The document outlines a project focused on leveraging citizen science to enhance public participation in nature conservation through various collaborative approaches. It emphasizes broadening engagement beyond expert communities, addressing public mistrust in citizen science, and exploring diverse strategies to connect people with nature. The findings aim to foster a collective vision for the State of Nature partnership and identify actionable propositions for increasing public involvement and data collection in conservation efforts.

1. gatheR
An exploration of the
potential of citizen science
for the state of nature
partnership
July 2015

2. 2
Flow
1. What we’ve done on the project
2. The emerging story, vision and overall proposition
3. A film bringing to life the vision
4. Where to start and making it happen

3. WHAT WE’VE DONE ON THE PROJECT
THE APPROACH, BACKGROUND AND OVERALL FEEDBACK

4. 4. Show how ownership of the
next SoN report can broaden
beyond expert, professional
community into more public
awareness, understanding and
action.
4
Project objectives
3. Define how citizen science
could become a way to engage
the public and make nature
recording both popular and
scientifically robust.
1. Explore the potential of
citizen science as an approach
to broaden public participation
2. Define what a good citizen
science proposition for State of
Nature could look like
practically – in terms of level of
ambition, audiences, design,
resources/feasibility

5. 5
An open question to explore around whether public participation in
scientific recording could:
1. Help deepen nature connection
in the public by giving them more ownership in both the development of
the overall story and the conclusions/actions emerging from it
2. Help to increase breadth and depth of the data recorded in the future
beyond the 5% of species currently captured and reported
Scope of the project

6. 6
Areas we explored during the project
4. Engagement approaches
We will explore different levels of
ambition around engagement that we
might achieve by bringing an even
wider partnership together
Learn from potential gaming, design,
media/content, technology approaches
3. Mapping existing activities
We will map what is already being done
and identify ways to amplify that and
expand the reach of State of Nature to
new audiences/geographies/species.
Learn from partners about their
motivations and activities
1. Credibility of public involvement
There is often a deep mistrust of public
science within professional science
community that forms a big barrier to
effective citizen science approaches
Learn from Cancer Research UK and
their citizen science programme
2. Potential audiences
Exploring opportunities for 5 key
audiences that we could enrol and
engage in any citizen science activity
Dig into needs of engaged naturalists,
armchair nature enthusiasts, explorer
families, schools/teachers, farmers

7. The process we’ve been through
Framing overall
project - Gather
Inviting participation
SoN stakeholders
Securing venue -
WWT Barnes
Mapping existing
citizen science
activities
Short stakeholder
interviews/online
survey
Developing
stimulus/content
for workshop
1 day Swarm event
Creative collaboration
and inspiration
Tackling the challenge of
what a citizen science
proposition could look
like?
Summarising outputs
from ‘Swarm’
Developing worked
through options to take
forward
Bringing lead idea(s)
to life simply
Action planning debrief
with steering group
Identifying lead option and
action plan to deliver
Framing
Scoping
Swarming
Sense-
Making
Activation
early May
mid May to mid June
June 17th
10-5pm
end June
TODAY
July 10th

8. Our Pre-Gather Interviews revealed A desire
for an ambitious goal for the project
Developing a bigger challenge/game/community/
movement around the topic that encourages more
participation in citizen science for nature
Joining the dots between all existing citizen
science activities across the partnership to get
more people aware and taking part in each project
Taking a theme-based view e.g. organising a push
around the seasons, and using that focus to
engage a wider audience and rally activity around

9. 9
Increasing the public’s nature connection and
growing the audience were the 2 key opportunities
10
8
7
5
4
3 3 3
2 2
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Increasing
nature
connection
Increasing
number and
diversity of
public
participants
Increasing the
evidence base
Creating a
strong
collaboration
Linking up
existing
activities
Increasing
capacity for
data gathering
New ideas for
partners
Policy /
advocacy
Involving the
public more
Other
n=17

