How to get and keep citizens involved in mobile crowd sensing for water management? A review of key success factors and motivational aspects

Citizen science and particularly mobile crowd sourcing (MCS) has large potential in water resources management for data collection and awareness raising. Concerns about data quality, and initiating and sustaining citizen involvement hamper incorporation of citizen science in water monitoring, together with a lack of practical guidance how to set up citizen science monitoring programs. This review presents an overview of key success factors for citizen science including MCS. Specific attention is paid to motivational aspects. Success factors were organized according to project phase and motivations according to self‐determination theory. The presented overviews provide practical guidelines for setting up citizen science projects. WIREs Water 2017, 4:e1218. doi: 10.1002/wat2.1218 This article is categorized under: Water and Life > Conservation, Management, and Awareness Engineering Water > Planning Water Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented