@article{wilson_unlocking_2025,

title = {Unlocking the global benefits of Earth Observation to address the SDG 6 in situ water quality monitoring gap},

author = {Harriet Wilson and Nina Raasakka and Evangelos Spyrakos and David Millar and Merrie Beth Neely and Anham Salyani and Shubham Pawar and Igor Chernov and S. Karen De Lespérance Ague and Ximena Aguilar Vega and Adenike Akinsemolu and Analy Baltodano Martinez and Carmen Cillero Castro and Michelle Del Valle and Mohamed Fadlelseed and Anabella Ferral and Jemal Mohammed Hassen and Dalin Jiang and Tracey Kudzanai Mubambi and Sofia La Fuente and Lukumon Olaitan Lateef and Felipe De L. Lobo and Jerome Marty and Albert Nkwasa and Julia Akinyi Obuya and Igor Ogashawara and Ils Reusen and Ashley Rogers and Susanne I. Schmidt and Kabindra Sharma and Stefan G. H. Simis and Shenglei Wang and Stuart Warner and Andrew Tyler},

url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frsen.2025.1549286/full},

doi = {10.3389/frsen.2025.1549286},

issn = {2673-6187},

year  = {2025},

date = {2025-03-01},

urldate = {2025-04-03},

journal = {Frontiers in Remote Sensing},

volume = {6},

pages = {1549286},

abstract = {Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 6 requires innovative and often disruptive approaches to address critical gaps in global water quality monitoring. The most recent SDG Indicator 6.3.2 

 (Proportion of bodies of water with good ambient water quality) 

 progress report highlights a critical water quality 

 in situ 

 data gap, with an urgent need for countries to strengthen their monitoring capacity and commence state water quality assessments and trend analysis. Earth Observation (EO) technologies hold immense potential to close that gap for SDG Indicator 6.3.2. However, limited awareness, lack of skills and resource inequalities are some of the barriers which hinder widespread adoption of EO. We present insights from a unique workshop held at the University of Stirling in 2024, which convened diverse participants from academia, industry, NGOs, and international agencies and across disciplines, geographies, and sectors. Through creative and collective thinking approaches, they developed four actionable concepts: (1) Space Buzz: a media campaign to raise awareness of EO value; (2) centralised EO access hubs to empower users and improve equality; (3) scalable education strategies for capacity building; and (4) an Intergovernmental Panel for Water Quality to enhance global coordination. Each concept derived from a synoptic creative process, demonstrating the uniqueness of thinking within the teams. To unlock the potential of EO for global water quality monitoring, we invite EO networks, funders, water resource managers and individuals to champion these concepts, and incorporate them into funding calls and proposals.},

keywords = {ws-earth-observation, wwqa-deliverable},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{schmidtke_sustainable_2024,

title = {Sustainable Implementation of Citizen-Based Plastic Monitoring of Fresh Waters in Western Africa},

author = {Lea Schmidtke and Tim H. M. Van Emmerik and Rose Boahemaa Pinto and Louise J. Schreyers and Christian Schmidt and Katrin Wendt-Potthoff and Sabrina Kirschke},

url = {https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/22/10007},

doi = {10.3390/su162210007},

issn = {2071-1050},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-11-01},

urldate = {2025-04-04},

journal = {Sustainability},

volume = {16},

number = {22},

pages = {10007},

abstract = {Citizen science projects globally have increasingly been implemented in collecting and analysing environmental data. At the same time, these initiatives are often project-based and, therefore, of short duration. This presents a challenge as data from such activities may not be used in research and political decision-making. This research aims to explore the barriers and solutions for establishing a sustainable long-term citizen-based plastic monitoring strategy in fresh waters based on a case study in Accra, Ghana. This case study is particularly relevant due to the significant issue of plastic pollution in the region, limited official monitoring data to effectively address the problem, and the potential role of citizen science in addressing this data gap in the long term. Data on barriers and solutions were collected based on eight expert interviews, a survey amongst 17 stakeholders, and subsequent roundtable discussions with 24 experts and stakeholders from academia, the private sector, the public sector, and civil society. From this, we identified 30 types of barriers and 21 types of solutions to implement citizen science in the long term. These barriers and solutions relate to five fields of action (social, economic, environmental, technical, and management and governance) and four stakeholder groups (public sector, private sector, civil society, and academia) to implement solution pathways for long-term citizen science projects. Based on our findings, we make suggestions as to how citizen science can be implemented more sustainably in the future in different fields of action and from various institutional perspectives. With this, we hope to advance the potential use of citizen science and citizen science data in research and policy design related to plastics in fresh waters.},

keywords = {ws-citizen-science, wwqa-deliverable},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{earthwatch_institute_policy_2024,

title = {Policy Brief - The role of citizen science in improving ambient water quality},

author = {Earthwatch Institute},

url = {https://zenodo.org/doi/10.5281/zenodo.12650972},

doi = {10.5281/ZENODO.12650972},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-07-01},

urldate = {2025-05-28},

abstract = {Recommended Citation: WWQA, 2024. Policy Brief – The role of citizen science in improving ambient water quality - Sustainable Development Target 6.3. Published by Earthwatch Europe on behalf of the United Nations Environment Programme-coordinated World Water Quality Alliance. July 2024. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12650972 

