Encountering data and other non-humans : a more-than-human perspective on the citizen science project Artportalen

Sammanfattning

To tackle the climate crisis and current biodiversity loss, scientists and citizens collaborate through citizen science, which is increasingly implemented in biodiversity research. As a citizen science project, many participants can access and contribute to the Species Observation System Artportalen. Through a more-than-human approach, this study argues that non-human others and data should also be considered influential social participants in such a context. All participants shape and are shaped when encountering each other. These influences affect how environments are perceived by said participants. Therefore, perceptions arising out of the different encounters with non-human others and data are investigated throughout the study. Nine semi-structured interviews with interviewees differently connected to Artportalen were conducted and analysed. The concepts of data journeys and encounters were combined to analyse the interviews. Data journeys follow data travelling between sociotechnical fields. Encounters allow us to shift the focus from solely humans to humans and non-human others. The findings pinpoint four themes: Two focused on an anthropocentric and ecocentric worldview. One theme centred on the most dominant narrative which included both, ideas on progress and care. The last theme revolved around the motivations and interests behind practices, which emerge through varying worldviews. Even though one worldview is anthropocentric and the other one ecocentric, participants switch between them. This indicates that the worldviews’ boundaries are dynamic. Moreover, seemingly similar practices often stem from differing motivations and interests, possibly leading to tension and conflicts. Such conflicts can have negative effects on environmental governance processes. The analysed data indicated that Artportalen as a map showcases human datafication practices and interests, rather than focusing on depicting non-human others, such as birds. Nevertheless, through an ecocentric perspective, the focus shifted from datafication processes to experience and curiosity. As Artportalen’s data is included in the decision-making processes of environmental projects, a better understanding of underlying perceptions and underlying worldviews by all participants is therefore necessary.