Consolidating Dispersed Knowledge About Citizen Science and Citizen Observatories: Experiences from the Four WeObserve Communities of Practice

A strong Community of Practice (CoP) can be powerful in supporting people to share, generate, and disseminate knowledge. This study evaluates the use of the Communities of Practice (CoP) approach for effective knowledge consolidation in the field of citizen science. Our paper offers an analysis of four CoPs that were set up as part of the European-based 3-year WeObserve project, with distinct themes of (1) co-design & citizen engagement; (2) impact and value for governance; (3) interoperability and standards; and (4) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Participation across the four CoPs fluctuated during their three-year life-time. Three key outcomes emerged from the CoPs. First, a joint identity and understanding were created within and across CoPs through the creation of an inception report by each CoP and through the creation of Citizen observatory (CO) vocabulary, which also served to differentiate such observatories from citizen science (CS) initiatives. Next, scientific papers and technical reports were cooperatively produced by CoP members that represent a synthesis of CoP members' knowledge. Essential ingredients to the success of these CoPs also included extensive stakeholder engagement and the CoPs being steered by the underpinning values of the CS community. The impacts of the WeObserve CoPs range from the uptake of jointly produced publications, novel cooperative CS projects, new CoPs, joint grant proposals, and the integration of citizen science data into SDG monitoring. This evaluation highlights the diverse and transformative potential of CoPs for citizen science practice.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Environmental Management
Published
2026-04-25
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-026-02442-z
Primary Topic
Species Distribution and Climate Change
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

Funders

Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Consolidating Dispersed Knowledge About Citizen Science and Citizen Observatories: Experiences from the Four WeObserve Communities of Practice

Andreas Matheus, Mohammad Gharesifard, Maina Muniafu, Stephen Mac Feely et al.
Environmental Management
Species Distribution and Climate Change
article

Consolidating Dispersed Knowledge About Citizen Science and Citizen Observatories: Experiences from the Four WeObserve Communities of Practice

Andreas Matheus, Mohammad Gharesifard, Maina Muniafu, Stephen Mac Feely, Uta Wehn, Jillian Campbell, Ane Bilbao, Lukáš Mocek, Carlo Andrea Biraghi, Eugenio Gervasini, Margaret M. Gold, Ali Yousefi, Laurent Durieux, Jessica L. Oliver, Eglė Butkevičienė, Joan Masó Pau, Linda See, Lea Shanley, Gerid Hager, Ajates, Gitte Kragh, Dilek Fraisl, Tova Crystal
article en

Abstract

A strong Community of Practice (CoP) can be powerful in supporting people to share, generate, and disseminate knowledge. This study evaluates the use of the Communities of Practice (CoP) approach for effective knowledge consolidation in the field of citizen science. Our paper offers an analysis of four CoPs that were set up as part of the European-based 3-year WeObserve project, with distinct themes of (1) co-design & citizen engagement; (2) impact and value for governance; (3) interoperability and standards; and (4) the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Participation across the four CoPs fluctuated during their three-year life-time. Three key outcomes emerged from the CoPs. First, a joint identity and understanding were created within and across CoPs through the creation of an inception report by each CoP and through the creation of Citizen observatory (CO) vocabulary, which also served to differentiate such observatories from citizen science (CS) initiatives. Next, scientific papers and technical reports were cooperatively produced by CoP members that represent a synthesis of CoP members' knowledge. Essential ingredients to the success of these CoPs also included extensive stakeholder engagement and the CoPs being steered by the underpinning values of the CS community. The impacts of the WeObserve CoPs range from the uptake of jointly produced publications, novel cooperative CS projects, new CoPs, joint grant proposals, and the integration of citizen science data into SDG monitoring. This evaluation highlights the diverse and transformative potential of CoPs for citizen science practice.

Environmental ManagementVol. 76(5)
Leiden University (NL), International Computer Science Institute (US), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (AT), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (ES), University of Groningen (NL), Isfahan University of Technology (IR), Kaunas University of Technology (LT), African Studies Centre (NL), Aarhus University (DK), University of Applied Sciences Leiden (NL), IHE Delft Institute for Water Education (NL), Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat (CA), Sensor Electronics (United States) (US), Unidades Centrales Científico-Técnicas (ES), Joint Research Centre (IT), Institut du Développement Durable et des Relations Internationales (FR), Centre for Research on Ecology and Forestry Applications (ES), Australian Physiotherapy Association (AU), Laboratoire Vision Action Cognition (FR), United States International University Africa (KE), Politecnico di Milano (IT), Delft University of Technology (NL)
European Commission
Openalex Percentile: Top 11%
Species Distribution and Climate Change
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.