Earlier this week, my colleagues Mendel Wong, Smriti Safaya and I had the pleasure of being part of a historical moment, a critical milestone and the culmination of a long journey towards the official formalisation of the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP). CitizenScience.Asia is proud to have been there from the beginning as part of the first Citizen Science Delegation at the UN Environment Assembly and Science Policy Business Forum in Nairobi in 2017 where the establishment of a Global Secretariat was first proposed. An inaugural General Assembly hosted by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), current Secretariat for the CSGP, was held on October 3, 2022 in Laxenburg, Austria (and online) to welcome this event.
As part of an opening address on the CSGP vision, my partner co-founder and co-chair, Mendel shared, “CitizenScience.Asia look[s] forward to 1) an open and inclusive strategy that embraces the diversity in Asia; 2) sharing of knowledge and resources that enable sustainable growth in citizen science activities; 3) a credible reference for legitimacy and trust in citizen science.” You can read the full CSGP Vision Statement by CitizenScience.Asia or watch the recording below.
Through the course of the event, members of the Board were voted in for the newly established association. The CSGP Board will start off consisting of six regional citizen science associations (CSAs) covering most of the globe: the Australian Citizen Science association (ACSA), Citizen Science Africa Association, the US-based Citizen Science Association (CSA), the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) and the Ibero-American Network of Participatory Science (RICAP), and of course CitizenScience.Asia for Asia, alongside founding partners the University of Geneva and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences.
Mendel, who has played an instrumental role in the development of the group as a member of the initial task and finish group to being an Interim Board member throughout the past 5 years, will continue to represent CitizenScience.Asia and the Asia citizen science community on the board.
“This has been an unbelievable achievement. So many people have come together and spent their own volunteer time to make this a reality. The support we had received from the UN Environment and the Science Policy Business Forum continues to fuel the progress of citizen science as a coordinated effort to addressing the SDGs. I’m so proud to be able to be an advocate and representative of the Asia region where we hope to make significant progress in mobilizing populations and communities, 60% of the world, to understand their abilities and contributions to make positive impact to our current societal and environmental issues through a scientific approach.”
Mendel Wong, CSGP Board Member and CitizenScience.Asia Co-founder & Co-chair
The full announcement for the launch was made online on the CSGP website:
On 3 October 2022, citizen science networks and practitioners from around the world welcomed the formation of the Citizen Science Global Partnership (CSGP), a newly established association which seeks to promote and advance Citizen Science for a sustainable world.
The partnership’s mission is to coordinate the collaboration of existing citizen science practitioners with international organizations and governments, and support the use of citizen science data and tools as key contributor to the global effort towards sustainable development.). It will establish diverse and inclusive partnerships across geographies, cultures, and research domains, promoting citizen science as a unifying, enabling and multiplying force for change.
At the partnership’s core is a network-of-networks of six citizen science associations that cover most of the globe: the Australian Citizen Science association (ACSA), Citizen Science Africa Association, CitizenScience.Asia, the US-based Citizen Science Association (CSA), the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), and the Ibero-American Network of Participatory Science (RICAP).
CSGP is incorporated as a non-profit association in Austria hosted by the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), with University of Geneva and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna as founding partners. The interim secretariat has been established at IIASA.
“IIASA is pleased to be the founding host member of the Citizen Science Global Partnership. Citizen science is important to strengthen societal participation and understanding of the scientific process, but also, to contribute to the democratization of science around the globe” says IIASA Director General Albert van Jaarsveld.
At the first general assembly of the CSGP association, experts from UNEP, UNESCO and UNICEF emphasized the importance of this partnership to help their organizations connect with the wider world of citizen science. An initial set of board members from the six citizen science associations and the founding members were elected. The elected Chair of the Board is Martin Brocklehurst, representing ECSA, and the Vice Chair is Libby Hepburn, representing ACSA.
“I am delighted to be elected to Chair the Board of the Citizen Science Global Partnership. We are seeing the birth of a major change in the way global environmental challenges are tackled. Through citizen science every person on the planet will have the opportunity to be part of the solution”, Brocklehurst comments.
The CSGP is looking forward to welcoming more CSAs as members, as well as civil society and private sector organizations active in the area of CS. For Maina Muniafu, Chair of CitSciAfrica Association, “this is indeed an exciting day for Citizen Science and marks the crowning of a journey that began a few years back. Congratulations and much appreciation to the pioneering associations that selflessly assisted in the birthing of new associations such as ours, and also welcomed us into this journey helping us to get our legs along the way. Long may CSGP prosper”.
For further information about the CSGP and its activities contact Rosy Mondardini, Managing Director of CS Center Zurich, at info@citizenscienceglobal.org
If you are interested in being part of CitizenScience.Asia or want to discuss how we can help your citizen science efforts, please do not hesitate to reach out to us online or by email at info@citizenscience.asia.
