This thesis departs from the understanding of citizens concern for our Nature, and their feeling of powerlessness due to the climate crisis. Additionally, it has investigated the relationship between humans and nature, with the outcome that we need to start cooperating with our nature. As citizens need to become empowered to understand the issue of climate change before they can do any changes in their lives, education is key. To empower citizens in the issue of climate change I propose classrooms for environmentaland climatic knowledge development. The proposal is platforms with the goal of mutual learnings and meaningful interaction between academia and the community. Its organization is a collaboration that includes the necessary functions for both bottom-up and bottom-down initiated Citizen Science projects. Secondly, I propose the move of/ or initiation of new Research in Climate impact in Umeå, in an urban forest. This to create a closer relationship with the research and enabling participatory- and educational activities with the community. This thesis investigates the possibilities with knowledge cocreation as a response to societal change. Additionally, room for knowledge cocreation between the public and academia in Umeå in created. The aim is to empower citizens and strengthen the local community, and my hypothesis is that that the intervention acts as a catalyst for sustainable future development.

As long as the world continues to experience war, climate change, financial adversity,and persecution; the number of refugees will only continue to grow along with the needto develop more effective and innovative integration strategies. Currently, to address theongoing challenges that refugees face in Europe, the European Commission has publishedthe Action Plan on Integration and Inclusion 2021-2027, illustrating the criteria for theadequate inclusion of migrants and refugees in EU Member States. While focusing oneach of the key areas discussed in the Action Plan- education, employment, healthcare,and housing- the present study also turns its attention to the growing practice of CitizenScience (CS) as a potential means of contributing to the EU’s endeavours. As establishedin the literature covered in this paper, CS is understood as research practices relying onthe general public’s engagement in different research tasks that focus on matters ofcommon concern among researchers and different communities. Due to the potentialshown by this open, flexible, and participatory quality of these practices, this study hasproceeded to investigate which EU requirements for inclusion are met by CS initiativesbased on the correlations in CS principles and strategies with the EU Action Plan criteria.Following a qualitative research method based on comparative text analysis of EU andCS documents, as well as interviews with members of four CS case studies, this paperhas identified several principles and working areas that align with CS and Europeanintegration requirements for refugees. Nonetheless, the study results also show certainlimitations to the influence that CS projects can have for refugee’s integration which arebased on the short-term impacts of this practice and the lack of general acceptance anduse of CS research data among policy-makers in the EU and its Member States. Based onthese results, the usefulness and relevance of CS initiatives to integration efforts withinEurope can be said to exhibit certain potential although, limited and largely unexploredin policy-making and academia.

Volunteer pruning programs are becoming an important tool in helping municipal arborists manage the urban forest. To find if volunteers can learn to prune trees well, the ability of volunteers to prune small trees after receiving training was assessed in three different ways, a written exam, a pruning prescription assessment, and a pruning cut assessment. Volunteers were assigned to either an indoor, lecture-based training or an outdoor, hands-on training session. After the training volunteers were asked to complete a written exam to gauge their understanding of the curriculum. Volunteers were then asked to perform a pruning prescription on small street trees indicating where they would prune to remove structural issues and branches growing into signs and walkways. Finally, volunteers were asked to make a removal cut and reduction cut using hand pruners. Volunteers who received indoor training performed significantly better on the written exam. Both training groups performed well on the pruning prescription assessment. At each location, volunteers who received the outdoor training scored significantly higher than the indoor group on their pruning prescription. The type of training received did not affect a volunteer’s ability to make good pruning cuts. These results indicate that, given proper training, volunteers can learn to prune small trees to the satisfaction of an arborist.

Truly unique and innovative solutions are needed to resolve today's complex and controversial environmental issues (e.g., biodiversity loss, global warming, cultural evolution, etc.). In response to these concerns, a variety of applied science programs have emerged to help people make better decisions about the environment. Each of these programs (e.g., conservation biology, restoration ecology, sustainable forestry, environmental toxicology, and others) produces specialized knowledge that is used to achieve specific social and environmental goals. For example, the peer-reviewed, scientific analyses published in Conservation Biology are most likely concerned with the goal of preserving biological diversity, whereas the equally scientific and respected analyses published in Forest Science are most likely concerned with the goal of sustaining timber yields. Likewise, studies in environmental toxicology investigate risks to human health by environmental pollutants, while stud! ies in ecological restoration serve to maximize the integrity of natural systems. Unfortunately, these diverse forms of knowledge offer multiple and often conflicting ways of thinking about the environment. Public ecology is a response to this dilemma. The primary goal of public ecology is construct common ground between people's diverse beliefs and values for the environment. Toward this end, public ecology is an interdisciplinary and collaborative approach to environmental science and politics. Public ecology integrates perspectives from the social and natural sciences, the humanities, and public understandings of the environment. Public ecology is not only a cross-cultural and comparative form of environmental studies, it is also a citizen science that encourages all concerned stakeholders to participate with research specialists, technical experts, and professional decision-makers in developing creative solutions to persistent environmental problems. / Ph. D.

