The first cuckoo in winter: climate change and citizen science

Citizen science? Or excuses to
be in nature?
• ‘I must have walked more miles across the wild brooks than I ever did
when I was in the military, and I just enjoy it … [after retiring] I used to
go for the same walk every day but I thought ‘”this is not right, I’ve got
to find something to do” and since I’ve done this you meet people, have
a chat, it’s just relaxing …’
‘I mean walking on a spring morning is lovely, but when
there’s a purpose to it that’s even better isn’t it’
• ‘it’s nice, but as long as you do it with a purpose in mind and at the end
of it you feel you’ve done something really quite good’
‘you’d feel guilty, wouldn’t you, sort of wandering along
not doing anything very much except looking’
Experience, governance and social
learning
Little engagement with
governance/ most feel powerless
to change anything
Monitoring biodiversity presents
often deeply emotional and
meaningful experiences
Few opportunities to internalise
the meaning of those experiences
The learning cycle needs to be
closed through reflection and
learning processes
People love opportunities to do
this
16