Step 12: Post project activities
Consideration of post-project activities following a citizen science project is essential to achieve sustain-able impact, promote broad and ongoing community engagement, and maximise the added value of the data collected. Prior planning of post-project activities can significantly ensure broad dissemination of project results to relevant stakeholders, including scientific communities, policy makers and the general public. This dissemination will also contribute to evidence-based decision making by policy stakeholders. It is also important to gather qualitative feedback from citizens, different stakeholders and project organisers through surveys and interviews to explore especially their perceptions of post-project activities.
In citizen science projects, post-project activities are crucial to maximise the impact of the project and to sustain engagement. These activities include analysing data, disseminating results through publications and community presentations, and providing feedback to acknowledge participants' contributions. Keeping participants interested and building their skills can be achieved through training workshops. Further research and funding opportunities can be promoted through collaboration with academic institutions and stakeholders. In addition, maintaining project-related digital platforms, such as websites and social media, ensures ongoing communication and updates. The involvement of participants in future projects or related initiatives can also have a positive impact on community involvement and project continuity.
It is extremely important to consider what resources (time, human and financial) are possible and necessary to carry out such post project activities. This is particularly true for activities for which no additional funding is available. Nevertheless, it should be considered to exploit the great potential of a completed project e.g. by using new scientific questions, e.g. in new project proposals or by entering into new promising collaborations.
By addressing the following questions during the planning phase, citizen science projects can develop robust strategies for post-project activities that maximise impact, engage participants, and contribute to scientific knowledge in the long term:
- What are the potential long-term impacts of your project? What outputs and outcomes of the project are important and should be considered beyond the project?
- Are these outputs and results already published or available to different stakeholders?
- What data has been collected and how can it be used beyond the project?
- What are the aims and objectives of the post-project activities?
- How many resources (time, human and financial) are needed for post-project activities?
- What resources are available for post-project activities? Is funding available for such activities available or is an application in line or planned?
- Who are the key stakeholders especially for the post project activities?
- How can the involvement of participants be maintained after the project has ended?
- What are the possibilities for cooperation with other organisations or initiatives?
- How will the success of the follow-up activities be evaluated?
- What mechanisms will be put in place for data management and dissemination?
- How will the lessons learned from the project be incorporated into future citizen science initiatives?