The role of the public in 'Big Society' is now extremely topical but with over half of the biodiversity monitoring in the UK being collected by voluntary organizations there is already significant reliance on the third sector for key environmental knowledge. The value this provides is acknowledged in the white paper 'The Natural Choice'.
With the economic climate and increasing need for new environmental knowledge the UK-EOF Management Group members are looking to increase public engagement and to the 'Big Society' to help collect information. A workshop was held on 27 July 2011 to:
- Identify the new requirements, aspirations and plans of public sector organisations for citizen science monitoring.
- Identify areas of synergy across organisations and sectors.
- Exchange knowledge on best practice and discuss issues and/or concerns
- Scope the need for further national co-ordination (by the UK-EOF or others) to achieve synergies and address the recommendations of the Measuring Change in the Countryside and Beyond 2010 reports.
The workshop was well attended and participants showed enthusiasm and a clear appetite for citizen science. Round table presentations provided a useful summary of what is currently being addressed across the public and volunteer groups. Discussion sessions on the challenges and potential areas for collaboration provided initial steps to inform and join up the community.
The discussions, general concepts and recommendations from the day are detailed in the Workshop Report. The UK-EOF is now working with partner organisations to take forward some of the actions and recommendations that emerged from the day.