This is the Policy Brief. There is an accompanying Technical Brief. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.12634359 

Key messageInternational recognition of the need for global action on water is building. In 2023 the UN Water Conferencemade it clear that water is essential for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, and for the health and prosperity of people and planet. But that progress on water related goals and targets remains alarmingly off track. The 2024 United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA 6) resolution on Effective and inclusive solutions for strengthening water policies - (UNEP/EA.6/L.13) makes clear that the collection of water quality data needs to be enhanced and used for evidence-based decision making and informed water resource management. Despite the awareness that good ambient water quality is crucial for human survival, it is alarming how little information about the quality of water in lakes, rivers, and groundwater is available globally. Urgent action needs to be taken if we want to understand and protect our water supplies. This brief calls for international policy makers and local communities to work together to monitor and improve water quality using a readily available approach – citizen science. Without immediate adoption, the authors believe that Sustainable Development Target 6.3 will not be met.},

keywords = {Ambient Water Quality, Citizen Science, Data Gathering, Methodology, SDG6, SDG632, Sustainable Development Goals, Water, Water Policy, water quality, World Water Quality Alliance, ws-citizen-science, wwqa-deliverable},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{warner_empowering_2024,

title = {Empowering citizen scientists to improve water quality: from monitoring to action},

author = {Stuart Warner and Sara Blanco Ramírez and Sandra De Vries and Nancy Marangu and Henriette Ateba Bessa and Carla Toranzo and Madina Imaralieva and Tommaso Abrate and Enock Kiminta and José Castro and Marcelo Luiz De Souza and Abdul Ghaffar Memon and Steven Loiselle and Mohamed Sahr E. Juanah},

url = {https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/frwa.2024.1367198/full},

doi = {10.3389/frwa.2024.1367198},

issn = {2624-9375},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-04-01},

urldate = {2025-04-04},

journal = {Frontiers in Water},

volume = {6},

pages = {1367198},

abstract = {Citizen science (CS) has so far failed to achieve its potential to contribute to water resource management globally despite a significant body of work proclaiming the benefits of such an approach. Also, this work has addressed concerns over precision, accuracy and reliability of methods used. This article presents the findings of a hackathon-type workshop challenge that brought together water quality experts and CS practitioners to explore barriers and possible solutions to mainstream citizen scientist-generated data into national, regional, and global reporting processes, and thereby provide a tangible connection between policy makers and community-based citizen scientists. We present the findings here as a perspective-type summary. This workshop challenge highlighted the breadth and scope of CS activities globally yet recognized that their potential for positive impact is going unrealized. The challenge team proposed that impact could be improved by: developing awareness; applying a simultaneous bottom-up/top-down approach to increase success rates; that local leaders or ‘catalysts' are key to initiate and sustain activities; that generated data need to fulfill a purpose and create required information, and ultimately, lead to actions (data > information > action); recognizing that we are all potential citizen scientists is important; recognizing that “good water quality” is subjective; and lastly that developing a communication gateway that allows bi-directional data and information transfer is essential.},

keywords = {ws-citizen-science, wwqa-deliverable},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

@article{simaika_towards_2024,

title = {Towards harmonized standards for freshwater biodiversity monitoring and biological assessment using benthic macroinvertebrates},

author = {John P. Simaika and James Stribling and Jennifer Lento and Andreas Bruder and Sandra Poikane and Marcelo S. Moretti and Nick Rivers-Moore and Kristian Meissner and Craig R. Macadam},

url = {https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0048969724004959},

doi = {10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.170360},

issn = {00489697},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-03-01},

urldate = {2025-04-11},

journal = {Science of The Total Environment},

volume = {918},

pages = {170360},

abstract = {Monitoring programs at sub-national and national scales lack coordination, harmonization, and systematic review and analysis at continental and global scales, and thus fail to adequately assess and evaluate drivers of biodiversity and ecosystem degradation and loss at large spatial scales. Here we review the state of the art, gaps and challenges in the freshwater assessment programs for both the biological condition (bioassessment) and biodiversity monitoring of freshwater ecosystems using the benthic macroinvertebrate community. To assess the existence of nationally- and regionally- (sub-nationally-) accepted freshwater benthic macroinvertebrate protocols that are put in practice/used in each country, we conducted a survey from November 2022 to May 2023. Responses from 110 respondents based in 67 countries were received. Although the responses varied in their consistency, the responses clearly demonstrated a lack of biodiversity monitoring being done at both national and sub-national levels for lakes, rivers and artificial waterbodies. Programs for bioassessment were more widespread, and in some cases even harmonized among several countries. We identified 20 gaps and challenges, which we classed into five major categories, these being (a) field sampling, (b) sample processing and identification, (c) metrics and indices, (d) assessment, and (e) other gaps and challenges. Above all, we identify the lack of harmonization as one of the most important gaps, hindering efficient collaboration and communication. We identify the IUCN SSC Global Freshwater Macroinvertebrate Sampling Protocols Task Force (GLOSAM) as a means to address the lack of globally-harmonized biodiversity monitoring and biological assessment protocols.},

keywords = {Bioassessment, Biodiversity, Biomonitoring, Ecological condition, Inland water, Invertebrate, Lake, River, ws-bbma, wwqa-deliverable},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}