Advancing Sustainability Together? Citizen-Generated Data and the Sustainable Development Goals

77 Pages Posted: 24 Jan 2019

See all articles by Danny Lämmerhirt

Danny Lämmerhirt

Technical University of Dortmund; University of Siegen

Jonathan Gray

King's College London

Tommaso Venturini

Centre Internet et Société CNRS

Axel Meunier

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - médialab

Date Written: December 18, 2018

Abstract

Citizen-generated data (CGD) expands what gets measured, how, and for what purpose. Initiatives cover areas from cartography to government policies, public services or environmental research. As the collection and engagement with CGD rises in relevance and visibility, public institutions can learn from existing initiatives about what CGD initiatives do, how they enable different forms of sense-making and how this may further progress around the Sustainable Development Goals.

This report examines different approaches to doing and organising CGD, as well as how governments already engage with these types of initiatives. It identifies three ways how citizen-generated data may relate to the SDGs, underlining the importance for public institutions to further support these initiatives. These include:

1) CGD initiatives create new kinds of relationships, participation and public spaces between public institutions, civil society groups and citizens,

2) Beyond closing data gaps, CGD initiatives also provide alternative ways of measuring and help informing, expanding, and improving existing monitoring efforts,

3) CGD initiatives can inform public policy, behavioral change and other actions towards implementing and achieving the SDGs.

Keywords: Citizen-generated data, civil society, data activism, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Suggested Citation

Lämmerhirt, Danny and Gray, Jonathan and Venturini, Tommaso and Meunier, Axel, Advancing Sustainability Together? Citizen-Generated Data and the Sustainable Development Goals (December 18, 2018). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3320467 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3320467

Danny Lämmerhirt (Contact Author)

Technical University of Dortmund ( email )

Friedrich-Wöhler-Weg 6
Dortmund, 44227
Germany

University of Siegen ( email )

Hoelderlinstrasse 3
57068 Siegen, NRW 57068
Germany

Jonathan Gray

King's College London ( email )

Strand
London, England WC2R 2LS
United Kingdom

Tommaso Venturini

Centre Internet et Société CNRS ( email )

59-61 rue Pouchet
PARIS, 75849
France

HOME PAGE: http://www.cis.cnrs.fr

Axel Meunier

Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) - médialab ( email )

27 rue St Guillaume - Paris Cedex 07
Paris, 75337
France

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