Reflections on the potential of virtual citizen science platforms to address collective action challenges : Lessons and implications for future research

摘要: Abstract Rural communities in Africa are facing numerous challenges related to human health, agricultural production, water scarcity and service delivery. Addressing such requires effective collective action coordination among stakeholders, which often prove difficult achieve. Against the background of increased availability information communication technologies (ICTs), this article synthesizes lessons from six case-studies reported Special Issue. The cases investigate possible role digital citizen science platforms (labelled EVOCAs: Environmental Virtual Observatories for Connective Action) overcoming integrating heterogeneous actors management common resources and/or provision public goods. Inspired by seminal work Elinor Ostrom, our expectation was that could help operationalize information-related design principles community conditions known enhance capacity address environmental challenges. This presents some cross-cutting insights reflections regarding nature identified diagnostic studies, on relevance significance Ostrom’s framework analysis. It also reflects plausibility original ideas assumptions assessing what various studies tell us about potential key components an EVOCA-type intervention: i.e. monitoring, ICT, connective action, responsible design. At same time, we draw follow-up research program beyond identifying several issues themes merit further investigation. Based case-studies, conclude many a more complex than originally anticipated, cannot be resolved within clearly demarcated communities. While complicates realization features, there may still meaningful platforms. To challenges, they must oriented towards fostering adaptive systemic learning across interdependent stakeholder communities, rather focusing self-betterment alone. Such need developed manner ensures complementarity with already existing patterns ICT-use, anticipates dynamics trust distrust prevents typical problems associated sharing as privacy infringement undesirable control over outsiders.