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Short Abstract

Citizen science often fails to influence policy despite public engagement. We argue that inclusive collaboration and digital tools that clarify data can help participants communicate results more effectively to policymakers, increasing the impact of environmental health projects.

Abstract

Many citizen science and environmental health projects assume that active participant involvement will automatically lead to policy change. In practice, this is often not the case, which can cause disappointment among volunteers and reduce their motivation. Based on our experience from several ongoing and past environmental health projects, we want to contribute to the discussion on how citizen science results can better inform policy. We argue that, besides involving diverse stakeholders throughout all research stages—from design and data collection to analysis and dissemination—appropriate digital tools also play a key role. Platforms for data access and analysis can help non-experts understand the issues, uncertainties, and interpretations. This understanding can motivate them to communicate findings more effectively to policymakers. We can share and demonstrate respective examples, and discuss both drivers and barriers related to this process.