Welcome to the WeObserve Toolkit! This Toolkit includes a wide range of open access tools developed by WeObserve’s partners, i.e. four Citizens Observatories: GROW, SCENT, GroundTruth 2.0 and LANDSENSE. The tools are free resources that new and existing Citizen Science and Citizens Observatory projects can use to assist their activities. To help you find what you need, we have classified the tools in four different categories:
- Co-designing / co-creating your observatory
- Training & data collection for environmental monitoring
- Data quality and visualisation
- Evaluation and advocacy
We hope you find these tools useful, do get in touch if you have any questions about any of them. If you apply any of these tools in your work, please reference the tool and project and let us know, it is always great to hear about how some tools continue to be useful to other projects!
Streamlining the validation, analysis, quality assurance and visualisation of citizen-science data
Co-designing your observatory
These tools support the co-creation and co-design of a Citizen Science project or Citizens Observatories by any citizen or community that addresses social innovation in some form, facilitated through methods by which they can ideate, plan and identify as well as bring relevant stakeholders into a project.
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Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The CLIs Canvas allows communities setting up or collaborating with COs to identify research questions, define what type of data need to be collected, by whom, how often and with what technology, as well as offering a method to measure progress towards objectives defined by participants themselves. More details coming soon |
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SDG mapping CS Tool Description: Template for identifying what SDGs and SDG indicators if any, CS projects are aligned to. More details coming soon |
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Co-design methods template Description: More details coming soon |
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Co-design methodology Description: More details coming soon |
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Co-design for Climate Innovation Card Set Description: This tool includes:i) Card set with 5 different categories of cards(Personas, Places, Scenario, Data and SDGs, ii) Instructions Booklet, iii) Accompanying slides for facilitator. More details coming soon |
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Participatory methods Description: More details coming soon |
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LandSense Campaigner Description: This service will integrate and build upon the existing Geopedia and Geo-Wiki/LACO-Wiki tools, led by LandSense partners, SINERGISE and IIASA, respectively. This service will comprise a suite of user-friendly tools for end-users to visualise and analyse geospatial data including mapping, spatial analysis, and the ability to set up campaigns for data collection of citizen in-situ observations, where the service will be available as a marketplace for commercial users. Learn more |
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GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world. More details coming soon |
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WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more |
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SCENT Campaign Manager Description: The SCENT Campaign Manager is a web-based application, which allows public administrators, policy makers and other interested users to create and manage citizen science campaigns for monitoring and streamlining the collection of environmental information. Learn more |
Training & data collection for environmental monitoring
These tools enable Citizens Observatory communities decide what environmental concerns they share, how they can be measured, how often, by whom, what technology and training is needed as well as the set of indicators that will enable them to measure progress throughout the project in line with community goals. This category also includes tools that support data collection for a range of environmental and geographical dimensions.
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Research in Your Growing Space Handbook Description: This is a comprehensive guide intended to support growers in designing and running their own research projects in their growing space. It takes users through detailed steps, from the identification and refinement of research questions, experiment design, data collection and analysis and using actionable insights. Download: Handbook |
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Picture Pile Description: Picture Pile application allows users to look at a pair of satellite images from different years and report if they can see any evidence of deforestation. All data collected are completely open and can be freely used by everyone. Learn More Download: Google Play | App Store |
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GeoWiki Description: The Geo-Wiki platform provides citizens with the means to engage in environmental monitoring of the earth by providing feedback on existing information overlaid on satellite imagery or by contributing entirely new data. Data can be input via the traditional desktop platform or mobile devices, with campaigns and games used to incentivise input. Learn More |
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LandSense Campaigner Description: This service will integrate and build upon the existing Geopedia and Geo-Wiki/LACO-Wiki tools, led by LandSense partners, SINERGISE and IIASA, respectively. This service will comprise a suite of user-friendly tools for end-users to visualise and analyse geospatial data including mapping, spatial analysis, and the ability to set up campaigns for data collection of citizen in-situ observations, where the service will be available as a marketplace for commercial users. Learn more |
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GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world. More details coming soon |
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WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more |
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Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The CLIs Canvas allows communities setting up or collaborating with COs to identify research questions, define what type of data need to be collected, by whom, how often and with what technology, as well as offering a method to measure progress towards objectives defined by participants themselves. Learn more |
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GROW Videos Description: The GROW Observatory released a wide range of videos on its Youtube channel, mainly focusing on a) “How to” videos, e.g Measuring slope, angle and aspect on a growing site and b) “Disseminating results and advocacy” videos, e.g. GROW Policy workshop videos and GROW Key Achievements. Learn More |
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LandSense City Oases App Description: This app allows users to pick an activity and see information and reviews of selected spots. If users visit spots, they can rate them based on a few selected subjective criteria. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store |
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LandSense Mijn Park Description: This mobile application aims to collect on-site expressions of satisfaction with features of city parks from volunteers. The volunteers act like kind of ‘human sensors’ indicating how they feel at certain points in the park. Learn more Download: Google Play |
