From Tourist to Citizen Scientist?

Citizen science is an efficient tool for raising environmental awareness and education and can contribute significantly to conservation efforts. Citizen science is increasingly gaining attention in the scholarly world, however, in tourism related literature, the implementation of citizen science has not been given much attention. Also, the motivations of citizens to participate in citizen science have not yet been researched extensively. This thesis report employs a mixed-methods approach, using desk research, an interview, and a questionnaire to evaluate the feasibility of applying citizen science at the Living Lodge, which is to be built in the Biesbosch national park in the Netherlands. Requirements for sound implementation of citizen science, criteria for citizen science to be effective at the Living Lodge and the motivations of potential guests of the lodge to participate in citizen science are assessed in this report. The findings show, that the target group of the Living Lodge is interested in participating in citizen science. The desire to contribute to nature conservation has been found to be the main motivator to participate in citizen science. This report concludes, that citizen science can be incorporated well into the Living Lodge project, given that the identified requirements for sound implementation and criteria for citizen science at the Living Lodge are carefully considered.

Author: L. Börjes (2017)