10. 10
Engaging the public and getting the partners
collaborating were seen as the biggest challenges
n=17
12
6
4
3 3
2 2
5
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
Engaging a
diverse public
Getting
partnership
agreement
Ensuring data
robustness
Maintaining
public
engagement
Funding Measuring
impact /
objectives
Innovation in
technical areas
Other

11. 11
The hopes and fears identified helped us to shape the
agenda and way of working for the group
HOPES
• Genuine collaboration
• Citizen science reaches its
potential
• More diverse audiences in greater
numbers
• People take action on the issue
• This changes our approach
FEARS
• Poor quality data
• More bureaucracy / duplication of
effort
• Doesn’t connect with new
audiences
• No funding/competing for funding
• We don’t change or innovate

12. “We should come to the event with an open
mind, willing to consider as diverse set of
options as possible. So far at citizen science
events people have very much stuck to the
traditional, what we have done before model.” -
Pre-gather input

13. GATHER
WHAT WE DID ON THE DAY AND FEEDBACK

14. 14
Visioning, Opportunity + challenge mapping,
Audience exploration + proposition development

15. 15
Overall feedback on the day was very positive
9.1
8.4
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
How would you rate your
experience of the Gather
Swarm?
Would you recommend this
type of event to others?
“The opportunity to meet people from a
wide range of organisations and really
explore our passions and what we
should be doing together”
“Finding that there is a common recognition
and real enthusiasm across the group that
there is a need to engage people to connect
with nature as part of the state of nature
project. And all the amazing ideas on how it
could be done”

16. 16
Feedback suggests we’ve built the foundations for
a fun, productive and innovative collaboration
5.7 5.7
5.4 5.3
5.1
4.7 4.6 4.6
4.4
4.2
1
2
3
4
5
6
I had fun and
enjoyed the day
I felt my voice
was heard
I met people
who I hope to
work with more
in the future
I left with a
clearer sense of
the opportunity
I felt a sense of
community by
the end of the
day
I experimented
with new ways
of working
I left with a
greater
understanding
of the
challenge
I took away new
insights/ideas
that I can apply
in my own work
I left feeling
confident that
the challenge
can be solved
I learnt some
new skills and
techniques

17. 17
foundations were built on designing an experience
that created the conditions for collaboration
9.2$ 8.9$ 8.9$
8.2$
7.8$ 7.4$ 7.4$
7.0$
1$
2$
3$
4$
5$
6$
7$
8$
9$
10$
The$hos2ng/
facilita2on$by$the$
Swarm$team$
The$venue$ The$atmosphere$ The$focus$of$the$
challenges$we$
tackled$together$
The$diverse$mix$of$
people$in$the$room$
The$food$ The$ini2al$briefing$
(the$preJread)$
The$background$
informa2on$(the$
s2mulus,$cancer$
research$film,$
examples$of$other$
projects)$

18. 18
We asked people what was exciting to them at the
end of the day…
Who
• Wide public
engagement
• Adventurists
• Inspiring new
‘recorders’
Why
• Love for nature
as the hook
• Sharing wonder,
getting creative
• Make nature
relevant
• State of Nature
as a process to
be involved with
(not just a report)
WHAT
• Storytelling
• Local and global
perspectives
HOW
• Collaboration
• Partnership
• Scale

19. 19
Flow
1. What we’ve done on the project
2. The emerging story, vision and overall proposition
3. A film bringing to life the vision
4. Where to start and making it happen

20. WHERE ARE WE TODAY?
BACKGROUND

21. 21
The State of Nature Partnership is Britain’s most
ambitious conservation collaboration
Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust Association of British Fungus Groups Bat Conservation Trust
Centre for Ecology and Hydrology (NERC) Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland British Bryological Society
British Lichen Society British Mycological Society British Trust for Ornithology
Buglife Bumblebee Conservation Trust Butterfly Conservation
Conchological Society of Great Britain and
Ireland
Kew Royal Botanic Gardens Marine Biological Association
Marine Conservation Society Mammal Society National Biodiversity Network
People's Trust for Endangered Species Plantlife Pond Conservation
Rothamsted Research Wildlife Trust Wildfowl & Wetland Trust
RSPB National Trust ( Swarm! )

22. 22
the report shows
that Nature iN the UK
IS In trouble
(We don’t need to
tell you that….)

