TCV’s Scotland Counts project has been running for over 10 years, supported along the way by NatureScot, SEPA, the Scottish Government and Scottish Forestry to name a few. The project aims to ensure that every individual and community in Scotland has the opportunity to develop skills and confidence to understand their local environment through Citizen Science.
Increasing public understanding of Citizen Science and confidence to participate
We promote Citizen Science, to ensure that people across Scotland understand how easy it is for everyone to get involved. A Joint Public Briefing on Citizen Science has been published and can be accessed here. Contact us to learn more about how to get involved in Citizen Science and develop your own projects.
Facilitating community participation in Citizen Science
Working together to carry out Citizen Science in your local community will enable you to find out more about the environment and identify actions to improve your local green places for people and nature. Participating in Citizen Science gets people outdoors, building connections with each other and developing new skills.
An example of community participation in Citizen Science is our Flooding Resilience Project which involves volunteers in the monitoring of water levels in communities at risk of flooding, which has increased in recent years with more frequent and severe weather events. The Flooding Resilience Project report for 2021/22 outlines how flooding project volunteers are involved in communities in different parts of the country.
Supporting Learning through Citizen Science
We develop Citizen Science projects which link with the Curriculum for Excellence, facilitate Lifelong Learning in the wider community and link with awards and accreditation. We share good practice widely throughout the education sector through our teacher training sessions and School Citizen Science Factsheets. Contact us to request a Factsheet pack or find out more about integrating Citizen Science into learning in your school or community.
Engaging new audiences with Citizen Science
TCV Scotland work proactively to ensure that volunteers from a wide range of backgrounds can get involved in collecting environmental information. Citizen Science is much more than just science. Getting involved is fun, helps develop skills and connection with others. It improves health and wellbeing and helps us all feel more connected to the nature around us. We have worked with a range of organisations from Deaf Action, Refeweegee, Glasgow City Council, Chinese Community Development Partnership, RSPB, Glasgow Science Centre, Earthwatch Europe and West of Scotland Regional Equality Council. Get in touch to request a community session.
In partnership with OPAL we created a ‘Citizen Science in Communities’ film showcasing two community groups – Friends of the River Kelvin and Space to Grow. Our film illustrates Co-creation and Community Based Environmental Monitoring (CBEM) approach and highlights each community groups learning journey to becoming Citizen Scientists.
This film nicely compliments the Co-creation and Community Based Environmental Monitoring Citizen Science Pilot Projects and the shorter version Top Tips for Co-creation and CBEM Citizen Science Projects.
Contact
For further information about Scotland Counts, contact:
Eilidh Call, Senior Project Officer – Citizen Science
TCV Scotland
Unit M1
143 Charles Street
Glasgow
G21 2QA