WeObserve Toolkit

These tools support the co-creation and co-design of a Citizen Science project or Citizens Observatories by any citizen or community that addresses social innovation in some form, facilitated through methods by which they can ideate, plan and identify as well as bring relevant stakeholders into a project.

	Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The Community Level Indicators (CLIs) tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to start a new project and is designed to be used throughout a citizen science project. The CLI method involves asking community members to identify extra information that a community in a citizen science project can collect to complement and contextualise sensor data. This tool helps participants to monitor the impact of their actions by tracking and measuring real change. The Community Level Indicators tool helps participants to collaboratively choose what information will be collected, and how. This tool can also be used at the end of a data collection period, to see how actions have made a difference. Access|Learn more
	Co-design methodology Description:  The Ground Truth 2.0 methodology for co-designing sustainable citizen observatories is based on a socio-technical approach. It explicitly addresses how to foster a sustainable community of relevant actors in tandem with co-designing enabling technologies. The methodology consists of guiding principles and a generic sequence of activities with possible iterations and feedback loops, inspired by the Living Labs approach. The design and development of the citizen observatory tools and platforms are refined in five phases, using a user-centred design approach with requirements framed in terms of user narratives, or “stories”, not in terms of technical descriptions. Access | Learn more
	Co-design for Climate Innovation Card Set Description: This tool includes:i) Card set with 5 different categories of cards(Personas, Places, Scenario, Data and SDGs, ii) Instructions Booklet, iii) Accompanying slides for facilitator. Access
	Participatory methods Description: Participatory methods were utilised in the context of different phases of the SCENT project. The approach described is focused on the development of a participatory strategy, involving both citizens and dedicated stakeholders (i.e. public authorities) towards the definition of the end-user requirements of the SCENT toolbox. Access
	GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world.
	WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more
	SCENT Campaign Manager Description: The SCENT Campaign Manager is a web-based application, which allows public administrators, policy makers and other interested users to create and manage citizen science campaigns for monitoring and streamlining the collection of environmental information. Learn more
	Empathy Timeline Tool Description: The Empathy Timeline tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to start a new project and is designed to be used at the beginning of a citizen science project. This Empathy Timeline method involves asking community members to think about the complexities of the shared issue they would like to monitor. The tool helps community members become aware of their own subjective viewpoints on environmental problems, as this approach allows participants to think about their own personal perceptions. This reflexivity can be achieved by having community members talk about the ways that they are affected by the issue, but also the ways that they contribute to it. An empathy timeline facilitates community building by bringing people together to discuss issues and consider them in a way that they perhaps have not often done before. Access|Learn more

These tools enable Citizens Observatory communities decide what environmental concerns they share, how they can be measured, how often, by whom, what technology and training is needed as well as the set of indicators that will enable them to measure progress throughout the project in line with community goals. This category also includes tools that support data collection for a range of environmental and geographical dimensions.

