The Leave No One Behind Toolkit (CitiObs Deliverable 1.1)

This document describes the Beta version of the CitiObs ‘Leave No One Behind’ (LNOB) Toolkit, which will be tested by the Frontrunner Cases and further co-developed with relevant stakeholders. The LNOB Toolkit seeks to support Citizen Observatories (COs) in the diverse and representative inclusion of participants across dimensions of gender, sociocultural origin, religious affiliation, literacy levels, social status, dis/ability and age. The pledge to ”Leave No One Behind” (LNOB) arose in connection with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to work towards a world in which all members of society will benefit from the efforts to end poverty and other deprivations, to improve health and education, to reduce inequality, and to spur economic growth, without excluding individuals or groups of people from those benefits. A recurrent challenge for Citizen Science projects and initiatives is the lack of diversity amongst participants. The causes for this can relate to limited capacity or reach on the part of project leaders, and a lack of resources on the part of potential participants such as time to participate, or the money to acquire equipment. However, the causes can be much more complex and intersectional with regard to gender, age, socio economic status, literacy levels, religious affiliation, dis/ability, and other factors. The LNOB Toolkit provides advice on how to reflect on this lack of diversity and engage with new groups of people in the activities of the COs, at different stages of the project lifecycle (i.e. before, during and after), with the aim of making participation more equitable, diverse, and inclusive. Iterative improvements will be made while this Beta version is tested in practice with the Frontrunner Cases in response to their needs and feedback, and further fine-tuned in collaboration with the Alliance Cases, leading to the final version that will be incorporated into the CitiObs Cookbook for broad use by the Fellow Cases and others.