Dogs have been used alongside humans as detection tools for centuries. There have been a multitude of studies published that demonstrate the accuracy and utility of detection dogs, more specifically conservation scent detection dogs. With ubiquitous agricultural threats in the United States, there is a need for a tool to help decrease the threat level. Pet dogs could be the answer. There are millions of pet dogs in the United States and with the success of the dog sport nose work there is the potential to use pet dogs as detection tools. In this proof-of-concept study, six pet dogs were trained to detect the spotted lanternfly. The dogs completed a training phase and five tests. The mean sensitivity of the six dogs, for the five tests, was 79.75%. The mean PPP of the six dogs, for all five tests, was 66.79%. The results suggest that these six dogs could be beneficial detection tools for the Spotted Lanternfly. Based on the findings in this study, pet dogs could be invaluable in the field of conservation scent detection. / Master of Science / Dogs have been used alongside humans as detection tools for centuries. There have been a multitude of studies published that demonstrate the accuracy and utility of detection dogs, more specifically conservation scent detection dogs. With ubiquitous agricultural threats in the United States, there is a need for a tool to help decrease the threat level. Pet dogs could be the answer. There are millions of pet dogs in the United States and with the success of the dog sport nose work there is the potential to use pet dogs as detection tools. In this proof-of-concept study, six pet dogs were trained to detect the spotted lanternfly. The dogs completed a training phase and five tests. The mean sensitivity, or proportion of correct detections, of the six dogs, for the five tests, was 79.75%. The mean PPP, or likelihood it is that the source of odor is present when a dog offers an alert; of the six dogs, for all five tests, was 66.79%. The results suggest that these six dogs could be beneficial detection tools for the Spotted Lanternfly. Based on the findings in this study, pet dogs could be invaluable in the field of conservation scent detection.

Esta tesis presenta un estudio exhaustivo sobre la dinámica de las poblaciones de medusas en el mar Mediterráneo, centrándose en sus implicaciones ecológicas, socioeconómicas y de gestión. Utilizando datos de informes de socorristas, iniciativas de ciencia ciudadana, encuestas nacionales de pesca y oficinas de turismo, (y diversos parámetros ambientales), esta investigación examina los patrones e impactos de las picaduras de medusas a lo largo de la costa sur y este de España, varamientos demersales, pelágicos y en playas. Las principales conclusiones indican que las picaduras de medusa representan el 54% de todas las lesiones relacionadas con la playa, siendo Pelagia noctiluca la especie más destacada, seguida de Rhizostoma pulmo, Cotylorhiza tuberculata y Rhizostoma luteum. Esta última especie es la más destacada, ya que se trata del avistamiento más septentrional hasta la fecha. El Índice de Picadura (SI), una herramienta desarrollada para estandarizar y cuantificar los incidentes de picadura, muestra estabilidad durante los últimos 10 años con un ligero descenso en los últimos años, aunque el número absoluto de picaduras sigue siendo alto. Los análisis de las picaduras de medusa y los informes de avistamientos revelan una variabilidad espacial significativa en los incidentes de picadura de medusa, con las Islas Baleares identificadas como el punto caliente para la mayoría de los suspiros y la mayoría de las picaduras. La tesis destaca la importancia de abordar la proliferación de medusas mediante estrategias de gestión específicas, teniendo en cuenta tanto los factores ecológicos como las actividades humanas que influyen en las poblaciones de medusas. Las repercusiones socioeconómicas de las picaduras de medusas son considerables y afectan al turismo y a las economías locales. Esta investigación subraya la necesidad de mejorar la concienciación pública, aplicar políticas de gestión eficaces y realizar un seguimiento continuo para mitigar los efectos negativos de las medusas en las comunidades costeras. Esta tesis contribuye a la comprensión de la dinámica de las medusas en el Mediterráneo y aporta valiosas ideas para el desarrollo de enfoques de gestión integrada que aborden los retos planteados por las picaduras de medusa.

