Citizen science data, marine plastics, and SDG monitoring: How to build trust in citizen science data and methodologies among diverse actors with varying needs and motivations?

The accumulation of plastic litter in marine environments presents a major environmental challenge to sustainability and is central to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, the vast size of oceans and the widespread nature of marine plastic litter make its monitoring difficult. Citizen science offers a promising solution, providing valuable data for SDG monitoring and reporting, however, there has been no evidence of its use to date. In this presentation, we share how Ghana became the first country to integrate citizen science data into their official statistics and the official monitoring and reporting of SDG indicator 14.1.1b for marine plastic litter. This effort also helped to bridge local, community level data collection with national and global monitoring and policy agendas, aligning with the SDG framework. The data have already contributed to Ghana's Voluntary National Review and been reported in the UN SDG Global Database, helping to inform national policies.

In this presentation, we will focus on the process of validating citizen science data and integrating it into official monitoring and reporting, involving key stakeholders at local, national, and global levels, such as government agencies, the UN, civil society organizations, citizen science networks, and academia. This approach offers a model for other countries and citizen science initiatives interested in adopting similar methods for official monitoring and policymaking. A central theme will be how citizen science projects can be designed to foster collaboration and trust among diverse stakeholders, including governments, UN bodies, and local communities. We will highlight our success and lessons learnt, and showcase how knowledge production through citizen science can strengthen sustainability efforts, influence effective policy, and highlight the value of participatory sciences.