Suchergebnisse

Today almost any kind of User Generated Content (UGC) can be situated within
a geographic context. Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) can include
many types of UGC, such as georeferenced photographs, social media and text,
geographic data themselves, etc. There are legal, privacy and ethical issues raised
by VGI, and at present these are not very well studied or understood despite the
rise in popularity of VGI. This chapter will discuss, investigate and define some of the most prominent issues related to the legal, privacy and ethics topic within
VGI. The chapter argues that these issues are not well understood by all of the
actors in VGI, and in particular by the producers of this information as well as
the users or consumers of this new data source. Creating a better understanding
of these issues will be very important in the future development and evolution
of VGI in society.

Citizen Science (CS) projects involve members of the general public as active participants in research. While some advocates hope that CS can increase scientific knowledge production ('productivity view'), others emphasize that it may bridge a perceived gap between science and the broader society ('democratization view'). We discuss how an integration of both views can allow Citizen Science to support complex sustainability transitions in areas such as renewable energy, public health, or environmental conservation. We first identify three pathways through which such impacts can occur: (1) Problem identification and agenda setting; (2) Resource mobilization; and (3) Facilitating socio-technical co-evolution. To realize this potential, however, CS needs to address important challenges that emerge especially in the context of sustainability transitions: Increasing the diversity, level, and intensity of participation; addressing the social as well as technical nature of sustainability problems; and reducing tensions between CS and the traditional institution of academic science. Grounded in a review of academic literature and policy reports as well as a broad range of case examples, this article contributes to scholarship on science, innovation, and sustainability transitions. We also offer insights for actors involved in initiating or institutionalizing Citizen Science efforts, including project organizers, funding agencies, and policy makers.