23. 23
The state of nature in the UK Is changing
because how we live is changing

24. 24
We live increasingly fast, busy lives
especially in cities
12% of Britons (18% of
men and 6% of
women) work "very
long hours" compared
with the OECD
average of 9%
Pace of Life

25. 25
Technology is increasingly central to our lives
data, processing power, software, engagement
Britain’s 11-15 year olds
spend over half their
waking hours in front
of a screen - 7.5 hours
per day, up 40% in a
decade
Rise of screen time

26. 26
A breakdown of traditional local community
leads to less strong place-based connections
9 out of 10 Britons
think community life is
breaking down
(Daily Express Living
Streets research with
2300 adults)
Community
breakdown

27. 27
Increasing pressure on natural habitats through
continued development and planning decisions
Pace of life
Between 2006 and
2012, 22,000 hectares
of green space was
converted to ‘artificial
surfaces’ including
7000 hectares of
forest.
Loss of Green
Spaces

28. 28
People spend less and less time outdoors,
connecting with nature
Children’s ‘radius of
activity’ has declined
90% since the 1970s1
Less time spent
outdoors

29. 29
Breeding a future adult population with less and
less awareness and engagement
There are less and less
opportunities for most
children to explore the
natural world through
their school education
journey, which is
where they spend
most of their young
lives
Nature-starved
curriculum

30. 30
These shifts in how we live have fundamentally
changed our relationship with nature

31. 31
CHANGING LIFESTYLES
DECREASING NATURAL RESOURCES
CLIMATE CHANGE
EARTH IS NOW
ENTERING AN
EXTINCTION RATE
1000 TIMES GREATER
THAN IN THE PAST

32. 32
A PUBLIC NOT ENGAGED WITH NATURE WON’T LOVE NATURE
AND A PUBLIC THAT DOESN’T LOVE NATURE
WON’T BE MOTIVATED TO PROTECT IT

33. BUILDING A VISION
FOR THE FUTURE OF THE STATE OF NATURE PARTNERSHIP

34. 34
in the face of mounting pressure there is also hope
Increased volunteering
for conservation
projects
Growing evidence for
the benefits of nature
Technology as a means
of engagement, not
competition
30% rise in
conservation
volunteering from 2000
Use of apps, games
and tech to make
science more fun
Studies consistently
link health to time
spent in nature

35. 35
Citizen science in conservation is growing

36. CITIZEN SCIENCE has
the potential to
ESTABLISH A
RECONNECTION AND
LOVE OF NATURE
Help people discover that change is happening
and build awareness of how that change affects
them - locally as well as nationally/globally
Catalyse public engagement by
making nature exciting, relevant
and interesting to people (again)
Help rejoin the dots between
society, culture and nature
through (re)-building community

37. 37
a word summary of the vision for State of Nature
captured at gather event

38. 38
shaping a new collective vision for the State of
nature partnership approach from 2016
Building on
solid foundation
scientific report
TO Grow
a diverse Learning community
with a love for nature
Data
Facts
Evidence
Representation
Accuracy
Stories
Engagement
Places
Connection
Fun

39. The UK’s Big
nature love in

40. The UK’s Big
nature love inThe united state
of nature

41. The UK’s Big
nature love inThe united state
of nature
The people’s
state of nature

42. 42
To deliver the vision we identified the need for a
proposition that really builds public engagement
1.0 2.0 3.0
science-led
+
NARROW
EXPERT
INVOLVEMENT
Expert-guided
+
Purposeful
Public
engagement
Expert + Public
SHAPED
+
SUSTAINED
Public
engagement
+
GROWING SCIENCE
CAPACITY

