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UID:pretalx-citizen-science-communication-trust-2026-QRUJ93@ifkw.rz.tu-bs.d
 e
DTSTART;TZID=CET:20261006T100000
DTEND;TZID=CET:20261006T101500
DESCRIPTION:Public trust in environmental science in the Netherlands is str
 ained\, for example in the ongoing nitrogen and climate change debates\, w
 ith parts of the public questioning the legitimacy of scientific knowledge
  (Hill & Weulen Kranenbarg\, 2025). Citizen science (CS) is often seen as 
 a way to strengthen public trust science\, yet it remains unclear how it c
 an fulfil this promise exactly (Brouwer & Hessels\, 2019). \n\nParticipati
 on in CS projects can reduce psychological distance to science (Rutjens & 
 Hornsey\, 2025)\, which in turn can increase trust (Skarlatidou et al.\, 2
 024). But evidence so far largely concerns direct participants (Finger et 
 al.\, 2023). Little is known about whether this effect extends to non-part
 icipants who are aware that other citizens have participated. Some studies
  suggest such a spillover (Bedessem et al.\, 2021)\, but the evidence is l
 imited. Theoretically\, it remains plausible: social proximity is a key fa
 ctor in reducing science skepticism (Vegt et al.\, 2025). When science fee
 ls closer to someone\, it may also feel more relevant and trustworthy. Yet
  CS participation is often skewed toward citizens with higher education an
 d existing trust (Sauermann et al.\, 2020). For CS to promote equity\, it 
 must also build trust among groups more distant from science. \n\nIn this 
 presentation\, we would like to present a new research project in which we
  will explore how citizen science (CS) can contribute to trust and equity\
 , focussing on environmental science in the Netherlands. The project will 
 start in September 2026 and is funded by Open Science NL. The project exam
 ines how citizen participation shapes trust not only among participants bu
 t also among non-participating citizens\, scientists\, and stakeholders. I
 n the study we pay special attention to those who historically experience 
 a large psychological distance to science. \n\nBuilding on STS literature\
 , we study trust relationships in a symmetrical way\, exploring not only t
 rust of citizens\, but also trust of scientists and knowledge users in CS 
 practices. We will distinguish analytically between trust in the scientifi
 c method\, trust in scientific researchers and trust in scientific results
 . \n\nOur research questions are: \n1.	How does the participation of citiz
 ens in an environmental research activity influence the trust that other c
 itizens (in the environment of the activity\, but not directly involved) h
 ave in this activity\, in particular citizens with a large psychological d
 istance to science?\n2.	How does the participation of citizens in an envir
 onmental research activity influence the trust that other scientists (in t
 he same field of research\, but not directly involved) have in this activi
 ty?\n3.	How does the participation of citizens in an environmental researc
 h activity influence the trust that stakeholders (such as policy makers th
 at can potentially use the research results) have in this activity?\n4.	Wh
 ich characteristics of citizen science projects influence trust of differe
 nt actors\, including non-participating citizens?\n\nOur research strategy
  combines qualitative and quantitative methods. In our analysis we will co
 mpare four selected CS projects in the Netherlands\, to explore causal rel
 ationships. For this project we will select four cases of CS projects unde
 r the umbrella of the ‘Measuring Together’ (‘Samen Meten’) platfor
 m of RIVM and/or the Citizen Science Nederland (CS-NL) Network. Conditions
  for inclusion are a focus on environmental science\, ongoing projects and
  willingness of project leaders to provide access to relevant data. To all
 ow for comparable analysis\, we vary the cases in two dimensions: \n•	in
 itiative: driven by citizens or by researchers \n•	issue at stake: direc
 t relevance for citizens (related to local environmental problems\, direct
 ly affecting people’s lives) or indirect concern (broader environmental 
 issues). This probably relates to the level of contestation. \n\nOur main 
 methods are: \n•	Exploratory interviews with project leaders of CS proje
 cts\, to map the project context\, clarify intended outcomes\, and identif
 y relevant social and institutional factors that may influence trust in sc
 ience.\n•	Survey among non-participating citizens who live in direct pro
 ximity of the research activities\, with a short description/visualization
  of the projects and items on psychological distance to and trust in scien
 ce \n•	Focus-groups with non-participating citizens who live in direct p
 roximity of the research activities\, to gain more clarity on how they vie
 w these projects and how that relates to their trust \n•	Interviews with
  non-participating scientific researchers about their perspectives on the 
 CS projects \n•	Interviews with stakeholders\, such as policy makers abo
 ut their perspectives on the CS projects (\n\nDuring the conference we hop
 e to collect feedback on our theoretical positioning\, sampling strategy a
 nd methodology\, in order to improve the research design of the project.
DTSTAMP:20260721T213816Z
LOCATION:Room 1
SUMMARY:Can citizen science help improve public trust in science? - Laurens
  Hessels\, Kirsten Vegt\, Anne-Floor Scholvinck
URL:https://ifkw.rz.tu-bs.de/citizen-science-communication-trust-2026/talk/
 QRUJ93/
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