CS Lab: Maturity Model
The model offers citizen-science practitioners a quick overview of ‘things to consider’ when planning their project, or the next stage thereof. It visualises key requirements for a project’s progression across different stages (exploratory, experimental, analytical, transformative).
Maturity Model for urban citizen science projects
The triple perspective helps users better understand each phase in terms of who should be engaged (people), how things should be managed (governance), and how to leverage ICTs to drive better outcomes (technology).
Stages of development
The aim of this preparatory stage is to set a CS project on a solid footing by assessing local environmental conditions with regards to air quality, understanding which capabilities are required for success, identifying needs of key stakeholders, and embedding co-creation in the experiment design.
People
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Find out what worries people most affected by air pollution and what motivates them to act on it
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Collect feedback from public authorities on how CS can help to advance policy objectives
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Liaise with community champions to understand how they can add value e.g. through engagement and technical support
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Establish contact with trusted intermediaries (schools, charities, agencies, special-interest groups etc.) that work with vulnerable and/or hard-to-reach communities
Governance
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Align organisational structure with desired impact e.g. allow civil servants to steer the agenda if policy impact is the ultimate goal
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Develop a training package to give volunteers confidence and capacity to be citizen scientists
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Co-create project scope, share research protocols with participants, get interested volunteers to sign informed consent forms
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Perform a risk assessment if a particular stakeholder group is excluded from experiment
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Synchronise plans with stakeholder schedules to ensure timely data collection
Technology
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Use existing digital apps, such as heat maps, to understand problematic areas (e.g. pollution hotspots and blindspots) and identify target locations for interventions
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Test sensors for connectivity to ensure uninterrupted data transfer from device to the cloud; bear in mind that not all countries support standards like NB-IoT
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Locate reference stations in the vicinity of a target location with the view to using their high-precision data to calibrate low-cost sensors
Further reading