43. 43
“The agreement - I think - that the focus of this should be engagement,
more about citizens than science. And the idea that it should be
participant-led, with them telling us what they want to about their
engagement (or lack of) with nature”
Gather participant feedback
The priority

44. 44
1.0 2.0 3.0
Expert-guided
+
Purposeful
Public
engagement
focus
for 2016
so the focus for next year should be on growing
expert guided purposeful public engagement
Expert + Public
SHAPED
+
SUSTAINED
Public
engagement
=
GROWING SCIENCE
CAPACITY
science-led
+
NARROW
EXPERT
INVOLVEMENT

45. THIS APPROACH CAN help fulfil partner hopes and
challenge partner fears
1.0 2.0 3.0
• Bottlenecks
• Heavy ask on experts
• Problems sustaining
engagement
• Low coverage (~5% of
species)
• Builds on/doesn’t replicate
existing projects
• Higher engagement
• Wider audience
• More relevance to public
• More relevance to brands
and other partners
• Good data validation
• Deep engagement
with narrow audience
• Still bottlenecks and
heavy asks on experts
• Some scepticism over
data quality
• New forms of
collaboration
• Technology and
training to alleviate
bottlenecks
• More coverage
• Wider range of
funders
• Sustainability
• Deepening
connection
AdvantagesChallenges

46. WHAT DOES THE STATE OF NATURE PARTNERSHIP
NEED TO DELIVER THIS VISION?
BUILDING BLOCKS FOR A NEW PROPOSITION

47. Even within designated audiences a
47
we have identified 6 unique audiences in terms of
their needs and potential roles they can play
Within each of these a great deal of variation was described - for example organic farmers
vs. industrial farmers vs. grow your own enthusiasts within the farming segment or skiers vs.
kayakers vs. ramblers vs. surfers, etc. in the adventurists block. Working closely with these
groups will help identify and craft more ideal roles for individuals to play based on interests,
experiences and habitats they spend time in
adventurists Farmers
Engaged
Naturalists
Armchair
enthusiasts
Schools and
Teachers
Explorer
families

48. 48
all audiences were seen as important with
particular enthusiasm for adventurists
adventurists Farmers
Engaged
Naturalists
Needs
• Recording
technology, support
and connection to
other farmers
Needs
• Technology and
kit for recording
• Place-based
instruction /
challenge
Needs
• Support and
resources
• Recognition
Ideal roles
• Gathering and
collection in
remote
habitats
Ideal roles
• Provide
context around
land use
change locally
• Record species
on their land
Ideal roles
• Verification
• Training
• Providing a
context from
existing data
• Provide stories

49. 49
All of these audiences represent a broadening of
reach and potential for public engagement
Needs
• Curriculum support
• No or low cost
• Not training
intensive with some
support
Needs
• As easy as
possible
• Meet them where
they are
• Make it challenge
based
Needs
• Free or cheap
• Loosely structured
• Accessible
• Roles for everyone
Ideal roles
• Signing
petitions
• Identify and
analyse a la
Zooniverse
Ideal roles
• Gather, collect
and identify at
group rather than
species level
• Build on natural
curiosity
Ideal roles
• Data gathering,
especially if
unstructured
and easy - no
expertise
required
Armchair
enthusiasts
Schools and
Teachers
Explorer
families

50. 50
Our work identified 8 key building blocks for
citizen science 2.0 proposition
Online and
physical learning
communities
Learning from
wider world of
citizen science
New Digital tools
and technologies
Innovative
Product and
service design
Engaging Content
and storytelling
Rewards/
incentives for
participation
compelling Place-
based experiences
Open data
approaches and
platforms

51. 51
We asked participants how well current projects
deliver and how important they are to the vision
1
2
3
4
5
6
1 2 3 4 5 6
Low
capability / low
importance =
Ignore
Low
capability /
High
importance =
Acquire
High
capability /
Low
importance =
Shed
High
capability /
High
importance =
Advantage
capability
importance

