Immersive citizen science experiences and their role in changing perceptions of coastal wetlands

McKinley, E. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8250-2842, Garcia, M. I., Palacios, M. M., Nichols, C. G., Bhattacharjee, A. and Macreadie, P. I. 2024. Immersive citizen science experiences and their role in changing perceptions of coastal wetlands. People and Nature 10.1002/pan3.10728

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Abstract

Citizen, or community, science initiatives are increasingly recognised as an effective strategy to connect society with nature, science and environmental issues. However, different approaches to the delivery of the programmes can have different impacts on participant awareness, perceptions and behaviour change—especially when working with ecosystems perceived as less popular or uncharismatic, such as coastal wetlands, mangroves and saltmarshes. Using the HSBC Blue Carbon Citizen Science Programme as a case study, we compared two groups of corporate employees from Australia and New Zealand (N = 89) who participated in either: (a) a short duration citizen science experience including educational workshops and fieldwork in a local wetland; or (b) in educational workshops‐only. Questionnaires assessed the impact on participants' knowledge and perception towards wetlands, as well as their likelihood of adopting sustainable behaviours. Results revealed that participants' knowledge and understanding of environmental concepts increased, independent of the type of experience attended. However, the citizen science experience was more effective at fostering participants' intentions to make behaviour changes, with 64% of citizen science participants implementing sustainable changes at home or work, compared to 45% of workshop‐only participants. Our results highlight the importance of immersive citizen science experiences that, even of short duration, can have a valuable role enhancing participant knowledge, perception, and importantly, intention to make long‐term behaviour changes. With the increasing challenges faced by coastal systems globally, incorporating hands‐on, immersive experiences into educational programmes can be a strategic solution to improve ocean and climate literacy, while facilitating the actions required for a sustainable future. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Published Online
Status:	In Press
Schools:	Earth and Environmental Sciences
Additional Information:	License information from Publisher: LICENSE 1: URL: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Publisher:	Wiley
ISSN:	2575-8314
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	26 September 2024
Date of Acceptance:	8 July 2024
Last Modified:	26 Sep 2024 09:00
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/172387

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