IN-PERSON London. Section A

Abstract

Globally, we are living in an age of urbanisation, where over 50% of people in the world now live in cities. With expanding populations moving to new ways of living in increasingly dense urban settings, improving health, wellbeing, opportunities for social exchange, civic participation and connection to nature are critical. This necessitates an in-depth understanding of how we engage and use changing urban built environments. Citizen science empowers residents with the skills to assess local environments and share lived experiences; creating meaningful dialogue for change and opportunities for co-design. Citizen science is a broad field where members of the public work closely with researchers to advance scientific knowledge. It capitalises on people’s innate sense of curiosity, nurturing their desire to learn, question, contribute, and interact with others; and providing researchers with rich, in-depth knowledge of local environments and populations. While citizen science is well established in the natural sciences, it remains difficult to find examples in mainstream social sciences. Yet, citizen science has much to offer, particularly in the fields of design, architecture, and planning. This presentation draws on a series of national and international citizen science projects (2017-24) exploring different aspects of the built environment. The flow-on impacts realised from localised, meaningful citizen science activities include building new knowledge and skill sets, strengthening social networks, improving wellbeing, and connecting with governing authorities to foster community change at different urban scales. Citizen scientists can become catalysts for change, encouraging and enhancing collaborations between communities, local authorities, services and business sectors.