The citizen in Flemish citizen science: Demographics, motives, and experiences

In 2020, 195 Flemish citizen scientists completed a questionnaire that gauged demographic characteristics, their motivations, and experiences with citizen science. The results show, among other things, that citizen scientists in Flanders are on average older and more highly educated than the general population. At the same time, the projects subsidised by the appeals of the Department of Economy, Science and Innovation of the Flemish government also managed to appeal to a new group of citizens, who are younger and who only recently participated for the first time in a citizen science project. Contributing to scientific research is the biggest, but not the only motivator for participation. Citizen scientists often look back with satisfaction on their participation. These results provide guidelines for further policy to involve hard-to-reach target groups in future citizen science projects.