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Short Abstract

Using “Urban Gaps” (vacancy mapping in Germany’s Upper Middle Rhine Valley), we trace how citizen science builds skills, trust, and local agency. A Quintuple Helix lens and mixed methods reveal shifting motivations—including political ones—and propose indicators for social impact.

Abstract

This paper investigates how social-science-based citizen science generates hard-to-measure social effects for participants and communities. We analyse “Urban Gaps,” a one-year vacancy-mapping project in the Upper Middle Rhine Valley in Germany co-produced by citizens, municipal actors, and university researchers. Combining participant observation, interviews, a post-project survey, and media/document analysis, we track changes in motivations, roles, and perceived competencies across the project cycle. Using the Quintuple Helix as an analytical scaffold, we map impacts on individual learning (methods literacy, policy awareness), civic efficacy (responsibility for local development, willingness to act), and collective outcomes (trust, collaboration across community factions, data infrastructures for planning). Beyond established drivers (community benefit, interest in place, support for research), we identify political motivation as a distinct, dynamic category that shapes interactions. We propose a practical indicator set for “intangible” impacts—participation continuity, role diversification, cross-helix ties, openness of data/use in planning, and reflexive trust measures—along with protocols for motivation mapping and transparency. The presentation will also reflect on universities’ Third Mission roles as neutral knowledge brokers and regional change agents, and we'll show how careful design can turn intangible social effects into traceable, policy-relevant outcomes.