Methodology to design and set up a framework to monitor and evaluate a Citizen Science Hub’s performance and impact

Abstract

Universities around the world are establishing hubs that promote and support citizen science. A key challenge to the long-term sustainability of such hubs is the absence of an objective, transparent, and efficient way to measure their performance and impact. The main reason is that the benefits of citizen science do not linearly follow an input-to-impact intervention logic. In response, we propose a methodology for developing a dedicated monitoring and evaluation framework. All steps from design to implementation are described, accompanied by examples from INCENTIVE, a project where our methodology was tested in real-life settings. The results indicate that our methodology, with minor adaptations, can be used by similar types of hub setting such as living labs, city labs, innovation hubs, science and technology parks, etc.