- Greater scientific literacy
- Community development and strengthened connections to the environment and local area
- Empowerment and increased self-efficacy
- Increase in social learning, trust, and social capital
- Shifts in beliefs and attitudes regarding science, the environment, etc.
- Taking more action to solve issues or influence policy
- Greater involvement in policy making via access to policy making networks


University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

The advantages of citizen science include increased research capacity, better knowledge, and benefits for citizen participants.

Advantages of citizen science

Den Broeder, L., Devilee, J., Van Oers, H., Schuit, A. J., & Wagemakers, A. (2018). Citizen Science for public health. Health promotion international, 33(3), 505–514. https://doi.org/10.1093/heapro/daw086

Citizen Science for public health

Citizen science makes more data collection and analysis possible. This is especially helpful in collecting the mass amount of data that is involved in labor-intensive projects (ex: Dutch project in which citizens helped decipher writing from the 16th and 17th century).

Increased research capacity

Local, traditional, and common knowledge serve as important additions to scientific knowledge, because they provide useful information and may result in the pursuit of new research strategies. This improves the outcomes of research and the solutions that are proposed to tackle multi-layered problems in society. Citizen engagement also results in the production of knowledge that the public is more willing to trust and accept, because the knowledge incorporates the ideas, fears, and perspectives of the local or average citizen.

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