Authorship:
Bridie Schultz, The Australian Citizen Science Association
Astra Sang Yum, Sativus Pty Ltd
Kylie Hewson, Sativus Pty Ltd
Matthew Grace, The Australian Citizen Science Association
Romane H. Cristescu, Detection Dogs for Conservation, School of Science, Technology, and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs QLD, 4556, Australia (ORCID: Bridie Schultz 0000-0001-9524-702X; Romane H. Cristescu 0000-0001-7071-5245)
Introduction
Citizen science projects involve everyday people engaging in the collection and analysis of scientific data to collaborate with, and help, scientists with their research projects to understand the world better and create solutions to real world challenges. Citizen science was created to develop partnerships between local communities and scientific research that benefits both (1) to undertake projects that are for the educational benefit of the community, the research, or both (2).
Unlike traditional methods, citizen science is people-centred, allowing individuals to actively engage with and contribute to scientific efforts. As a result, citizen science provides continuous data collection and current data, empowering communities to track and address issues at a local level while contributing to broader, global datasets. This form of collaboration is already yielding new insights in diverse fields, such as food and agriculture, city monitoring, biodiversity, and pollution, and can be more resilient to political change.
In the face of global challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental degradation, community action is integral to driving the collection of new, real-time data. While traditional data collection methods often face limitations in terms of accessibility, frequency, and geographic coverage, citizen science offers a powerful alternative.
Citizen Science and the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a framework for addressing global challenges, including issues such as climate change, poverty, inequality, and environmental degradation (3). While the SDGs are typically associated with global policy and development initiatives, they also offer valuable opportunities for integrating community-led initiatives into real-world issues.
Through partnerships with governments and research organisations, citizen science projects provide the opportunity for citizens to develop a deeper understanding of scientific and political initiatives that affect their homes and community. This empathetic relationship can cultivate a sense of responsibility and stewardship towards the environment and society on a global scale and encourage them to critically analyse and contextualise their findings in relation to the UN SDGs. Actively involving community members in the collection and analysis of scientific data instils a sense of agency and empowerment, encouraging action towards the achievement of the SDGs and nurturing a collective of informed and engaged global citizens.
The United Nations One Map Initiative
The One Map, One Humanity (4) initiative is a collaborative effort launched by the UN Geospatial Network, designed to accelerate progress toward the SDGs. It focuses on creating a unified, accessible geospatial data platform that integrates geographic information across 42 UN agencies. This initiative is driven by the goal of addressing global challenges, including peace, security, humanitarian action, international law, sustainable development, and human rights, by enhancing geospatial capabilities at global, regional, and local levels.
A key aspect of the initiative is its community-driven implementation, which involves collective intelligence to ensure the sustainability of its geospatial data ecosystem. The initiative also emphasises the use of cutting-edge technologies and a cross-sector operational framework supported by a multi-stakeholder trust fund model for resilient financing. The overarching aim is to create resilient, sustainable habitats while driving data-driven solutions to global challenges. This initiative aligns with the UN Data Strategy to enhance national science-policy interfaces and build cross-cutting monitoring systems that are vital for advancing sustainable development worldwide.
Citizen Science as a vital component of the UN One Map initiative
Citizen science offers a unique approach that aligns seamlessly with the UN’s commitment to achieving the SDGs by facilitating more inclusive, participatory data collection and analysis.
One of the challenges faced by geospatial data-driven initiatives is ensuring the reliability of the collected data. Citizen science addresses this issue by providing crowdsourced geographic data, such as GPS coordinates and location-based updates, which can be used to verify and validate existing datasets. For example, community members can use mobile apps or location-based services to confirm or update the status of geographical features. This may include reporting new construction, changes in land use, or alterations in local ecosystems. This collaborative approach helps create a dynamic and continuously evolving resource that reflects the latest on-the-ground realities.
One of the primary benefits of citizen science in the context of the One Map Initiative is its ability to provide high-resolution, geographically granular data on a variety of critical issues. Local communities often have a deeper understanding of their surroundings, which can enhance the contribution to environmental monitoring and urban development. For instance, local community members can monitor environmental shifts, such as deforestation, land degradation, biodiversity loss, and climate-induced phenomena like floods or droughts. This data is particularly valuable in remote or underrepresented areas, where conventional data sources are sparse.
