Citizen science and the right to research: building local knowledge of climate change impacts

The paper situates its inquiry within the global climate emergency, emphasizing unequal impacts on vulnerable regions and social groups. While climate strategies focus on mitigation and adaptation, disaster risk management has tended to prioritize post-disaster recovery rather than prevention and preparedness. Scientific knowledge is crucial for decision-making, yet access, complexity, and the need to value experiential knowledge hinder effective use. The study proposes that the urgency and complexity of climate-related disasters demand new, democratic approaches to citizen science. It introduces the "right to research"—viewing research as a capacity and right of ordinary people—as a Social Sciences lens to reframe citizen science. The article presents a literature review on participatory citizen science and mapping, followed by action research along Brazil’s southeastern coast engaging communities as protagonists in mapping and managing risks (floods and landslides) through citizen science, social cartography, and PGIS.

The review discusses the expanding climate governance arena and the rise of open science, especially open data and citizen science. Traditional citizen science typically involves volunteers contributing observations to enhance research reach and efficiency, aided by digital platforms, GIS, VGI, and mobile tools that connect big and small data and can integrate with remote sensing. Critiques note geographic and social biases that exclude marginalized and remote communities. In response, "extreme" citizen science is proposed to enable any community to initiate projects addressing their own issues. The review advances a democratic perspective that seeks porosity and dialogue between science and diverse knowledge spaces. Central is Appadurai’s "right to research"—the right to tools for disciplined inquiry by citizens to support survival and claims as citizens—highlighting documentation as intervention and linking research capacity to the capacity to aspire, which is unevenly distributed. The right to research is connected to the right to the city/territory (Udvarhelyi), underscoring knowledge production, access, and interpretation as central to territorial struggles. Recognizing communities as co-producers of knowledge from the outset can shift scientific cultures, enhance social learning, and increase impact. The review also positions citizen science within extended peer communities and post-normal science, acknowledging the value of multiple knowledge systems and diversity for innovation. A focused sub-review addresses citizen science and participatory mapping in disaster risk reduction (DRR), noting demonstrated benefits for monitoring, early warning, and community engagement, but also that participatory risk mapping remains peripheral in official DRR practice. Lessons from events like Fukushima spurred recognition of bottom-up monitoring, and PAR has been used to engage communities in risk mapping and adaptation design, with evidence of empowerment and improved responses across varied contexts.

Design: Action-research combining citizen science, social cartography, and Participatory GIS (PGIS) along the coastal region between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2017–2018). The project, CoAdapta Litoral, was structured in three phases. Phase I – GIS mapping and spatial data infrastructure (SDI): - Built a geographic database using QGIS (open-source GIS) and available digital maps (e.g., CPRM/Geological Survey of Brazil; MMA). - Applied the HAND (Height Above Nearest Drainage) model to estimate flood susceptibility by measuring elevation differences and flow to drainage (Rennó et al. 2008; Nobre et al. 2016). - Performed morphometric analysis and overlaid results with HAND, classifying flood susceptibility into high/medium/low using Boolean logic. - Prepared 3D visualizations and susceptibility layers for floods and landslides at appropriate scales for integration with community-produced maps. Phase II – CoAdapta working groups (WGs) and community engagement: - Conducted 15 local meetings with selected community groups based on prior research and consultation with the Forum of Traditional Communities of Angra dos Reis, Paraty and Ubatuba. - Goals: present social cartography strategy within citizen science, co-design interview questionnaires, deliver field materials (questionnaires, recorders, base maps), set timelines. - Formed three watershed-based WGs (CoAdapta local teams): 1) WG Juqueriquerê – Morro do Algodão Community, Caraguatatuba (SP). 2) WG Iriri/Onça – Ubatumirim Community, Ubatuba (SP), caiçara artisanal fishers facing protected area overlaps. 3) WG Carapitanga – Quilombo Campinho Community, Paraty (RJ), quilombola land rights context. - Recruitment: Snowball sampling via community leaders; criteria included age >60, time in territory, disaster experience (e.g., 1967 floods/landslides). Also engaged younger socially active residents. - Interviews: Semi-structured, co-designed around five themes—profile; residence time; disaster risks; prevention/adaptation; communication/visualization. Total n=46 (Juqueriquerê 12; Iriri/Onça 17; Carapitanga 17). Consent obtained. - Social cartography: Trained community researchers in mapping flood/landslide risk areas, vulnerabilities, and strategies using QGIS, satellite base maps, and paper panels. Activities combined identification of landmarks and mental maps documenting memories and territorial dynamics. Legends (hazard types and risk levels with colors) were defined by community perceptions and later compared to official symbologies. Phase III – Integrating knowledge and dissemination/communication: - Inserted social cartography outputs into the QGIS-based geodatabase from Phase I and provided it to local groups. - Organized QGIS workshops to build community capacity to manage their own spatial databases and access official data for their territories. - Cross-compared community maps with official risk maps from CPRM and IPT. - Contributed spatial and narrative content to the national citizen science platform Cemaden-Educação (newsletters, social cartography, oral histories, crowdsourcing records). - Education partnership: With Presidente Tancredo de Almeida Neves Municipal School (Ubatuba), 40 high school students participated in social cartography, handmade rain gauge construction, and QGIS training. Ethics and data: Research approved by the Universidad de los Lagos Bioethics and Biosafety Committee; informed consent obtained. Data sharing limited due to privacy; partial data available via CoAdapta website.

