Introducing the use of Citizen Science to reach the UN SDGs in Southeast Asia at the AUN-EEC Workshop

By Salsabila Nurul Falah, AUN Intern

• The ASEAN University Network in Ecological Education and Culture (AUN-EEC) successfully held a Citizen Science Workshop with the title “Citizen Science for Addressing UN SDGs in SEA” on 18 April 2022.
• The event featured four parallel workshop sessions which encompassed citizen science projects on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Citizen Science (CS) for Conservation of Water Ecosystems, SDG 12: CS for Plastic Waste, SDG 14: CS for Coral Reefs, and SDG 15: CS on Urban Wildlife.
• In her speech, Prof. Darlene Cavalier has shown the variety of citizen science projects ranging from active to passive activities, such as data processing, and the significance of it in achieving the SDGs.
• Mr. Mendel Wong and Dr. Rachel Pateman highlighted the significance of citizen science in achieving the SDGs. Citizen science is considered both implementing and achieving, as well as monitoring the SDGs.

The ASEAN University Network in Ecological Education and Culture (AUN-EEC) successfully held a Citizen Science Workshop virtually with the title “Citizen Science for Addressing UN SDGs in SEA” on 18 April 2022. The workshop highlighted how citizen science can help achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It also imparted among participants the experiences of those who were involved in Citizen Science projects in Southeast Asia for tackling several issues, such as managing plastic waste, monitoring coral reefs, conserving water resources, and cataloging urban biodiversity. The purpose of the event is for participants to take inspiration in designing their own citizen science initiatives in their local communities that will support the realization of the SDGs.

The event started with the plenary session that had the opening remarks from the AUN-EEC Director, Dr. Assunta Cuyegkeng, and followed with the first keynote speech from Prof. Darlene Cavalier, the professor of Practice at Arizona State University School for the Future of Innovation in Society and founder of SciStarter. She explained the many ways to integrate science into our daily lives, where we can directly participate in science and share our fascination with discovery without the barriers of our age or location. She demonstrated the variety of citizen science projects and their many possibilities ranging from active activities in the field to passive activities, such as data processing.

In conclusion of her speech, Prof. Darlene Cavalier emphasized that every step we take is meaningful in achieving the sustainable development goals. Through citizen science, we are able to combine efforts and increase the quality of reliable, current, and consistent data critical for achieving the SDGs.

The second remark was from Mr. Mendel Wong, the Co-Founder and Co-Chair of Citizen Science Asia, and Dr. Rachel Pateman, the Research Fellow at York Centre of the Stockholm Environment Institute. Both explained the citizen science activities in Asia and their output, along with the correlation to achieving the SDGs.

Mr. Wong mentioned that most of the citizen science has worked with the help of contextualizing the concern in the locality through the bottom-up approach. Projects of citizen science were localized towards the community which was easier for the community to implement. Therefore, the outcomes of the project can be observed easily.

Furthermore, Dr. Pateman explained the systematic review of citizen science in order for the audience to understand the potential and the contributions to the SDGs. She stated that citizen science could identify issues of concern to local communities as well as identify new locally relevant targets and indicators and fill the gaps in the existing SDGs framework. By this, citizen science is considered both implementing and achieving as well as monitoring the SDGs and also has the potential to influence the individuals and communities that participate in the project.

Further sessions of the event were the parallel workshop of citizen science that covers four themes of SDG 6: Citizen Science (CS) for Conservation of Water Ecosystems, SDG 12: CS for Plastic Waste, SDG 14: CS for Coral Reefs, and SDG 15: CS on Urban Wildlife.

Main focus of the workshop of SDG 12: CS for Plastic Waste, was coordinated by Dr. Chona Camille Abeledo of Br. Alfred Shields FSC Marine Station (BrAMS). In this workshop, participants were introduced to the #EcoSquadGoals Initiative, which is a citizen science project in dealing with plastic waste. This initiative helps to determine the type of plastic waste generated in a household, or found contaminating an area.

During the workshop, participants were shown the types of data collected, the process and expected outcomes of this initiative, and how this can help encourage local communities to get involved and help achieve a circular economy for plastic waste.

The workshop showcased the initiatives’ flexible approach, where participation could take place at home or anywhere possible. The #EcoSquadGoals Initiative was developed by DLSU-SHORE with the support of UNESCO and UNDP.