The general purpose of student-driven citizen science projects is to enhance HEI students, staff and relevant stakeholders (policymakers, decision-makers, Ukrainian communities’ representatives, etc.) engagement in environmental recovery as well as accountability in Ukraine. Grounding its framework on analysis of the digital and participatory dimensions of environmental citizen science in war-torn Ukraine. Student-driven citizen science projects target the use of digital technologies and citizen participation practices to guarantee the effective execution of the projects.
The application of student-driven projects allowed the implementation of the toolkit of citizen science for specific research on war impacts on environmental conditions in Ukraine and to reveal and assess conditions for effective execution of international projects applying citizen science to track environmental damage caused by war and to enhance community engagement in post-war recovery. Citizen science approach is applicable and efficient for both field research and remote data analysis, ensuring the rapid enlargement of data gathering, adjusting research to specific needs and cost efficiency. The success of the projects is determined by its design, the most crucial factor is a clear statement of goals, requirements for data accuracy, standardization of research methods and some kind of training at the initial stage. The citizen science projects aimed at delivering scientific results, stimulating community engagement into environmental research resulting in focusing on local issues, thus securing a significant multiplication effect on the national level.