The OPEN17 Challenge: Online Coaching of Young Innovators to Tackle the Sustainable Development Goals with Citizen Science and Open Data

In this article, we introduce the Open17 Challenge, an online coaching programme, inspired by the 17 United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This challenge has occurred roughly once a year since 2015, when the UN launched the SDGs. It lasts five weeks and involves five two-hour online coaching sessions as well as homework for the participants between sessions. The objective of the challenge is to coach a team of students about how to apply citizen science tools and methodologies to generate open data relevant to the SDGs. The goal of the coaching is to help each team develop their idea to the stage where they can make a compelling pitch that involves crowdsourcing of citizen-generated data. The format of the challenge has evolved as the organizing institutions have learned from each edition and improved iteratively. The purpose of this article is to describe the evolving methodology of the Open17 Challenge in the context of challenge-based learning (CBL) and more specifically discuss its relevance to e-learning. In particular, we analyse the potential of this methodology to generate new citizen science projects on issues relevant to the SDGs, with a view to enabling other organizations to adapt and apply this approach to specific SDG-related challenges

A Citizen Science Approach for Analyzing Social Media With Crowdsourcing

Social media have the potential to provide timely information about emergency situations and sudden events. However, finding relevant information among the millions of posts being added every day can be difficult, and in current approaches developing an automatic data analysis project requires time and technical skills. This work presents a new approach for the analysis of social media posts, based on configurable automatic classification combined with Citizen Science methodologies. The process is facilitated by a set of flexible, automatic and open-source data processing tools called the Citizen Science Solution Kit. The kit provides a comprehensive set of tools that can be used and personalized in different situations, particularly during natural emergencies, starting from images and text contained in the posts. The tools can be employed by citizen scientists for filtering, classifying, and geolocating the content with a human-in-the-loop approach to support the data analyst, including feedback and suggestions on how to configure the automated tools, and techniques to gather inputs from citizens. Using flooding scenario as a guiding example, this paper illustrates the structure and functioning of the different tools proposed to support citizens scientists in their projects, and a methodological approach to their use. The process is then validated by discussing three case studies based on the Albania earthquake of 2019, the Covid-19 pandemic, and the Thailand floods of 2021. The results suggest that a flexible approach to tools composition and configuration can support a timely setup of an analysis project by citizen scientists, especially in case of emergencies in unexpected locations.ISSN:2169-353

Participatory approaches and open data on venomous snakes: A neglected opportunity in the global snakebite crisis?

<p>Participatory approaches and open data on venomous snakes: A neglected opportunity in the global snakebite crisis?</p

Practicing citizen science in Zurich : handbook

This handbook is a practical guide on how to successfully design and run co-created Citizen Science projects, with some specific tips for practitioners in Zurich. The handbook is organized in parts that can be seen as a sequence of consecutive steps, or can be accessed at one’s convenience for suggestions and recommendations on different aspects of designing, implementing, and running Citizen Science projects

Geographical distribution of MIVS citizen-generated (<i>n</i> = 9,113) and scientist-generated (<i>n</i> = 70,697) observations on global map illustrating snakebite mortality for GBD regions of the world.

<p>The time frames for citizen-generated and scientist-generated observations are from 1967 to 2017 and 1700 to 2016 respectively. The color scale illustrates the mortality for these regions based on figures provided by Kasturiratne et al. (2008) [<a href="http://www.plosntds.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pntd.0006162#pntd.0006162.ref012" target="_blank">12</a>]. Source: Made with Natural Earth. Free vector and raster map data available from <a href="http://www.naturalearthdata.com/" target="_blank">www.naturalearthdata.com</a>. The map (countries cultural theme version 3.1.0) is adapted and projected in the World Robinson coordinate reference system on QGIS 2.18.2. <b>Abbreviations:</b> GBD, global burden of disease; MIVS, medically important venomous snakes.</p

General characteristics of citizen-generated observations and scientist-generated observations datasets.

<p>General characteristics of citizen-generated observations and scientist-generated observations datasets.</p

Most commonly observed MIVS species in citizen-generated and scientist-generated data sources per GBD region.

<p>Most commonly observed MIVS species in citizen-generated and scientist-generated data sources per GBD region.</p

Geographical distribution of citizen-generated and scientist-generated snake species observations.

<p>Geographical distribution of citizen-generated and scientist-generated snake species observations.</p

Incidence of severe critical events in paediatric anaesthesia (APRICOT): a prospective multicentre observational study in 261 hospitals in Europe

Background Little is known about the incidence of severe critical events in children undergoing general anaesthesia in Europe. We aimed to identify the incidence, nature, and outcome of severe critical events in children undergoing anaesthesia, and the associated potential risk factors. Methods The APRICOT study was a prospective observational multicentre cohort study of children from birth to 15 years of age undergoing elective or urgent anaesthesia for diagnostic or surgical procedures. Children were eligible for inclusion during a 2-week period determined prospectively by each centre. There were 261 participating centres across 33 European countries. The primary endpoint was the occurence of perioperative severe critical events requiring immediate intervention. A severe critical event was defined as the occurrence of respiratory, cardiac, allergic, or neurological complications requiring immediate intervention and that led (or could have led) to major disability or death. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT01878760. Findings Between April 1, 2014, and Jan 31, 2015, 31â127 anaesthetic procedures in 30â874 children with a mean age of 6·35 years (SD 4·50) were included. The incidence of perioperative severe critical events was 5·2% (95% CI 5·0â5·5) with an incidence of respiratory critical events of 3·1% (2·9â3·3). Cardiovascular instability occurred in 1·9% (1·7â2·1), with an immediate poor outcome in 5·4% (3·7â7·5) of these cases. The all-cause 30-day in-hospital mortality rate was 10 in 10â000. This was independent of type of anaesthesia. Age (relative risk 0·88, 95% CI 0·86â0·90; p<0·0001), medical history, and physical condition (1·60, 1·40â1·82; p<0·0001) were the major risk factors for a serious critical event. Multivariate analysis revealed evidence for the beneficial effect of years of experience of the most senior anaesthesia team member (0·99, 0·981â0·997; p<0·0048 for respiratory critical events, and 0·98, 0·97â0·99; p=0·0039 for cardiovascular critical events), rather than the type of health institution or providers. Interpretation This study highlights a relatively high rate of severe critical events during the anaesthesia management of children for surgical or diagnostic procedures in Europe, and a large variability in the practice of paediatric anaesthesia. These findings are substantial enough to warrant attention from national, regional, and specialist societies to target education of anaesthesiologists and their teams and implement strategies for quality improvement in paediatric anaesthesia. Funding European Society of Anaesthesiology