One of the most compelling aspects of citizen science is its inherent inclusivity. By empowering marginalised or remote communities to engage with global mapping efforts, citizen science ensures that diverse populations, often overlooked in official data collection, are represented in the One Map Initiative’s geospatial database. This inclusivity is critical for capturing a comprehensive view of global challenges, ensuring that less communities are left behind in decision-making processes.
Citizen Science in Action: A case study in Australia
In Australia, citizen science is already playing a pivotal role in addressing environmental challenges. One notable example is the National Koala Monitoring Program (5), established by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and the Federal Government, which aims to track changes in koala populations and their distribution. The program relies heavily on citizen science to gather data across vast, often remote areas.
Through a collaboration with the University of the Sunshine Coast, the Koala Spotter App was developed to allow community members to participate in monitoring efforts by using Bluetooth technology to detect koalas in the wild6. The data collected by citizens directly feeds into the National Koala Monitoring Program, helping scientists and policymakers make informed decisions on research priorities and funding allocations for the endangered species.
Further blending modern technology with traditional ecological knowledge, Indigenous rangers are using drones to monitor koala populations in regions threatened by wildfires (6). While traditional on-ground searches for koalas can be slow and laborious, drones can provide a more efficient method. Drones operated by the rangers can cover much larger areas than traditional ground transect could, offering greater accuracy in locating koalas, which might otherwise be missed by ground teams.
In addition to these initiatives, industry drone pilots have partnered with schools to train students as qualified geospatial scientists (6). Working alongside UAV pilots, students are taught how researchers fly drones and use geospatial technology to locate koalas. The data collected by drones contributes to koala monitoring efforts, ensuring that the next generation of citizen scientists are equipped with the skills and the knowledge to make an impact. Through their participation, local communities are contributing to research that shapes long-term solutions for the protection of their world.
Turning theory into practice
Citizen science is a powerful tool that enables community members to have a broad and deep engagement in scientific research, enabling the collection of valuable knowledge that transcends boundaries. Citizens, whether farmers, builders, teachers, or economists, are curious and intelligent, and as such, are uniquely positioned to contribute to scientific efforts that align with the UN’s goals.
In the context of the One Map for One Humanity initiative, citizen science has the potential to mobilise communities to contribute data that supports the integration of social, economic, and environmental information. This collaborative approach helps tackle pressing global challenges, including the triple planetary emergency: climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss, and enhances peace, security, and humanitarian efforts. By empowering communities, citizen science can ensure that the One Map initiative creates a more inclusive, resilient world, advancing the UN’s sustainable development pillars through the collective power of data and collaboration.
Acknowledgements: the authors acknowledge the contributions of Alexandre Caldas and Yigang Li (United Nations Environmental Programme) and the Citizen Science Global Partnership for their contributions to this concept of work.
References:
(1) Bonney, R., Phillips, T. B., Ballard, H. L., & Enck, J. W. (2016). Can citizen science enhance public understanding of science? Public understanding of science, 25(1), 2-16.
(2) Silvertown, J. (2009). A new dawn for citizen science. Trends in ecology & evolution, 24(9), 467-471.
(3) United Nations. (2025). Citizen science and the sustainable development goals. Available at: https://sdgs.un.org/goals.
(4) United Nations Environment Programme. (2024). One Map, One Humanity: Pioneering Geospatial Collaboration for a Resilient Future at WUF12. Available at: https://www.unhabitatyouth.org/en/one-map-by-unep-presented-at-future-generations-zone-at-wuf12/
(5) Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water. (2025) National koala monitoring program. Available at: https://www.dcceew.gov.au/environment/biodiversity/threatened/species/koalas/national-koala-monitoring-program. UniSC (2025). Koala Spotter App: Citizen Science in Action.
(6) Sativus Pty Ltd, Australian Citizen Science Association, and Citizen Science Global Partnership. (2024). Citizen science and the UN Summit of the Future. Available at: https://youtu.be/q9n2QyXovgY?si=Vl_UUtEZTxVQuJIN. This video was showcased at the United Nations Conference: Celebrating the Future with Localization of SDGs, Culture, Youth, and Digital Innovation.