Citizen Science's Influence on Public Policy for Addressing Complexity: A Systematic Review of Tech-Based Projects in Higher Education

Abstract

Citizen science’s (CS) deployment and benefit over the last ten years have been remarkably substantial in their contributions to the massification of citizen participation in tech-based CS projects. Insights into how CS projects influence community changes through proposals of actions and public policies are essential to understanding how they facilitate citizens' advocacy in decision-making at various ecosystem levels. To this end, we conducted a systematic literature review of tech-based CS projects published between 2017 and 2022, in which the participation of the tertiary education sector played a central role. We used a guideline that education plays a fundamental role in developing technology-based CS projects. The more educational processes, such as incorporating activities that strengthen complex thinking in citizens, the greater their involvement in decision-making to propose public policies that address their current problems. Findings suggested that a) there is significant involvement of the educational system with CS; b) CS projects do not comply with the innovation helixes; c) tech-based CS projects usually indirectly develop competencies and sub-competencies of complex thinking, and d) social actions are clearly articulated through these competencies and sub-competencies that determine the complete cycle of tech-based CS projects, which result in organized actions or public policies. To sum up, this study serves as a call for long-term co-design projects that consider both the individual development of the participants and the integral impact on decision-making at all levels.