MIGRANTS' CITIZEN SCIENCE ASSOCIATION
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B a c k g r o u n d: CITIZEN SCIENCE & MCSA
Citizen participation in the production of scientific knowledge has a long history, even though the terminology used to describe it has changed considerably over time. Before the contemporary use of the term citizen science, public involvement in scientific observation and data collection appeared in different forms, including volunteer monitoring, amateur natural history, community-based observation, and other forms of public participation in research. The diversity of terminology reflects the broad range of activities through which people outside professional scientific institutions have contributed to the generation of knowledge.
The modern concept of citizen science remains broad and is understood in different ways across disciplines and contexts. The European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) describes citizen science as a range of activities in which members of the public actively participate in scientific research and contribute to genuine scientific outcomes. Participation may take place at different stages of the research process, from collecting and analysing data to contributing to research questions and other aspects of a project.
Historically, however, access to scientific institutions, education, resources, and recognition has not been equally distributed. Scientific knowledge has developed within social and institutional structures shaped by inequalities relating to gender, race, class, geography, and other forms of social position. Women, racialised communities, migrants, and other groups have consequently experienced barriers to recognition and participation in many areas of scientific and academic life. This history remains relevant when considering who participates in citizen science today, whose knowledge is recognised, and whose perspectives are represented in research.
The history of public participation in scientific observation provides several early examples. In the nineteenth century, organised networks of volunteers contributed observations of weather and the natural environment, creating datasets that could be used for scientific understanding. Such initiatives demonstrated that scientific knowledge could be strengthened through systematic observations made by people beyond professional research institutions.
Another important example is the Christmas Bird Count, initiated on 25 December 1900 by ornithologist Frank M. Chapman as an alternative to the Christmas “side hunt.” Twenty-seven participants carried out counts at 25 locations in the United States and Canada. The initiative has become one of the longest-running community science programmes, with its accumulated observations now providing researchers with long-term information on bird populations and environmental change.
The development of the internet, smartphones, digital platforms, sensors, and other technologies has considerably expanded the possibilities for citizen participation in research. People can now collect, submit, analyse, and share information across geographical boundaries, allowing citizen science projects to operate at much larger scales. Contemporary citizen science extends across fields including biodiversity, environmental monitoring, climate, health, astronomy, education, social research, and other areas of science.
At the same time, technological development has created new questions about access, representation, data quality, privacy, digital inequalities, and the distribution of scientific authority. Digital participation does not automatically produce inclusion. The ability to participate can still be affected by language, education, socioeconomic circumstances, digital access, institutional trust, and other social conditions. For MCSA, these questions are particularly relevant when considering the participation of migrants and communities that remain underrepresented in scientific research.
Why Migrants in Citizen Science?
MCSA takes the position that the concept of citizen science should not unintentionally create barriers for people whose legal or social status may place them outside conventional understandings of citizenship. Migrants live, work, study, raise families, contribute to communities, and experience the social and environmental conditions that research seeks to understand. Their participation therefore has relevance both to the production of knowledge and to the communities in which research takes place.
Migrants also bring lived experiences, cultural knowledge, professional skills, languages, transnational connections, and perspectives shaped by different social and geographical contexts. These can contribute to research questions, interpretation, data collection, communication, and the understanding of issues affecting diverse communities.
MCSA is particularly interested in participation that goes beyond asking migrants to provide data. It seeks to support approaches in which migrants can contribute to what is studied, how questions are framed, how knowledge is interpreted, and how findings are communicated and used. This reflects the broader principles of citizen science, in which public participants can contribute at different stages of research.
The MCSA Perspective
The Migrants’ Citizen Science Association (MCSA) was established in Norway in 2023 as a migrant-led organisation bringing together people with diverse professional, academic, and lived experiences. MCSA was established around the recognition that migrants can contribute substantially to science and that their participation can strengthen the connection between science, society, and policy.
MCSA promotes citizen science as an approach through which migrant communities can participate in knowledge production and contribute to research addressing issues relevant to their lives and communities. These may include health, education, environment and sustainability, social inclusion, equality, migration, technology, and other social and scientific challenges.
Our approach is also informed by a critical perspective on who produces knowledge, whose knowledge is recognised, and who has opportunities to influence scientific and technological development. MCSA is particularly interested in feminist and inclusive approaches that can draw attention to the experiences of migrant women, gender minorities, and other groups whose perspectives may remain underrepresented.
MCSA therefore seeks to strengthen citizen science not simply by increasing the number of participants, but by broadening who can contribute to science and how different forms of knowledge are recognised within the research process. Through collaboration among migrants, researchers, communities, organisations, and policymakers, MCSA works towards citizen science that is more inclusive, participatory, and responsive to society's diversity.
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