OTTERS: Social Transformation for Water Stewardship through Scaling Up Citizen Science

Since its launch in January 2023, OTTERS has made progress in advancing citizen science standards and fostering impactful collaborations. The project organized webinars and workshops that highlighted effective methods in citizen engagement and addressed key standardization challenges like methodology, data sharing, accessibility, and ethical issues such as privacy and authorship. Collaborative events, including sessions at the Ocean Best Practices Workshop VII and ECSA Conference, gathered diverse stakeholders to discuss embedding citizen-generated data into repositories for environmental monitoring and policy compliance. These discussions informed three draft papers on citizen science data standardization, published on Zenodo for community input.

To ensure the long-term impact of its work, OTTERS focused on dissemination and accessibility. The Citizen Science Resource Hub is being developed as a lasting repository of tools and materials on the eu-citizen.science platform. Additionally, the team actively participated in conferences and webinars, leveraging collaboration with European projects to amplify their findings. Key dissemination activities included newsletters, social media posts, and leading workshops such as the upcoming PlasticPirates Summit, focusing on scaling and maintaining citizen science in alignment with Mission Restore Our Ocean and Waters. These efforts underline OTTERS' comprehensive approach to fostering citizen science and driving societal impact.