The creation and continuity of an environmental community of volunteers through cross media communication

Abstract

The increase in different ways of citizen participation in science has meant that decisions on science and technology are not an exclusive patrimony of politicians or experts. The role of communication is very important in order to create and maintain a community of citizens that are part of citizen science projects. This paper presents the results of an investigation on the communication actions used in an European Commission funded project, Life+Respira, based on the participation of environmental volunteers. This research analyzes, through a quantitative (survey) and a qualitative research (semi-structured interviews) whether the various motivations of volunteers to participate in the project influence their interest in their interaction. Also, whether this interest influences their perception of the effectiveness and credibility of the different communication actions.