	Research in Your Growing Space Handbook Description: This is a comprehensive guide intended to support growers in designing and running their own research projects in their growing space. It takes users through detailed steps, from the identification and refinement of research questions, experiment design, data collection and analysis and using actionable insights. Download: Handbook
	Picture Pile Description: Picture Pile application allows users to look at a pair of satellite images from different years and report if they can see any evidence of deforestation. All data collected are completely open and can be freely used by everyone. Learn More Download: Web | Google Play | App Store
	GeoWiki Description: The Geo-Wiki platform provides citizens with the means to engage in environmental monitoring of the earth by providing feedback on existing information overlaid on satellite imagery or by contributing entirely new data. Data can be input via the traditional desktop platform or mobile devices, with campaigns and games used to incentivise input. Learn More
	GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world.
	WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more
	Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The Community Level Indicators (CLIs) tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to start a new project and is designed to be used throughout a citizen science project. The CLI method involves asking community members to identify extra information that a community in a citizen science project can collect to complement and contextualise sensor data. This tool helps participants to monitor the impact of their actions by tracking and measuring real change. The Community Level Indicators tool helps participants to collaboratively choose what information will be collected, and how. This tool can also be used at the end of a data collection period, to see how actions have made a difference. Access|Learn more
	GROW Videos Description: The GROW Observatory released a wide range of videos on its Youtube channel, mainly focusing on a) “How to” videos, e.g Measuring slope, angle and aspect on a growing site and b) “Disseminating results and advocacy” videos, e.g. GROW Policy workshop videos and GROW Key Achievements. Learn More
	LandSense City Oases App Description: This app allows users to pick an activity and see information and reviews of selected spots. If users visit spots, they can rate them based on a few selected subjective criteria. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	LandSense Mijn Park Description: This mobile application aims to collect on-site expressions of satisfaction with features of city parks from volunteers. The volunteers act like kind of ‘human sensors’ indicating how they feel at certain points in the park. Learn more Download: Google Play
	LandSense Natura Alert Description: Natura Alert allows citizens to pinpoint the location of threats to biodiversity and habitat changes. Particular focus is given to threats that are occurring in Important Bird Areas (IBAs) around the world and Natura 2000 sites in the European Union. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	LandSense Crop Support app Description: The digital platform CropSupport provides support to farmers and other interested citizens in collecting data on land use and land cover. For the service of collecting data, farmers get through CropSupport platform useful data on their land, such as processed satellite images which contain information on potential crop stress due to exposure to pests, plant diseases, lack of water or nutrients in the soil. Learn more Download: Google Play
	Ground Truth 2.0 Maasai Mara Citizen Observatory App Description: The Maasai Mara Citizen Observatory android app allows citizens (local & tourists) to collect and receive key data from the field ranging from biodiversity sightings, to human wildlife conflict locations to the updating of fences and roads. Learn more Download: Google Play
	Ground Truth 2.0 Mara Collect App Description: Mara Collect App is based on the Open Data Kit (ODK) and is used for primary data collection of biodiversity and livelihood in the Mara region. Learn more Download: Google Play
	SCENT Explore Description: SCENT Explore is a mobile application that enables citizens to capture in a playful way environmental related information, such as collecting images of LC/LU elements along with textual descriptions, measuring water level and flow velocity and reporting flood related events like the existence of obstacles in the river etc. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	SCENT Measure Description: SCENT Measure application works in tandem with a portable smart sensor, connected to the user’s mobile phone or tablet, aiming to measure soil conditions. Users can simply insert the sensor into the ground and select whether to measure and report soil moisture levels and/or air temperature and receive the measurements directly to the app. Learn more Download: Google Play

This category includes tools that will help you with all aspects of citizen-generated data management, including: Validation, analysis, quality assurance and visualisation. A specific aim of WeObserve is to promote the access and uptake of citizen-generated data; thus interoperability is a key indicator of data quality as it enables the widespread use and application of Citizens Observatories data.

	GroundTruth 2.0 Data Quality Module Description: Validation/Assessment of citizen generated data linked to a data visualisation developed by GroundTruth 2.0 Learn more | Access | Github
	Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Citizen Science Engineering Report Description: This report provides recipes for aligning CS open data to OGC standards. Learn more | Access
	Laco-Wiki Description: Web-based solution for validating land cover and land use maps. Using a variety of reference layers including satellite and aerial imagery from Google, Bing as well as OpenStreetMap, validation involves a simple four-step process. After uploading a dataset, users can generate and validate the samples and create a report with the accuracy assessment. Learn more
	LandSense Quality Assurance Control Description: LandSense will provide a range of quality assurance measures that can be applied in real-time and to post-data collection of Land Use & Land Cover (LULC) information, organised into processing workflows that will be customised for each demonstration case. It will be built upon the open source quality assurance and control service developed in the previous FP7-funded COBWEB citizen observatory, adding the additional measures needed for LULC data. Learn more
	GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world.
	WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more
	GROW Observatory app Description: With the GROW Observatory app you can explore the Edible Plant Database and get plant information that is tailored to your specific location. You can also select plants that you can grow “right now”, at your respective location. Moreover, you can get detailed, science based information on regenerative growing practices. This includes practices that help improve your soil and support the wider ecosystem. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	GROW Code of Soil Description: Code of Soil entails an application for personal computers which creates an artistic interpretation of soil moisture, temperature and light data from the cluster of GROW sensors closest to the user. Configurations of shapes and sounds emerge from audiovisual textures and frequencies to create a data portrait of soil properties. This artwork appears unannounced on users’ computers each time the orbiting Sentinel-1A satellite passes overhead – approximately twice every 24 hours but never at the same time of the day. It offers a novel and artistic interpretation of sensor data with the potential to reach a wider audience and start new conversations about soil and data. Learn more | Access
	LandSense Paysages app Description: PAYSAGES is a mobile application aiming to engage citizens in the process of updating and validating LU/LC data. Particular emphasis is given to need to distinguishing residential land use from industrial land use and from land use dedicated to the tertiary sector. This aspect is linked to the difficulty in distinguishing buildings (and small land plots) that are for residential use and the ones that are for agricultural use. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	Data Postcard Tool Description: The Data Postcard tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to share the data they collect. It is a creative way to visualise and share data from a citizen science project. It can illustrate something simple, like the amount of times you walk through an area with high air pollution over the course of a week, or the kinds and amounts of animals you have observed in a prescribed area. This tool is designed for participants in a citizen science project once data have been collected; no previous experience of data visualisation is required. Access | Learn more
	Miramon Map Browser Description: This technology is being successfully used for servers of orthophotos, satellite images, topographical maps, thematic vector maps, point sample maps, streetmaps, etc. The tool has been developed to strictly conform to the standards established by the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC). It allows the user to view, zoom, pan, query by location, go to a specific place in a predefined list, download, access metadata, situation, create animations, know the data accuracy, etc. for one or more datasets. The technology comprises a map browser, a server and an application to set most of the browser properties through a pleasant visual environment. It is used to make data visible. It supports WMS, WMTS, WFS and SOS OGC standards Access: GroundTruth 2.0 | ECOPotential | Catalanian Data Cube | SatCat | Github