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LandSense Natura Alert Description: Natura Alert allows citizens to pinpoint the location of threats to biodiversity and habitat changes. Particular focus is given to threats that are occurring in Important Bird Areas (IBAs) around the world and Natura 2000 sites in the European Union. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store |
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LandSense Crop Support app Description: The digital platform CropSupport provides support to farmers and other interested citizens in collecting data on land use and land cover. For the service of collecting data, farmers get through CropSupport platform useful data on their land, such as processed satellite images which contain information on potential crop stress due to exposure to pests, plant diseases, lack of water or nutrients in the soil. Learn more Download: Google Play |
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Ground Truth 2.0 Maasai Mara Citizen Observatory App Description: The Maasai Mara Citizen Observatory android app allows citizens (local & tourists) to collect and receive key data from the field ranging from biodiversity sightings, to human wildlife conflict locations to the updating of fences and roads. Learn more Download: Google Play |
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Ground Truth 2.0 Mara Collect App Description: Mara Collect App is based on the Open Data Kit (ODK) and is used for primary data collection of biodiversity and livelihood in the Mara region. Learn more Download: Google Play |
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SCENT Explore Description: SCENT Explore is a mobile application that enables citizens to capture in a playful way environmental related information, such as collecting images of LC/LU elements along with textual descriptions, measuring water level and flow velocity and reporting flood related events like the existence of obstacles in the river etc. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store |
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SCENT Measure Description: SCENT Measure application works in tandem with a portable smart sensor, connected to the user’s mobile phone or tablet, aiming to measure soil conditions. Users can simply insert the sensor into the ground and select whether to measure and report soil moisture levels and/or air temperature and receive the measurements directly to the app. Learn more Download: Google Play |
Data quality and visualisation
This category includes tools that will help you with all aspects of citizen-generated data management, including: Validation, analysis, quality assurance and visualisation. A specific aim of WeObserve is to promote the access and uptake of citizen-generated data; thus interoperability is a key indicator of data quality as it enables the widespread use and application of Citizens Observatories data.
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GroundTruth 2.0 Data Quality Module Description: Validation/Assessment of citizen generated data linked to a data visualisation developed by GroundTruth 2.0More details coming soon |
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Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Citizen Science Engineering Report Description: This report provides recipes for aligning CS open data to OGC standards. Learn more |
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Laco-Wiki Description: Web-based solution for validating land cover and land use maps. Using a variety of reference layers including satellite and aerial imagery from Google, Bing as well as OpenStreetMap, validation involves a simple four-step process. After uploading a dataset, users can generate and validate the samples and create a report with the accuracy assessment. Learn more |
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LandSense Quality Assurance Control Description: LandSense will provide a range of quality assurance measures that can be applied in real-time and to post-data collection of Land Use & Land Cover (LULC) information, organised into processing workflows that will be customised for each demonstration case. It will be built upon the open source quality assurance and control service developed in the previous FP7-funded COBWEB citizen observatory, adding the additional measures needed for LULC data. Learn more |
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LandSense Campaigner Description: This service will integrate and build upon the existing Geopedia and Geo-Wiki/LACO-Wiki tools, led by LandSense partners, SINERGISE and IIASA, respectively. This service will comprise a suite of user-friendly tools for end-users to visualise and analyse geospatial data including mapping, spatial analysis, and the ability to set up campaigns for data collection of citizen in-situ observations, where the service will be available as a marketplace for commercial users. Learn more |
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GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world. More details coming soon |
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WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more |
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GROW Observatory app Description: With the GROW Observatory app you can explore the Edible Plant Database and get plant information that is tailored to your specific location. You can also select plants that you can grow “right now”, at your respective location. Moreover, you can get detailed, science based information on regenerative growing practices. This includes practices that help improve your soil and support the wider ecosystem. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store |
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GROW Code of Soil Description: Code of Soil entails an application for personal computers which creates an artistic interpretation of soil moisture, temperature and light data from the cluster of GROW sensors closest to the user. Configurations of shapes and sounds emerge from audiovisual textures and frequencies to create a data portrait of soil properties. This artwork appears unannounced on users’ computers each time the orbiting Sentinel-1A satellite passes overhead – approximately twice every 24 hours but never at the same time of the day. It offers a novel and artistic interpretation of sensor data with the potential to reach a wider audience and start new conversations about soil and data. Learn More |
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LandSense Paysages app Description: PAYSAGES is a mobile application aiming to engage citizens in the process of updating and validating LU/LC data. Particular emphasis is given to need to distinguishing residential land use from industrial land use and from land use dedicated to the tertiary sector. This aspect is linked to the difficulty in distinguishing buildings (and small land plots) that are for residential use and the ones that are for agricultural use. Learn more Download: Google Play |
Evaluation and advocacy
Demonstrating the impact of Citizens Observatories is a key gap, which can be overcome by measuring a whole range of dimensions, including social innovation with communities (e.g. education, etc), the environment, policy and change-making. Tools in this category will assist Citizens Observatories consider how to best map and measure the impact of their activities.