52. 1
2
3
4
5
6
1 2 3 4 5 6
52
There’s a clear need to learn and develop new
approaches and capacity to deliver the vision
Rewards and
incentives
Content and story-
telling
Learning from
citizen science
Open Data
Learning
communities
Place-based
experiences
Product and service
design
Tools and digital
technologies
n=11
capability
importance

53. 53
Although there is some variation in perceived
capability Across the Partnership today
n=11
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Learning
communities
Learning from
Citizen science
Digital tools and
technologies
Product and
service design
Open data Place-based
experiences
Rewards and
incentives
Storytelling

54. 54
from this ten key themes emerged from the day to
help shape the overall proposition
Going beyond
the report to
grow a
learning
community
Keeping
existing
communities
rewarded and
engaged
Creating
multiple ways
to get
involved and
participate
Reaching new
audiences
where they
are on what
they love
Aggregating
existing
projects into
single place
establishing
shared
knowledge +
Open Data
practises
who
what
how
inviting
Story-telling
at local level
setting
Challenges
for rewards
Co-creation
of whole
programme
design
creating new
Media and
content
partnerships

55. 55
These were all rated important and form the basis
for our proposition and potential start points
5.6
5.3 5.3 5.3 5.2
5 4.9 4.9
4.2
3.9
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Open data Story-telling Media
partnerships
Going
beyond the
report
Reaching
new
audiences
where they
are
Creating
multiple ways
to get
involved
Co-creation Aggregating
existing
projects
Keeping
existing
communities
engaged
Challenges
and rewards
n=11

56. 56
“Potential and desire for collaboration across groups, to break down
organisational boundaries, sharing data”
“A new way of approaching citizen science - that there's a
real opportunity to use all the expertise in the partnership
to create a project that finds ways to help people get
connected with nature through what they see and like and
to use their connections as a way in to help people
understand science”
“Develop the implementation of story collecting properly. For
example, how to prompt story types, how to ensure continuity, how
to share stories that provide entry points for other partners so
participating communities are maximised”
Gather participants feedback
The group already have ideas on
how best to make this happen…

57. 57
designing a coherent and compelling offer
principles for a State of nature 2.0 proposition
1. Joined up approach
2. Building towards an ambitious vision
3. Open to multiple audiences
4. Many ways to participate - for individuals + orgs
5. Transforming partnership into a collaboration
6. Sharing data, learning and knowledge openly
7. Building collective intelligence around the topic

58. 58
Flow
1. What we’ve done on the project
2. The emerging story, vision and overall proposition
3. A film bringing to life the vision
4. Where to start and making it happen

59. 59
https://vimeo.com/channelswarm/stateofnature

60. 60
Flow
1. What we’ve done on the project
2. The emerging story, vision and overall proposition
3. A film bringing to life the vision
4. Where to start and making it happen

61. POTENTIAL FIRST STEPS
STARTER PROPOSITIONS

62. 62
Potential startpoints for propositions
to establish citizen science for nature 2.0
1. Establish and grow the State of Nature learning community
2. Create a local place-based story-telling platform
3. Aggregating existing activities into a single, lightweight platform
4. Co-creating propositions with key audiences - Adventurists / Farmers
5. Develop engaging content to engage and inspire new audiences
6. Rewarding and recognising expert naturalists for their contributions

63. 63
Establish and grow
the State of Nature 2.0 learning community
• State of Nature partners
• Content and media partners
• Interested brand owners
• Leading practitioners across key capabilities
• Grow from partnership into a collaboration
• Share audience learning and insights
• Exchange nature engagement + open data best practise
• Get inspired by and build capacity in new skills/topics
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• 1 day seasonal ‘unconference/open space’ style learning event(s)
• Mix of workshops, speakers and hands-on training sessions
• Introduce new and different ways if working
• Open invite to SoN partners and beyond
• Hosted at unique, interesting locations
• Support with simple online wiki/google group
• Could be filmed and shared to help grow community
• Curate best ideas/content via e-newsletter and social web

