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REVIEW ARTICLE

Citizen science breathes new life into participatory agricultural research. A review Jeske van de Gevel 1,2 & Jacob van Etten 2

&

Sebastian Deterding 1

Accepted: 30 July 2020 / Published online: 15 September 2020 # The Author(s) 2020

Abstract Participatory research can improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and scope of research processes, and foster social inclusion, empowerment, and sustainability. Yet despite four decades of agricultural research institutions exploring and developing methods for participatory research, it has never become mainstream in the agricultural technology development cycle. Citizen science promises an innovative approach to participation in research, using the unique facilities of new digital technologies, but its potential in agricultural research participation has not been systematically probed. To this end, we conducted a critical literature review. We found that citizen science opens up four opportunities for creatively reshaping research: (i) new possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration, (ii) rethinking configurations of socio-computational systems, (iii) research on democratization of science more broadly, and (iv) new accountabilities. Citizen science also brings a fresh perspective on the barriers to institutionalizing participation in the agricultural sciences. Specifically, we show how citizen science can reconfigure cost-motivation-accountability combinations using digital tools, open up a larger conceptual space of experimentation, and stimulate new collaborations. With appropriate and persistent institutional support and investment, citizen science can therefore have a lasting impact on how agricultural science engages with farming communities and wider society, and more fully realize the promises of participation. Keywords Citizen science . Participatory agricultural research . User-centered design

Contents 1.Introduction 2.The promises of participatory research in agriculture 2.1 Increased effectiveness and efficiency 2.2 Empowerment 2.3 Sustainability 3. Why has participatory research not become mainstream? 3.1 Entrenched scientific institutions and incentives 3.2 Lacking research and innovation around participation itself 4. New impulses of citizen science 4.1 Citizen science and participatory research 4.2 Unpacking participant motivation and engagement 4.3 Rethinking participation

* Jacob van Etten [email protected] 1

Digital Creativity Labs, University of York, YO10 5GE York, United Kingdom

2

Bioversity International, Montpellier, France

4.4 Changing accountabilities, challenging epistemologies 4.5 Designing participation 5. Conclusions Conflict of interest References

1 Introduction Participatory research describes research that is done not only for or on but also with people. What sets it apart from conventional research is a deliberate, focused interaction between researchers and participants leading to changes in research design, technology development, and/or research evaluation (Ashby 1996; Lilja and Bellon 2008). While farme