Co-constructing science with society: monitoring long-term effects of global change on intertidal rocky shores through citizen science

Marine biodiversity is facing unprecedented global changes due to the phenomenon known as “Blue Acceleration,” and addressing this issue is a critical responsibility for human societies. Intertidal areas, particularly rocky shores, are especially vulnerable, as they are located at the interface between land and sea where they experience multiple anthropogenic pressures in addition to extreme variations in natural conditions.  These areas are easily accessible, very frequented and deeply rooted in local culture. As such, they present a very promising opportunity to simultaneously investigate the impact of environmental change on intertidal biodiversity and engage human societies in these questions with citizen science programs. 

We present here the co-construction process of developing an existing citizen science program called BioLit to study the response of gastropod communities on French rocky shores to two drivers of global change (pollution and climate change) with the ESPOIRS project. This project follows a transdisciplinary ecology-sociology approach, involving citizen scientists throughout the whole scientific process with the aim of co-constructing citizen science-based bio-indicators. We implemented this process with two contrasted groups of volunteer citizens which were involved in designing and conceptualizing indicators, formulating their needs and use for such indicators, and tailoring changes in the citizen science protocol and in the sampling schemes to ensure adequate spatio-temporal monitoring effort. These choices vary between drivers of global change, as the investigation of pollution (specifically, eutrophication) requires mainly spatial planning, whereas climate change requires temporal planning.  

Our work presents a model of open, inclusive and non-top-down science, following a process of joint exploration, with organized meetings bringing together a diverse range of stakeholders. These carry different types of knowledge and value systems, but also different types of normativity depending on their practice, which require reconciliation through collective arbitration. Finally, we offer a reflection on the potential of this approach, rooted in real-world contexts, to promote the sustainability of marine indicators by involving citizens at every stage and simultaneously addressing challenges from data collection to indicator use. We advocate for integrative science that builds on the close interconnection between the ocean and human societies to produce knowledge on marine biodiversity, monitor its changes and enhance ecosystem protection.