64. gatheRING
A collaboration to improve the
state of nature
What is it?
Blog
2:13 /
7:34
Date 04/10/2015
Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat
321
1098765 11
171615141312 18
242322212019 25
3130282726
Oct 2015
4
When’s the next
Gathering?
Register
How it worksAbout
Gathering is a 1 day ‘unconference’ where we
• meet other fellow practitioners
• share learning and best practise in
growing public engagement around
citizen science for nature
• get inspired with approaches, and learn
new skills and ways of working
• co-create solutions to the big challenges
we are all facing in our own work
Register

65. About How it works
Open space
2:13 /
The agenda for these events is shaped and run by you -
the State of Nature 2.0 partnership
This is a chance for you to network, collaborate, learn,
share ideas and develop new solutions to the challenges
you are facing to engage the public using citizen science
Leader-driven
The events run on ‘Open Space’ principles which give
responsibility to participants to self-organise and direct
both the agenda and outcomes for the day.
These sessions are typically fast, fun, creative and
productive. And we always head to the pub afterwards!
Inspiration
In addition to learning from other, we host short talks and
hands-on workshops on diverse topics and approaches
Speakers are briefed to inspire - this is Pecha Kucha style,
20 slides, 20 seconds each. The brief is new and useful
insights and stories. Things that will get you thinking and
doing things differently….
Blog Register
gatheRING
A collaboration to improve the
state of nature

66. How it works BlogAbout
2:13 /
On a sunny summer day in June, at London Wetlands centre,
over 20 leaders representing many different organisations using
citizen science for nature cam together for a day of inspiration,
learning and visioning
The theme of the day was to develop a new vision and
proposition for citizen science for nature with the State of
Nature partners.
Read more here
Gathering
Summer 2015
Register
Imagining a new future for State of Nature - June 2015
The next Gathering will focus on sharing what works and what
doesn’t when it comes to engaging the public with nature and
science- with speakers from BBC Springwatch, Google and
Patagonia
Read more here
The next Gathering - October 4th 2015
Gathering
Autumn 2015
gatheRING
A collaboration to improve the
state of nature

67. 67
Create a local place-based story-telling platform
Content and stories - Nature love-in
1. New audiences e.g. adventurists, explorer families, armchair
enthusiasts
2. Existing audiences e.g. expert naturalists
• Engaging people on what love, notice and care about where they
live - place-based narratives
• Creating stories and user-generated content to help tell the story
of the state of nature
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• A simple, lightweight web platform supported by social media
• Writing, sounds, photos, images, videos, art, poetry
• User-generated campaign, potential to ‘back the state of nature’
• Potential to start with a local community e.g. Sowing the Seeds and
and/or with a potential habitat e.g. urban parks and green spaces,
gardens
• Test and learn about the idea by co-designing and prototyping with
audiences and

69. 1. A platform to enable and encourage the
public tell their stories about the things love,
notice, care about locally
2. The platform will build up a living State of
Nature map across the UK - start by test/learn
hyper-local
3. Could link to aggregation of citizen science
projects as a next step, call to action beyond
sharing story
69
creating a platform for local story-telling
http://www.stateofnature.uk
Flower power Kestrel tracking
Moth mates

70. 70
Aggregating citizen science for nature projects
into a single, lightweight online platform
1. Existing and new audiences across our 6 segments
2. Existing and new project owners doing cit sci projects in UK
• Make it much easier for existing and new audiences to
find projects to get involved with near where they live
• Help grow the reach and impact of existing and new
citizen science projects
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• A simple, lightweight web platform for citizen scientists to find
projects and organisations can use to upload/promote projects
• An engaging digital experience that makes it easy, fun and
rewarding for participating
• Start with existing State of Nature partners
• Test and learn about the idea by co-designing and prototyping with
audiences and project owners
• Put open call out for wider participation for both users and project
owners

