- Collaborated with the UN Statistics Division (UNSD) to establish the The Copenhagen Framework on Citizen Data for integrating citizen-generated data into SDG monitoring with the Collaborative on Citizen Data. Participated in UN Expert Group Meetings including the “Citizen-Generated Data: A Conceptual Framework” in September 2023 in Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Surveyed citizen-generated data by region to show how they help fill official data gaps and to encourage targeted scientific methods for remaining gaps.
- Hosted international webinars:
- Organized Special Collections in journals:
- Publication of journal articles:
- To promote use of citizen science for the SDGs in Africa: Elias, P., Shonowo, A., de Sherbinin, A., Hultquist, C., Danielsen, F., Cooper, C., Mondardini, M., Faustman, E., Browser, A., Minster, J.-B.M., van Deventer, M. and Popescu, I., 2023. Mapping the Landscape of Citizen Science in Africa: Assessing its Potential Contributions to Sustainable Development Goals 6 and 11 on Access to Clean Water and Sanitation and Sustainable Cities. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 8(1), p.33.DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.601
- To promote proper data stewardship practices by Citizen Science and Crowdsourcing initiatives: Bowser, A., Cooper, C., De Sherbinin, A., Wiggins, A., Brenton, P., Chuang, T. R., Faustman, E., Haklay, M., & Meloche, M. (2020). Still in need of norms: The state of the data in citizen science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 5(1), [18]. https://doi.org/10.5334/CSTP.303
- On citizen science practices and their use for the SDGs: de Sherbinin A, Bowser A, Chuang T-R, Cooper C, Danielsen F, Edmunds R, Elias P, Faustman E, Hultquist C, Mondardini R, Popescu I, Shonowo A and Sivakumar K (2021) The Critical Importance of Citizen Science Data. Front. Clim. 3:650760. doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fclim.2021.650760
- Conference presentations:
- “Bridging Data Gaps with Citizen Science for People and Policy” session at International Data Week 2025 in Brisbane, Australia in October 2025.
- “Promoting Citizen-Generated Data for Derived Products” presentation at GIScience 2025 for Oceania in New Zealand in August 2025.
- Association of Advancing Participatory Sciences (AAPS) presentations by interns Yaqian Wu for Asia “Unlocking the Potential of Citizen Science (CS) in Asia: Challenges and Pathways for Integrating SDG Indicator Monitoring” and Amanda Vilchez for Latin America “Participatory Science in LAC: Mapping SDG Contributions via RICAP Network” in Portland, USA in May 2025.
- “Towards Best Practice in Participatory Mapping for Global Challenges“ session at the International Data Week 2023 in Salzburg, Austria.
- Presented a survey of African Citizen Science groups at a panel session “Citizen Science Generated Data in Africa and Potential Contributions to the SDG’s” at CODATA International FAIR Convergence Symposium 2020 with reference to data collection and governance focused on Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH), urban development and service provision especially in slum/informal settlements. This work identified citizen science datasets that are best suited to alignment with the SDG framework in Africa.
- CODATA–WDS TG on Citizen Science for the SDGs identified a shortlist of effective practices for data validation, curation, and use that will enable Citizen Science projects to make their data open and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable). Provided how to guides for citizen science groups on SDG indicators:
