Sustainable institutional change is on its way
Be inspired by others!
In order to build and expand your knowledge on institutional changes towards Citizen Science, a repository for best practices has been developed to gather the successful initiatives/programmes implemented by the Front Runners. The analysis of the best practices led to the identification of 24 types of Grounding Actions grouped in four Intervention Areas - Research, Education and Awareness, Support resources and Infrastructure, Policy and Assessment – that serves as inspiration for the project Implementers and may also be used by any RPOs willing embed CS in their activities.
Set your baseline!
Self-Assessment through a dedicated stock-taking exercise was a key initial step enabling Implementers to understand the state-of-the-art of their activities in terms of Citizen Science and already existing support structures in their own institutions. A self-assessment questionnaire developed by the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI) was used for this purpose and its output set baselines to the Grounding Actions and roadmaps guiding the process of expected change, moreover, it will also be key to evaluate the impact of the Grounding Actions in the medium- and long-term.
Define your roadmap towards Institutional change!
The definition, selection and planning of Grounding Actions and roadmaps for change was supported by a Reflection Tool developed by the European Science Foundation (ESF) based on the experience of GRACE project. This tool helped Implementers in defining short-, medium- and long-term achievable goals, in identifying the relevant stakeholders, the potential obstacles and necessary resources for each of the Grounding Actions (cf. Figure 1. Steps for defining a Grounding Action). Defined success criteria, detailed steps of implementation and timeline characterise the Grounding Actions that, altogether, will be the backbone of the first Roadmap framework leading to institutional change. The reflection tool will be soon available on TIME4CS Zenodo Community.
Co-create with your stakeholders!
On the basis of this key preliminary work co-creation meetings will be organised on the next two months. Each Implementer will invite their local stakeholders from the Quadruple Helix - namely from Science, Policy, Industry, and Society - for further adjustment and refinement of their Roadmaps.
Ready, Steady, Implement!
The compilation of the Grounding Actions and the draft of the first Roadmap by the Implementers (to be published in December) will mark a turning point for TIME4CS as it will lay the foundation of the Implementers’ future activities and it mark the beginning of the implementation phase. This new phase of the project will progress towards cultural and institutional change through the successful implementation of the defined Grounding Actions.
Connect with TIME4CS!
To raise further awareness and knowledge on Citizen Science throughout its progress, TIME4CS welcomes all opportunities to collaborate with researchers, staff, organisations and projects conducting and supporting Citizen Science activities. Researchers and institutions interested and involved in Citizen Science are invited to follow the project’s news and events through its website and social networks, to join the Citizen Science Helix and to get in touch with us for possible collaboration between Citizen Science projects.
Authors: Dr. Eugenia Vilarchao (ESF)
Marie Fleck (ESF)
Ildi Ipolyi (ESF)
