Learn about citizen science

Knowledge about citizen science can be acquired online as well as at various institutions in many different learning formats. In addition to universities, which present the basic methods of citizen science in various courses, there are also further education opportunities offered by associations or networks. Since such continuing education opportunities are developing very dynamically, please contact your institution directly or write to us if we should send you any offers.

The Citizen Science Association regularly offers webinars in English on specific topics in citizen science which are conducted by experts in their respective fields in a very professional manner.

Another option for finding out and learning more about citizen science is books and publications. We have provided a small selection of these here:

• "Popular knowledge - from 19th century amateur research to today's citizen science - an approach" (2023, in German): On the initiative of Österreich forscht and under the guidance of the editor Dr Christian Stifter, 29 authors* from a wide range of Austrian institutions, including associations, universities, authorities and museums, have reviewed the history of citizen science in Austria from the 19th century to the present day. Since this history of "lay research" in Austria is so incredibly diverse, the 17 chapters can only be an approximation. There is also a short review in German on Österreich forscht.
  
  
• The Science of Citizen Science (2021): An anthology resulting from a COST Action on citizen science summarises many different aspects of citizen science from a European perspective and presents them in 26 chapters. The book was illustrated by our partner SPOTTERON. The book is written in English and available free of charge as a pdf. A summary of the book in German can be found in Katrin Vohland's blog post.

• Citizen Science: Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy (2018): This anthology offers an impressive overview of citizen science in Europe in English and can be downloaded for free. Österreich forscht also gives a short review of this book in a blog entry. 

• Citizen Science Terminology Matters: Exploring Key Terms (2017): This overview article (also in English) deals with different terms used to describe citizen science and the people involved in it. The article is available for free. Österreich forscht also gives a short review of this in a blog entry.
  
  
• What is citizen science? (2016): What is to be considered in planning and implementation and what examples or recommendations are there for this? These are the questions dealt with in the handbook "citizen science for All". It is a publication of the platform Bürger Schaffen Wissen (GEWISS), in which the experiences of 31 authors are incorporated. This publication is also available for free and we have written a review of it.
  
  
• Citizen Science – Public Participation in Environmental Science (2012): This book in English offers a good first introduction to the topic and tries to inform on a broad basis, but remains very focused on the U.S. American area. As the title suggests, the authors of this book deal with citizen science in the environmental sciences, thus excluding the humanities and social sciences. Österreich forscht also gives a short review of this in a blog entry.

In addition, there are also many collections of guidelines and tools for citizen science projects. The most extensive collection is offered by the European Citizen Science Association on its platform and on EU-Citizen.Science. On EU-Citizen.Science there are also a number of online citizen science training courses that focus on different aspects of citizen science. We have tested some of them and present them in the following blog posts:

• Introduction to Citizen Science
• Citizen Science Typologies
• Designing for Learning through Citizen Science
• Leading a 'Train the Trainer' Workshop
• Citizen Science Projects: How to make a difference (Part 1)
• Storytelling for Citizen Science

If you need information or literature on a specific topic and cannot find it here, don't hesitate to contact us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..