided collaboration and eliminated many of the barriers to collecting, managing, and analysing complex data; as well as enabling increased project visibility and accessibility across the globe (Bonney et al., 2014).

Citizen science projects

There are many examples of successful citizen science projects delivering research advances and discoveries. For instance, Galaxy Zoo is a project involving over 250,000 volunteers who, by assisting with the classification of galaxies according to their shapes, are advancing understanding of how galaxies are formed; EyesOnAlz uses gamification (Stall Catchers game) to enable the public to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease research and speed up drug discovery; and the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project helps local residents achieve healthy homes, healthy jobs, and healthy neighbourhoods.

Wiggins and Crowston (2011) broadly group existing citizen science projects into five types based on a project’s primary goals:

• Action-oriented projects are initiated by volunteers, encourage participant involvement in local issues, and use scientific research as an instrument to support potential solutions.

• Conservation projects support natural resource management goals, involving participants in stewardship for outreach and increased scope.

• Investigation projects are focused on scientific research goals requiring data collection from the physical environment.

• Virtual projects are focused on scientific research goals similar to investigation projects, but are entirely based on information technology with all volunteer interactions online.

• Education projects are focused on education and outreach as the primary goals, where all members are explicitly education-oriented and outcomes typically provide formal and informal learning resources (Wiggins & Crowston, 2011).

While the goals of citizen science projects are varied, there is consensus that ‘citizen science holds the potential for developing new ways to collectively solve big problems and to fundamentally change the relationship between science and society’ (Bonney et al., 2016, p. 2, emphasis added).

Citizen science projects are prevalent throughout the world, with millions of individuals participating in the process of scientific discovery (Bonney et al., 2016). Consequently, professional associations are actively supporting and co-ordinating best practices for citizen science projects, such as the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), the Citizen Science Association (CSA) in the USA, and the Aus­tralian Citizen Science Association (ACSA). Public bodies have followed this development. The US federal government, for instance, provides an e-toolkit to assist with designing and maintaining citizen science projects and, in 2021, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI 2021) invested £1.46 million in funding a series of citizen science projects.

Discovering solutions

The potential role of citizen science to solve wicked problems is highlighted by Fraisl et al. (2020), who observe how such projects are proving critical to realizing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Projects driving the discovery of new solutions include:

• Cell Slider, a project collaboration between Zooniverse and Cancer UK, involved citizen volunteers analysing samples of breast cancer tumours from previous studies, resulting in over 2,000,000 contributions through an app. The aim was to help accelerate research in the fight against cancer and prompted further follow-on projects to help citizen scientists spot cancer cells (for example Trailblazer). Collectively, these projects increased citizen volunteers’ accuracy in spotting cancer cells to within 10% of scientists’ analyses (cancerresearchuk.org/get-involved/citizen-science).

• Patientslikeme, a social network for people living with chronic illness, citizen volunteers upload personal health data on drug side effects and impacts of treatments. Data is generated by over 830,000 volunteers across 2,900 conditions (approximately). The programme seeks to improve the lives of patients through the development of new knowledge to treat chronic illnesses (patientslikeme.com).

• The Missing Maps project creates maps of disaster-prone areas for improved relief efforts by humanitarian organizations. Volunteer citizens trace satellite imagery into OpenStreetMap, which is augmented by local citizens with additional key information (for example street names and the locations of evacuation centres), providing critical data that is typically absent from open and accessible maps. With disasters responsible for high levels of mortality and displacement globally, the project is helping to save lives and communities (missingmaps.org).

• CleanAir@School, a collaboration between European Network of the Heads of Environmental Protection Agencies (EPA) and European Environment Agency (EEA), citizens monitored air quality around schools across Europe. Showing the relationship between air pollution and children’s health prompted behavioural changes in the mode of transport used by parents and older pupils (eea.europa.eu/cleanair-at-school).

• BioCollect, developed by the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA), collects biodiversity data in collaboration with organizations and citizens. New biodiversity data is transferred to the ALA to enable access to big data for activity-based interventions (for example protection and restoration) (ala.org.au/biocollect/).

• Air Quality Citizen Science uses low-cost sensors deployed by citizen scientists to generate spatially and temporally resolved air quality data that complement NASA satellite observations. The overarching goal is to help overcome particulate air pollution, which is the cause of an estimated 6.5 million deaths every year from pollution-attributable diseases (aqcitizenscience.rti.org).

The impact of such projects to address wicked problems is dependent on citizens direct involvement. Conventional methods and resources available to scientists such as survey instruments, as well as the recent democratisation of knowledge (for example Plan S and open access), could not meet the respective goals or scope of the above projects. Similarly, conventional engagement methods such as citizens’ assemblies and citizens’ juries cannot match the big data scale of citizen science projects, are not citizen-driven, and are comparatively much more expensive.

Citizen science pathways to future solutions

Head (2019, p. 192) calls for ‘governments to embrace stakeholder pluralism’ in confronting wicked problems. A citizen science perspective is essential here, where citizens become integral to the solution. As Fraisl et al. (2020, p. 1748) explain: ‘partnerships between governments … and citizen science practitioners are key to … achievable actions that could also lead to building on each other’s experiences, needs, and capacities’. Based on the insights presented in this article, and Bonney et al.’s (2009) classification, we present a framework of citizen science modality to inform future research that seeks co-operative, citizen-driven solutions to wicked problems (see Figure 1).

Figure 1. Citizen science pathways for wicked problem solutions.

Climate change, extreme poverty, pandemics, health inequalities, natural disasters are just a small number of the wicked problems facing public administrations globally. There is consensus that action is needed to address such problems, but the forms such action should take are often highly contested due to the complexity of the problems at hand, the scale of required co-action, and the typically substantial costs involved. Yet, drawing on the enthusiasm, skills, passion, and knowledge of citizen volunteers across the world, citizen science research projects can provide a new channel to solution discovery.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).