Mapping hydro-ecological citizen science activities to inform research infrastructure design (Chess Catchment, UK)
File(s)
Published version
Author(s)
Fogarty, Cara
Veness, William
Dussaillant, Alejandro
Buytaert, Wouter
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
The UK's Floods and Droughts Research Infrastructure (FDRI) is a £38M government investment, aiming to catalyse hydrological research and innovation by improving hydrological datasets and providing a suite of supporting services. Citizen Science (CS) activities are now abundant in the UK and are a significant opportunity for integration if existing projects, their objectives, operational barriers and priorities for support can be identified. From user-design principles, we develop a multiple-methods approach mapping CS activities in the River Chess catchment, Buckinghamshire, using a literature review, 12 key informant interviews and thematic analysis. We identify six ecological and five hydrological CS projects. A shared priority among CS projects was that their data collection creates tangible impacts in science, policy or management. As such, the modal recommendation is for research support on practical questions. Delivery of quality research from CS activities can attract greater contributions of time, research and resources by satisfying objectives shared by citizen scientists and their supporting partners. We recommend replication of this scalable method as infrastructures expand, so that they capture opportunities to leverage existing CS projects with mutual benefits.
Date Issued
2025-11-01
Date Acceptance
2025-09-08
Citation
Hydrology Research, 2025, 56 (11), pp.1161-1181
ISSN
1998-9563
Publisher
IWA Publishing
Start Page
1161
End Page
1181
Journal / Book Title
Hydrology Research
Volume
56
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2025 The Authors This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licence (CC BY 4.0), which permits copying, adaptation and redistribution, provided the original work is properly cited (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
License URL
Identifier
10.2166/nh.2025.028
Subjects
citizen science
floods
hydrological monitoring
Physical Sciences
research infrastructure
Science & Technology
stakeholder mapping
user design
WATER
Water Resources
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-09-18