- Integrated mapping: Combining community-produced social cartography with technical susceptibility maps (CPRM/IPT) enabled joint reflection on watershed-scale risks and enhanced identification of risk areas and adaptation strategies. 3D QGIS visualizations showed overlaps between locally identified hazards and modeled susceptibility for floods and landslides across the three basins. - Scale effects: Official susceptibility maps at 1:25,000 generalized risk zones relative to the more detailed community maps (1:1,000–1:10,000), revealing additional local-scale risk areas and informing evacuation route design. - Local risk evidence: In Juqueriquerê (Morro do Algodão), communities reported flash floods within areas classified as medium flood susceptibility and identified compounding technological hazards from gas pipeline leaks associated with the Caraguatatuba Gas Treatment Plant (UTGCA), necessitating occasional evacuations during heavy rain and high tides. - Temporality and seasonality: Interviews documented timing, frequency, and duration of hazards. Recurrent coastal erosion was mapped in all three watersheds, affecting beach infrastructure (e.g., kiosks at Praia das Palmeiras) and fluvial/coastal dynamics impacting caiçara, quilombola, and Indigenous fisheries. Strong northwest winds (July–August) increasingly damaged banana plantations (notably Ubatumirim) and roofs. A severe drought in 2015 reduced water in springs and courses, spurring the "Oficinas das Águas" and a collaborative water scarcity map for Carapitanga. - Adaptation practices: Agroforestry systems were cited in Iriri/Onça as reducing soil erosion, flood risk, and landslide susceptibility while supporting food security and organic production. - Community-defined legends: Risk categories and colors were co-created based on local perceptions, then compared to official mappings, fostering critical understanding of classification schemes. - Capacity building and participation: Trained community researchers in social cartography, GIS, and interviewing; facilitated two-way learning on extreme weather impacts and adaptations. Total engagement included 15 meetings; 3 WGs; 46 interviewees; and 40 students in school activities. - Practical outcomes: Communities identified hazard hotspots, evacuation routes, and strategies for floods, flash floods, landslides, strong winds, and gas leak hazards; contributed content to Cemaden-Educação; initiated local data collection workflows.

Findings show that integrating local and scientific knowledge expands the scope and resolution of risk mapping and supports community-led adaptation planning. The democratic framing of citizen science via the right to research built trust, strengthened bonds between researchers and communities, and promoted co-creation beyond data collection. Social technologies like social cartography can move citizen science from crowdsourcing toward participatory research where communities help design and conduct studies. Despite demonstrated potential, integration into official DRR systems remains limited; Brazil has few systematic instances where scientific, traditional, and local knowledge are merged in official risk and vulnerability maps. Barriers include digital divides (intermittent internet), challenges with geovisualization tools for non-specialists, and the need for local support groups to sustain data collection and knowledge production. Building a common agenda across diverse communities required coordination while respecting territorial specificities, aided by communication channels (e.g., WhatsApp) and shared online records. Trust benefited from prior relationships with the communities. Future directions include continued partnerships with schools, improved communication of data and results, strengthening agroforestry as an adaptation strategy and as part of local economies, expanding low-tech and participatory recording methods (photo logs, artisanal rain gauges, timelines, participatory 3D models), and addressing data governance and justice concerns. Transparency about research use is essential, as community-generated data may be repurposed against community interests (e.g., criminalization related to protected areas). Overall, reframing citizen science through the right to research enhances relevance, inclusion, and resilience-building but requires supportive governance, capacity, and open infrastructures to counteract knowledge and power asymmetries.

Applying Appadurai’s right to research reframes citizen science as a democratic practice and a capacity integral to full citizenship and territorial claims. In this study, communities acted as research agents using citizen science, action research, and social cartography to co-produce risk knowledge and adaptation strategies for climate-related disasters. This approach strengthened engagement, empowerment, and resilience, and can inform public policies and risk management by elevating local perceptions. However, citizen science alone cannot overcome entrenched asymmetries of information and power. Sustained capacity building, digital inclusion, open and interoperable infrastructures, and democratic governance protocols are needed to recognize diverse perspectives and ensure equitable decision-making on territory management. Future CoAdapta iterations will aim for more openly formulated research protocols across decision-making steps and social appropriation of citizen-generated data, further consolidating the right to research in practice.

- Limited integration with official systems: Despite cross-comparisons, community-generated maps were not systematically integrated into official risk and vulnerability mappings in the region. - Digital divide and tool use: Community researchers faced difficulties with geovisualization tools and intermittent internet access, constraining use of interactive platforms. - Short project timeframe: The one-year action-research window necessitated leveraging prior relationships to build trust, potentially limiting depth and continuity of outcomes. - Data governance risks: Open sharing of community mapping data may be used against communities (e.g., criminalization related to protected areas), raising ethical and data justice concerns. - Privacy constraints: Full datasets are not publicly available due to human participant privacy, limiting external verification and reuse. - Context specificity: Findings are grounded in three watersheds on Brazil’s southeast coast with specific socio-environmental contexts, which may limit transferability without adaptation.