Following the article, the author J. Kenens has published another paper "Changing perspectives: tracing the evolution of citizen radiation measuring organizations after Fukushima (2020)" DOI: 10.1051/radiopro/2020041 (link) that draws on the research on citizen science in Japan with a new focus on the comparison of their practices directly after the nuclear accident and today.
It is interesting to see how citizen science in Japan is enacted and how the concept of citizen science is dependent to the social and cultural context. Also looking at it not only from a top-down perspective, where universities or organizations are involved, but also the bottom-up perspective that includes only those practices that are done by citizens alone opens up a new space. As I am currently engaging with research on air pollution in different sites, I could build from this text in considering the link between "citizen-driven approaches and institutional imparatives in the governance" (p. 7) of issues with air pollution.
The text is an article about citizen science in the aftermath of the Fukushima disaster in 2011. The first noteworthy detail about this text that struck me is the inclusion of Japanese words and even their original spelling. This creates a kind of closeness to the field that the authors did their research in.
The authors engaged in multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork that took place in and around Fukushima but also in other geografical sites like Tochigi, Miyagi, Aichi, Tokyo and Kyoto. There, they conduct semi-structured interviews with various organisations that are all somehow involved with citizen science or radiation measurement. To learn about the citizens that measure radioactivity and create their own data on radiation because of a lack of provided data by the government, a literature review of policy documents and workshops with those citizen scientists is performed.
This is very hard to say upfront. I'm not an advocate for saving data for the sake of it.
Understanding and having the option to have some data open and some data restricted ongoing. The button at the bottom of the Annotate tool is helpful in this respect.
As an academic that has recently left the institutional belonging for a moment to a university, I can answer this from two perspectives.
All of my digital design research projects have very specifc ways of digitally managing data, including building platforms for researchers in tech corporations (climate change or for spaces for protecting endangered species beyond borders). To manage digital data in their platforms.
Working with women-in-tech on their public leadership. The group required data to be shared and sjupport for one another via WhatsApp. This supported their Twitter and public TV experiences live.
Or working with those not engaging in multi-arts venues via building together an app - the process being the most successful outcome. We used the data management processes the funder required and also the design adn tech partners were using.
During Covid-19 digital data flows in the usual ways, but we're discussion new CRMs for fundraising right now. We share data in the usual way, but Zoom, WhatsApp and Skype scaffold a lot of our emphasis on face-to-face community engagement. We don't share data outside of the homeless charity on interaction numbers on the street etc, because like many charities it need not report data to the government. The charity does not share homeless data with governmental departements that share their data in ways we would not advocate for, unless it is required by law,— like auditing and tax.
Digital design research is what I do, — but during the crisis it is to enable me to build community trust and give remote and rapid leadership and community decision-making in my role as a Chair of a homeless charity in London, UK.
Bullet Journal (handwritten with dotted pages for designing).
Trello for project management unless on a specific project that requires other software for gantt charts, workplans, etc.
Adobe Suite (Indesign, Illustrator etc.)
Email (usually Outlook)
DTP - Microsoft Word, Excel etc. but also using online free platforms like Google Docs and Sheets.
Text Edit - all the time for cleaning up text and embedded coding.
Headspace - meditation.
WhatsApp - for sharing.
Audible for music.
Photos and video on my phone.
Twitter - social media and outreach.
Signal - for better encryption.
Pocket casts – podcasts for inspiration and research
NCVO platform and .gov.uk and other websites using Chrome or Signal.
Bookends - bibliography.
Skype / Zoom - remote working during covid-19 mostly.
and more...