Research Group "Citizen Science" at the Thünen Institute for Biodiversity

We establish citizen science-based monitoring schemes to record and better understand biodiversity in agricultural settings. Specifically, we investigate in questions (and solutions) how to best implement citizen science in agricultural settings to jointly generate new knowledge about biodiversity and to guide transformative processes with and for the stakeholders in these systems. Our working group has three major aims. First, design and establishment of citizen science in agricultural research, 2) implementation of citizen science and 3) investigation and exploration of the effectiveness and functioning of citizen science in agricultural settings. For the establishment of citizen science, we perform capacity building for citizen science in the agricultural landscape and aim to establish a culture of participation in applied agricultural research. Processes involved are part of accompanying scientific research. We apply methods and methodologies from the natural and social sciences and work in a multidisciplinary mindset. Some of our scientific questions are: 1) How can citizen science in biodiversity research be developed and integrated to support existing and planned monitoring activities in the agricultural landscape? 2) How effective and efficient are participative formats such as citizen science for population trend analysis, learning outputs for participants and citizens empowerment?