In this paper I examine the possibilities for researchers in the field of climate change in the arctic ecosystems to collaborate with people of the common public for monitoring or to answer scientific questions, sometimes called Citizen Science. I have done this by focusing on the research community of Abisko, northern Sweden. I present a number of examples of possible projects that I have collected through literature, interviews and field work with researchers. Furthermore, I argue that Citizen Science projects might be a tool for nature guides in reaching adventurous visitors searching for more understanding of climate change, ecosystems, and who also want to contribute to real science. However, Citizen Science can also be a part of the democratization of a community when local people get engaged. Thus different aspects of Citizen Science are suitable for different target groups.

Citizen Science (CS) ist eine Methode, die in den letzten Jahren in der Wissenschaft weltweit an Bedeutung gewonnen hat. Obwohl viele Studien diese Daten mit denen von akademischen Forschenden verglichen, gibt es immer noch Bedenken hinsichtlich ihrer Qualität. In meiner Doktorarbeit zielte ich darauf ab die Methode CS für eine Vogelart mit einem großen Repertoire, der Nachtigall (Luscinia megarhynchos), als Anwendungsfall auf der Grundlage der Dialektforschung zu evaluieren. Ich untersuchte, ob die drei vermeintlichen Hauptgründe für schlechte Qualität (Anonymität, Unerfahrenheit und fehlende Standardisierung) zu unvollständigen, zeitlich oder räumlich verzerrten und ungenauen bioakustischen Daten führten. Dazu analysierte ich nicht-standardisierte CS-Aufnahmen, die mit einem Smartphone über die 'Naturblick' App erstellt wurden, welche einen eingebauten Mustererkennungsalgorithmus enthielt. Ich konnte in meiner Doktorarbeit zeigen, dass mit der Methode CS valide Daten für die bioakustische Forschung gewonnen werden können. Meine Ergebnisse zeigten, dass Anonymität, mangelnde Erfahrung und Standardisierung nicht zu geringer Qualität führten, sondern zu einem großen Datensatz, der genauso wertvoll war wie jene von akademischen Forschenden. Die Ergebnisse sind von großer Bedeutung für künftige CS-Projekte zur Verbesserung der Qualität und des Vertrauens in diese Daten. / Citizen science (CS) is a method that has been increased in science worldwide in recent years. Although many studies have compared these data with those of academic researchers, there are still concerns about their quality. In my doctoral thesis I aimed to evaluate the method of CS for a bird species with a large repertoire, the nightingale (Luscinia megarhynchos), as a use case based on dialect research. I investigated whether the three main assumed reasons for poor quality (anonymity, inexperience and lack of standardisation) led to incomplete, temporal or spatial biassed and inaccurate bioacoustic data. Therefore, I analysed non-standardised CS recordings, which were generated with a smartphone via the 'Naturblick' app, which contained an in-built pattern recognition algorithm. In summary (Chapter V), my doctoral thesis showed that the method CS could be used to generate valid data for bioacoustic research. My findings showed that anonymity, lack of experience and standardisation did not lead to low quality but in fact to a large dataset, which was as valuable as ones from academic researchers. The results are of great relevance for future CS projects to improve the quality and the trust in these data.

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Die Geschichte des Radfahrens in der Lausitz um 1900 ist noch nicht auserzählt. Regionale Radfahrer-Bünde sind nur ein Aspekt der Mobilitäts- und Sportgeschichte: LRB, OLRB, SRB, DRB, ARU und „Solidarität“ hießen damals die Radfahrer-Bünde, um nur einige zu nennen. Örtliche Radfahrervereine, die Fahrradproduktion, Handel und Reparaturwerkstätten und darüber hinaus die frühe Verbreitung des Fahrrads in der Ober- und Niederlausitz sind Aspekte, die weiter erforscht werden können. Radrennen und Dauerfahrten in der Oberlausitz sind Inhalt des vorliegenden Artikels, der einerseits einen Einstieg in neue Recherchen bietet und andererseits Quellen und Methoden für diese Art der Spurensuche diskutiert. [... aus dem Artikel]