In “The Decade of Citizen Science is here: Be part of it”, Martin Brocklehurst outlined how citizen science can provide meaningful democratic and economic input and buy-in to deliver a liveable future. This hybrid event took place on Wednesday 3 May 2023 in the O’Brien Science Centre, UCD Belfield campus and online via Zoom.
Martin Brocklehurst, co-founder of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) and the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), outlined how citizen science can provide meaningful democratic and economic input and buy-in to deliver a liveable future – in terms of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. How for the first time in our history, as a species on this planet, scientists have the technology to connect people and collect research data and information on a scale and density unimagined but a few years ago. Not only to answer research questions but to support international agreements and government policy and to drive behavioural change. That we can do so at a pace needed to tackle the three great challenges of our time: climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. We owe it to the next generation to grasp this chance and turn citizens into the generation that changed our world.
There will be time for Q+A from the audience after the presentation. This event aims to facilitate interdisciplinary discussions and to share knowledge about the use of and strategy for citizen science over the next decade.