71. 71
Aggregating Existing activities

72. 72
Aggregating Existing activities
1. Bring all existing
projects together on
one platform
2. Make the platform easily
searchable for the
public
3. Potential for project
ratings/feedback
4. Potential for a rewards/
points system for users

73. aN example platform for aggregating citizen science
projects, building a community and helping both public
and scientists do better ‘citizen science’ work

74. 74
Co-creating propositions with key audiences
e.g. Adventurists &/OR Farmers
1. New audiences e.g. adventurists &/or farmers
2. State of Nature partners, science/research experts
3. Designers, technologists, comms specialists, service designers
• Finding ways to encourage people who are already out in nature,
are connected to nature, to help gather useful information
• Adventurists are particularly interesting and aspirational, new
audiences with potential to spread idea more widely
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• Challenge-based citizen science projects based on relevant data
capture on species/habitats in those environments
• Potential product/service/app design for information/data capture
• Prototyping propositions together (vs. tradtional research groups)
enables rapid test and learn and challenges assumptions
• Bring different groups together with experts to design appropriate
projects e.g. kayakers, climbers, surfers

76. Join the adventurists
Citizen scientists + adventurers
Pioneering wild science
1. Sign-up to become an adventurist
2. Receive a briefing pack, the app
and a sampling toolkit
3. Go out and pioneer wild science
4. Send back your results
5. Help us grow the movement

77. 77
Develop engaging content
to engage and inspire new audiences
1. New audiences e.g. explorer families, armchair enthusiasts,
expert naturalists
2. State of Nature partners
3. Media and content partners
• Seeing a resurgence/reconnection in popular culture to nature
and wildness, engaging content, documentaries, films
• An opportunity to tap into much wider audiences and engage
them with a hook/call to action for citizen science/participation
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• Partnership with leading content and media players to create new
stories, engagement and action around nature connection using
citizen science
• Could link to seasonal, watch list species, habitat/place-based
challenges which the public are invited to
• Propose exploring early with content/media partners to co-design

78. 78
Potential content partners
to engage and inspire new audiences to participate

79. 79
Rewarding and recognising expert naturalists
for their citizen science contributions
1. Expert naturalists
2. State of Nature partners
3. Adventure, outdoor, equipment manufacturers/brands
• The majority of the burden of recording, classification and
analysis lies with the volunteer community of experts
• Their continued engagement and expertise is critical to the
citizen science approach - especially as we widen the audiences
Who
Why
WHAT
HOW
• Partner with adventure, outdoor and technical equipment
manufacturers to create an annual awards event
• Recognise outstanding contributions to citizen science for nature
across the expert volunteer community
• Open call out for nominations
• Crowd-based and expert voting, very simple online site
• Bring together for a day and evening event
• Sharing stories and learning, plus celebration and recognition

80. 80
Rewarding and recognising expert naturalists
for their citizen science contributions

81. 81
Next steps
Test and learn, prototyping and Collaboration
Collaboration and involving the public/audiences in the design
of the programme were seen as critical
Not just as outcomes but a design principles to guide the
process of creating a new State of Nature proposition
When developing propositions, the participants at the Gather
event consistently made reference to ‘action research’, ‘co-
creation’ and ‘learning’ from audiences.
If State of Nature is going to be a success it needs to embed
these principles into this next phase of development, drawing
on insights from audiences - existing and prospective - through
hands-on prototyping and subsequent testing of assumptions.