Demonstrating the impact of Citizens Observatories is a key gap, which can be overcome by measuring a whole range of dimensions, including social innovation with communities (e.g. education, etc), the environment, policy and change-making. Tools in this category will assist Citizens Observatories consider how to best map and measure the impact of their activities.

	CSISTA data gathering instrument (Impact Story Template) Description: Template to capture policy/governance impact from CS projects. More details coming soon
	CSISTA impact story instrument (Impact Story Canvas) Description: Tool to transform the content from the CSISTA data gathering instrument into and engaging impact story. More details coming soon
	CSISTA impact brief instrument Description: Tool to transform the content from the CSISTA data gathering instrument into an engaging Impact Brief. More details coming soon
	Evaluation of CS campaigns Description: Evaluation of citizen-science tools and activities from user, environmental and socio-economic perspectives. The methodology introduced includes both monetary and non-monetary approaches aiming to assess the cost-effectiveness of relevant tools. Access
	CO Description Template Description: A template to aid the gathering of PPSR-Core metadata and descriptive data for Citizen Observatories and other CS initiatives, with the purpose of sharing this information on a range of platforms, in a range of formats. More details coming soon
	GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world.
	WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more
	GROW Observatory app Description: With the GROW Observatory app you can explore the Edible Plant Database and get plant information that is tailored to your specific location. You can also select plants that you can grow “right now”, at your respective location. Moreover, you can get detailed, science based information on regenerative growing practices. This includes practices that help improve your soil and support the wider ecosystem. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store
	GROW Code of Soil Description: Code of Soil entails an application for personal computers which creates an artistic interpretation of soil moisture, temperature and light data from the cluster of GROW sensors closest to the user. Configurations of shapes and sounds emerge from audiovisual textures and frequencies to create a data portrait of soil properties. This artwork appears unannounced on users’ computers each time the orbiting Sentinel-1A satellite passes overhead – approximately twice every 24 hours but never at the same time of the day. It offers a novel and artistic interpretation of sensor data with the potential to reach a wider audience and start new conversations about soil and data. Learn more | Access
	GROW Videos Description: The GROW Observatory released a wide range of videos on its Youtube channel, mainly focusing on a) “How to” videos, e.g Measuring slope, angle and aspect on a growing site and b) “Disseminating results and advocacy” videos, e.g. GROW Policy workshop videos and GROW Key Achievements. Learn More
	Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The Community Level Indicators (CLIs) tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to start a new project and is designed to be used throughout a citizen science project. The CLI method involves asking community members to identify extra information that a community in a citizen science project can collect to complement and contextualise sensor data. This tool helps participants to monitor the impact of their actions by tracking and measuring real change. The Community Level Indicators tool helps participants to collaboratively choose what information will be collected, and how. This tool can also be used at the end of a data collection period, to see how actions have made a difference. Access | Learn more
	Co-Evaluation Tool Description: The Co-Evaluation tool for citizen science projects aims at capturing how participation in a project has changed knowledge, practices and policy. This tool builds on the Place Standard Tool; it focuses on ten indicators of the different types of impact that could result from a project. This tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to evaluate a project. It provides prompting questions for discussions amongst participants, allowing communities and project managers to consider these indicators in a methodical way. This tool can be used at the end of a project to assess the impacts and changes achieved. It can also be useful at the beginning of a project as a way to collect a baseline to compare to at the end of the project. Its discussion-based approach also helps create rapport and mutual understanding amongst stakeholders. Access | Learn more
	Future Newspaper Tool Description: The Future Newspaper tool is designed for community members and citizen science practitioners wanting to start their own project and is designed to be used at the end of a citizen science project. The Future Newspaper methods helps the creative reflection process by asking participants to imagine a variety of desirable futures. Then, by working backwards from those visions, participants can articulate the conditions, resources, stakeholders and events which might help lead to those outcomes. These can then become discussion points which the community can vote on to create actions and interventions. Access | Learn more