Public geography and citizen science: participatory practices for action research

Abstract

The paper addresses the relationships between geography and the emerging domain of citizen science as a possible scenario for the strengthening of public geography. Drawing from the Manifesto of Public Geography published in 2018 and from the following contributions, the paper highlights how core geographical concepts (space, place, location, distributions, territorial systems) are applied in citizen science activities and how the principles of citizen science, such as participation and field work can fertilize future paths for a public geography. The paper describes the phases and methods of citizen science and then explains that the relationship with geography is built on core spatial dimensions, the creation crowdsourced information and place making.