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Impact Story Template Description: Template to capture policy/governance impact from CS projects. More details coming soon |
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Impact Story Canvas Description: Tool to transform the content from the Impact Story Template into an engaging story. More details coming soon |
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Benchmarking COs Framework Description: More details coming soon |
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Evaluation of CS campaigns Description: Evaluation of activities from the participants’ perspective. Use of the feedback provided to improve subsequent experience and tools used. More details coming soon |
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CO Description Template Description: Public Participation in Scientific Research (PPSR) – Core data model framework. More details coming soon |
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LandSense Campaigner Description: This service will integrate and build upon the existing Geopedia and Geo-Wiki/LACO-Wiki tools, led by LandSense partners, SINERGISE and IIASA, respectively. This service will comprise a suite of user-friendly tools for end-users to visualise and analyse geospatial data including mapping, spatial analysis, and the ability to set up campaigns for data collection of citizen in-situ observations, where the service will be available as a marketplace for commercial users. Learn more |
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GROW MOOCs Description: The GROW MOOC comprised four online courses, which covered a wide range of topics, including: i) Introduction to CS and COS, ii) Earth Observation and citizen sensing, iii) Designing your own experiments, iv) DIY sensing technology, v) Collecting and analysing data vi) Acting on data to achieve positive change in the world. More details coming soon |
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WeObserve MOOC Description: This free online course covers the following topics: i) Understanding the issue/problem, ii) Creating a community, iii) Deciding what data to collect, iv) Capturing or generating the data, v) Analysing the data, vi) Disseminating results, vii) Change-making / planning action. Learn more |
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GROW Observatory app Description: With the GROW Observatory app you can explore the Edible Plant Database and get plant information that is tailored to your specific location. You can also select plants that you can grow “right now”, at your respective location. Moreover, you can get detailed, science based information on regenerative growing practices. This includes practices that help improve your soil and support the wider ecosystem. Learn more Download: Google Play | App Store |
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GROW Code of Soil Description: Code of Soil entails an application for personal computers which creates an artistic interpretation of soil moisture, temperature and light data from the cluster of GROW sensors closest to the user. Configurations of shapes and sounds emerge from audiovisual textures and frequencies to create a data portrait of soil properties. This artwork appears unannounced on users’ computers each time the orbiting Sentinel-1A satellite passes overhead – approximately twice every 24 hours but never at the same time of the day. It offers a novel and artistic interpretation of sensor data with the potential to reach a wider audience and start new conversations about soil and data. Learn More |
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GROW Videos Description: The GROW Observatory released a wide range of videos on its Youtube channel, mainly focusing on a) “How to” videos, e.g Measuring slope, angle and aspect on a growing site and b) “Disseminating results and advocacy” videos, e.g. GROW Policy workshop videos and GROW Key Achievements.Learn More |
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Community Level Indicators (CLIs) Canvas Description: The CLIs Canvas allows communities setting up or collaborating with COs to identify research questions, define what type of data need to be collected, by whom, how often and with what technology, as well as offering a method to measure progress towards objectives defined by participants themselves. More details coming soon |
