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Citizen science (CS) can foster transformative impact for science, citizen empowerment and socio-political processes. To unleash this impact, a clearer understanding of its current status and challenges for its development is needed. Using quantitative indicators developed in a collaborative stakeholder process, our study provides a comprehensive overview of the current status of CS in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Our online survey with 340 responses focused on CS impact through (1) scientific practices, (2) participant learning and empowerment, and (3) socio-political processes. With regard to scientific impact, we found that data quality control is an established component of CS practice, while publication of CS data and results has not yet been achieved by all project coordinators (55%). Key benefits for citizen scientists were the experience of collective impact (“making a difference together with others”) as well as gaining new knowledge. For the citizen scientists’ learning outcomes, different forms of social learning, such as systematic feedback or personal mentoring, were essential. While the majority of respondents attributed an important value to CS for decision-making, only few were confident that CS data were indeed utilized as evidence by decision-makers. Based on these results, we recommend (1) that project coordinators and researchers strengthen scientific impact by fostering data management and publications, (2) that project coordinators and citizen scientists enhance participant impact by promoting social learning opportunities and (3) that project initiators and CS networks foster socio-political impact through early engagement with decision-makers and alignment with ongoing policy processes. In this way, CS can evolve its transformative impact., Socio-Ecological Practice Research, 5 (1)

Global change, including urbanisation, threatens many of the >1400 bat species. Nevertheless, certain areas within highly urbanised cities may be suitable to harbour bat populations. Thus, managing urban habitats could contribute to bat conservation. Here, we wanted to establish evidence-based recommendations on how to improve urban spaces for the protection of bats. In a team effort with >200 citizen scientists, we recorded bat vocalisations up to six times over the course of 2 years at each of 600 predefined sites in the Berlin metropolitan area. For each species we identified the preferred and non-preferred landscape features. Our results show that artificial light at night (ALAN) had a negative impact on all species. For soprano pipistrelles and mouse-eared bats ALAN had the largest effect sizes among all environmental predictors. Canopy cover and open water were especially important for bat species that forage along vegetation edges and for trawling bats, respectively. Occurrence probability of species foraging in open space decreased with increasing distance to water bodies. On a larger scale, impervious surfaces tended to have positive effects on some species that are specialised on foraging along edge structures. Our study constitutes an important contribution to the growing body of literature showing that despite the many negative impacts of urbanisation on wildlife, urban environments can harbour bat populations if certain conditions are met, such as access to vegetation and water bodies and low levels of ALAN. Our findings are of high relevance for urban planners and conservationists, as they allow inferences on how to manage urban spaces in a bat-friendly way. We recommend limiting ALAN to the minimum necessary and maintaining and creating uninterrupted vegetated corridors between areas with high levels of canopy cover and water bodies, in which ALAN should be entirely avoided.

This is the first version of the White Paper Citizen Science Strategy 2030 for Germany. This version is out for consultation from 8/8/21-30/9/2021 and will then be revised with received comments and reviews accordingly. Consultation website: www.citizen-science-weissbuch.de

This is the conference programme of the Citizen Science SDG Conference titled "Knowledge for Change: A decade of Citizen Science (2020-2030) in support of the SDGs" that took place on 14.-15. October 2020 as a hybrid conference (in Berlin and online). This conference was an official event of Germany’s 2020 EU Council presidency. The conference took place as part of the CS-SDG project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101000014.

This is the abstract volume of the Citizen Science SDG Conference titled "Knowledge for Change: A decade of Citizen Science (2020-2030) in support of the SDGs" that took place on 14.-15. October 2020 as a hybrid conference (in Berlin and online). This conference was an official event of Germany’s 2020 EU Council presidency. The conference took place as part of the CS-SDG project, which has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 101000014.

The Data Management Plan outlines the details and procedures for how to handle data generated in the CS-SDG project according to the relevant aspects of making data FAIR, including which data the project will generate, whether and how it will be made accessible for verification and reuse, and how it will be curated and preserved.

This deliverable briefly describes the Dissemination Plan to be followed by the CS-SDG project. It outlines the dissemination activities carried out during the project duration and sets targets for these activities.