Citizen Science Workshop

Citizen science can play a key role in addressing gaps needed to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Involving the public in monitoring mechanisms enhances partnerships between academic institutions, non-government organizations, local government units, and the community members, which can achieve depth and breadth of data collection and analysis. The collaborative nature of citizen science promotes a healthy communication and deeper understanding of the UN SDGS, and simultaneously fosters scientific literacy while instilling a sense of pride and ownership for the community.

To celebrate Citizen Science Month, the AUN-EEC hosted this workshop titled "Citizen Science for Addressing the UN SDGs" last 18 April 2022. The event was co-hosted by the Ateneo de Manila University, Universiti Malaya, and De La Salle University. It is worth noting that this workshop was designed as a result of the 2021 AUN-EEC annual conference.

The workshop featured a plenary with guest speakers Prof. Darlene Cavalier, Founder of SciStarter and Professor of Practice in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University, Mr. Mendel Wong, Co-founder of CitizenScience.Asia, and Dr. Rachel Pateman, Research Fellow at the York Centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute, University of York.

After the plenary, there were four parallel workshop sessions: SDG 6: CS for Conservation of Water Ecosystems, "Place-based Citizen Science for Conservation of Water Ecosystems", coordinated by Dr. Zeeda Fatimah Mohamad, Director, Universiti Malaya Sustainability and Development Centre (UM SDC); SDG 12: CS for Plastic Waste, "#EcoSquadGoals: Citizen Science Against Plastic Waste", coordinated by Dr. Chona Camille Abeledo, Coordinator, Br. Alfred Shields FSC Marine Station (BrAMS), De La Salle University; SDG 14: CS for Coral Reefs, "Monitoring of Coral Reef Health Using the Alwan Citizen Science Methods", coordinated by Dr. Wilfredo Y. Licuanan, Director, Br. Alfred Shields FSC Ocean Research (SHORE) Center, De La Salle University; and SDG 15: CS on Urban Wildlife, "The City Wild: Community Citizen Science for Urban Biodiversity Conservation", coordinated by Ms. Maria Katrina C. Constantino, Instructor of the Department of Biology in Ateneo de Manila University and Ms. Abigail Marie Favis, Program Manager for Campus Sustainability in the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability.

View the recording of the plenary session here.