Counting bees: Learning outcomes from participation in the Dutch national bee survey

Citizen science approaches to data collection are growing in popularity, in part because of their potential for achieving both scientific and educational objectives. Evaluating the impacts of participation on citizen scientists is important, yet such evaluations are still relatively rare. In addi-tion, recent literature reviews indicate that existing studies often focus on content learning, make limited use of existing scales, and rarely report null results. This paper reports an evaluation of the demographic profile, motivations and learning outcomes of participants in the Dutch National Bee Survey, a national‐scale citizen science project involving citizens in collecting observational data of wild bees. Using a repeated measures survey study, we assessed the impact of participation on re-spondents’ attitudes and behavioural intentions regarding bees, and their attitudes towards nature, citizenship, and citizen science. Our baseline (N = 373) and follow‐up (N = 208) surveys indicate that our respondents are of a relatively high age and education level, have a pre‐existing affinity with nature, and are strongly motivated by conservation concerns and learning about bees. Assessment of learning outcomes indicated a significant difference between two types of self‐report questions: respondents reported significant gains in knowledge and appreciation of wild bees, yet attitudinal scales indicated no significant shifts in attitudes towards bees, nature, citizen science, or citizenship. In our discussion, we suggest several explanations for this finding, including respondents’ pre‐ex-isting affinity with nature, and advance suggestions for future research into citizen science learning outcomes

Implementing participatory monitoring in river management: The role of stakeholders' perspectives and incentives

Involving local stakeholders in monitoring has the potential to stimulate learning and improve management responses. However, there is limited understanding about factors which influence implementation and success. This paper reviews local stakeholders' perceptions with respect to the construction of longitudinal dams in the Dutch river Waal, and explores their incentives to be involved in monitoring the effects of this intervention. Interviews with key stakeholders showed that concerns and (dis)trust are important incentives for participating in monitoring. Surveys of local residents, recreational anglers and boaters, and shipping professionals mapped their level of trust, attachment to the river landscape and evaluation of the effects of the longitudinal dams. Our case study shows that incentives for participation differ between stakeholder groups, and that research into their perceptions of the local environment can inform water managers on how to involve these groups in participatory monitoring. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserve

Motivations for committed nature conservation action in Europe

Despite ongoing efforts to motivate politicians and publics in Europe regarding nature conservation, biodiversity continues to decline. Monetary valuation of ecosystem services appears to be insufficient to motivate people, suggesting that non-monetary values have a crucial role to play. There is insufficient information about the motivations of actors who have been instrumental in successful conservation projects. We investigated the motivations underlying these biodiversity actors using the ranking of cards and compared the results with the rankings of motivations of a second group of actors with more socially related interests. For both groups of actors, their action relating to biodiversity was supported in general by two groups of motivations related to living a meaningful life and moral values. The non-biodiversity actors also noted that their action relating to biodiversity rested more on beauty, place attachment and intrinsic values in comparison with their main non-biodiversity interests. Our results have implications for environmental policy and biodiversity conservation in that the current tendency of focusing on the economic valuation of biodiversity fails to address the motivations of successful actors, thereby failing to motivate nature conservation on an individual leve

Relational values of nature: leverage points for nature policy in Europe

Relational values reflect the qualities of the relationships between humans and nature, such as care, social bonding, place attachment and spiritual meanings. In this perspective article, we argue that understanding relational values is vital for nature conservation, and we identify how incorporation of these values may function as leverage points for achieving more effective nature policy. We discuss the distinctive features of the concept of relational values and elaborate how relational values strongly influence people’s perceptions of, engagement with and action for nature. Relational values can also provide important deep leverage points for policy interventions aiming to support citizen’s contribution to nature conservation, to strengthen biodiversity policy and the relationship between people and nature. Based on three realms of leverage (re-think, re-structure and re-connect), we distinguish six routes through which relational values can be integrated in policies and practices of nature conservation: (1) incorporation of pluralized meanings of nature; (2) the uptake of relational language in policy discourse; (3) a prioritization of landscape-based policy; (4) empowering citizens in nature conservation; (5) re-orienting nature education to stimulate people’s personal bond with nature; and (6) using digital technology to stimulate new relationships with nature