Contributions of Citizen Science to the SDGs

Here, we synthesize the core themes related to data and monitoring, and the transformative potential of citizen science for the SDGs and other international frameworks. We reflect on how progress has been achieved over the past few years both in scientific literature and through action. In a nutshell, this collection demonstrates that several issues need urgent attention to leverage citizen science approaches for the SDGs and other frameworks, while simultaneously utilizing these frameworks to fully realize the potential of citizen science. These issues include insufficient inclusiveness and lack of long-term participant engagement in many citizen science intiatives, which is in part related to the lack of sustainable funding. Additionally, a lack of awareness of the SDGs and other frameworks within the citizen science community and a lack of understanding of citizen science data and approaches among the official statistics and policy communities was also highlighted, which requires establishing partnerships between these actors and other stakeholders. Editorial.