82. FUNDING
INSIGHTS AND IDEAS HOW TO TAKE THINGS FORWARD

83. 83
As engagement and participation increase, the
diversity of funders will increase as well
1.0 2.0 3.0
Science-led
Narrow expert
involvement
Expert guided
Purposeful public
engagement
Expert + public shaped
Sustained public engagement
Growing science capacity
Niche/highly
challenging funding
environment
Core funding
via environmental and
conservation charities
and scientific funders
Broader scope of
foundations interested
in nature engagement
and education (i.e.
Esmee Fairbairn).
Potential to engage
brands aligned with
nature and our wider
audiences and
pioneering technology
brands
Potential for self-
sustaining and crowd-
funding grows
Increasing number of
brands responding to
reach and numbers
Technology firms
responding to platform
needs

84. 84
A range of different Funders already fund and
express interest in citizen science projects
Community grant
makers
brands
Technology
firms
Governments
Science and
health funders

85. 85
success in funding this bigger Citizen Science vision
relies on joining the dots around wider impacts
beyond pure conservation
Physical
health
Community
building
Conservation
Education
Citizen
Science
Mental
health

86. 86
engagement and Widening the audience
is key to funders
“Citizen science engages people in scientific enquiry and discovery - but
GREAT citizen science engages people in activities that help them become
excited about the scientific discovery when that wasn't their natural starting
point. CRUK's Cell Slider spoke to an audience of people interested in
supporting CRUK's mission - Reverse the Odds spoke to game players who
became more interested in CRUK's mission through their engagement with the
citizen science product. What might this look like for those not currently
engaging with nature, but through playful and useful experiences can be
brought into wanting to engage further?”
Dan Sutch, formerly of Nominet Trust
Now starting up Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology

87. 87
Deepening impact by meeting people where they are
at on things they care about
“A group of parents might not be natural campaigners for environmental
issues, but adding sensors to their child's pushchairs gives them the data to
care about, and campaign about levels of air pollution in their local area. Not
because of 'environmental reasons' but because of their children's health.
These tools help people with personal passions care about the natural
environment. It's this learning journey - that starts with individuals' own
interests and passions, provides them tools and opportunities - that leads to
wider engagement with nature and resulting social benefits - because through
technology you've giving them a reason to care and to engage with the
environment”
Dan Sutch, formerly of Nominet Trust
Now starting up Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology

88. 88
The importance of technology
“More and more funders are becoming interested in the role technology can
play to address social issues. The idea of tech as an add on, or simply a
collection of websites is disappearing as funders are seeing more examples of
tech really shifting the way in which we can design ways of creating social
value. Comic Relief's first digital fund has just closed; Nominet Trust continue
to focus there and Esmee, Paul Hamlyn etc are each developing digital areas of
focus. This brings two things - specific digital funds and better acceptance of
digitally-focused applications to traditional funds”
Dan Sutch, formerly of Nominet Trust
Now starting up Centre for Acceleration of Social Technology

89. 89
Examples Potential Funders for State of Nature
Foundations and Trusts
1. Esmee Fairbairn
2. Garfield Weston
3. Underwood Trust
4. John Ellerman
Foundation
5. CHK Charities
6. Ernest Cook
7. Dulverton Trust
8. Scott Bader
Commonwealth Global
Charity Fund
9. Calouste Gulbnekian
10.Nominet Trust
11. Central for Accelerating
Social Technology
12. google.org
13.Wellcome Trust
Equipment manufacturers
1. Canon
2. Nikon
3. Pentax
4. Bushnell
Community-based brands
1. Sainsbury’s
2. Waitrose
Outdoor / countryside brands
1. John Deere
2. Patagonia
3. North Face
4. Mule Bars
Technology brands
1. Google
2. Facebook / Instagram
Crowd funding
1. Experiment?

90. 90
Enabling the partnership to drive the initiative
• Decision-making structure - One that allows quick decisions to be made
without laborious organisational sign-offs
• Enabling multiple ways to participate - some organisations might want to
push harder and support more than others, we need to make it easy for
everyone to contribute what they can to make this bigger effort work
• Shared data - Sharing existing data and opening up as much as possible to
each other and the public
• Co-commissioning - Creating a simple framework for co-commissioning
and individual projects that develop the initiative e.g. undertaking any
prototyping and development work
• Agreeing common frameworks - Where possible, on data formats and
sharing the citizen science data that comes out of projects

91. THANK YOU!
LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN