Co-designing Australia's First Citizen Science Lab
The ultimate goal of this project is to assist the Port Phillip EcoCentre in co-designing their new, purpose-built citizen science laboratory.
Image courtesy of the Port Phillip EcoCentre
What is Citizen Science?
Citizen science is a term used to describe community driven research organized by educated scientist. With the help from citizens, these research initiatives allow for larger and more complex data collection, growth of local or global scientific knowledge amongst its participants, and the potential to influence political policy making. Since the first use of the word "citizen science", which was document in the magazine MIT Technology Review over three decades ago, the use of citizen science has grown globally and has allowed for the development of various groups organizations to help sponsor these initiatives.
The Port Phillip EcoCentre
Located in the corner of St. Kilda Gardens in Melbourne Australia, the Port Phillip EcoCentre is a non-profit, community-managed environment group that uses citizen science to lead efforts to address environmental issues around Port Phillip Bay.With a vision "to provide education and inspiration to the wider community", over the past 21 years, the EcoCentre has provided a base for 162 schools, 120 organizations, 15,035 participants, over 3,000 volunteers and about 20,000 annual volunteer hours. Since the EcoCentre's opening in 1999, the growth of the EcoCentre and impact on the community has been shown in the reported increase in environmental restoration over the last decade by 660%, and a 500-fold increase in youth participation within their organization. Due to their large and continuous growth in popularity, the EcoCentre's current building is no longer fit for its needs. As a result, the EcoCentre will be building a new built for purpose and sustainable building that will function as the first official citizen science lab in Australia.
Abstract
Port Phillip Bay in Melbourne, Australia continues to experience detrimental environmental effects such as climate change, microplastic pollution, and marine pest infestation. The Port Phillip EcoCentre in St. Kilda employs methods in citizen science to attempt to reverse these changes with the help of community volunteers, but its growth has expanded beyond the capacity of the current facilities. Our team worked with the EcoCentre to prepare for the launch of their new building, which will include Australia’s first built for purpose citizen science laboratory.
