Wessex Citizen Science Conference
Wednesday 5 June 2024, 10:00 am - 3:30 pm
Apex City of Bath Hotel, James St W, Bath, BA1 2DA
Organised by the Natural History Consortium as part of the Citizen Science Local Pilot led by Natural England and funded by Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment programme.
Limited Spaces - Ticketed Event
This conference is an event for stakeholders of the Wessex Citizen Science Local Pilot. If you work/volunteer in citizen/community science in Avon, Wiltshire, Somerset or Dorset and would like to be involved, please contact Loz@bnhc.org.uk to find out more
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9:30 - 10:00 am
Tea, Coffee & Networking
10:00 - 10.15 am Welcome Talk in Main Atrium
Join us for a 10am start, and a welcome from the Natural History Consortium, Natural England and Alan Heckman (group facilitator) over teas & coffees, as we set out the aims of the day.
10:15 am - 3:00 pm
Workshop Rooms
Four rooms to choose from - find talks & workshops in these areas
Atrium
Share ideas for consensus building, share your thoughts with the conference facilitator at any time before the afternoon sessions Space for networking Opportunities for feedback
3:00 - 3:30 pm Closing Session in Atrium
Landscape Partnerships; Learning from the Chilterns Landscape | Room: Kingsmead 1
Speaker: Nick Marriner, Chilterns National Landscape
UK is world leading for its national and local citizen science. However, as we think more about landscape scale conservation how do we track change at a landscape level? Nick will share his experience delivering Tracking the Impact in the Chilterns and look at why we should, and how we can, embed landscape monitoring for key taxa into wider landscape scale conservation.
Diversifying Audiences – City Nature Challenge as a Case Study for Change | Room: Kingsmead 2
Speaker: Jen Weston, PhD Candidate- Citizen science, University of the West of England (Biodiversity and Urban Environments)
Jen will present some brief findings from the City Nature Challenge in terms of ethnicity and relative deprivation. Jen will also highlight some of the key barriers to participation based on interviews undertaken by people that don’t feel connected to nature and haven’t participated in the City Nature Challenge.
Finding ways to increase opportunities for volunteers to improve taxonomic skills across the Wessex region | Room: Walcot
Speaker: Tim Corner, Bristol Regional Environmental Records Centre
Join this session as we explore how specialist recording groups could help local community groups to engage in meaningful and consistent monitoring, and discuss what organisations and training tools specific to the Wessex Region are currently available for training both novice and professional recorders. Introductory talk by Tim Corner.
Standardising Survey Techniques: Freshwater Habitats | Room: Camden
Speaker: Michelle Walker, The Rivers Trust
Join for an introduction to the Catchment Systems Thinking Cooperative (CaSTCo project) on developing a national framework to maximise the impact of citizen science in river catchment management, followed by workshop to discuss what we can learn from this framework across other citizen science projects in Wessex.
11:00 - 11:15 am | Break | 15 minutes for Atrium Activities + Networking Opportunities
Can citizen science help us create green infrastructure? | Room: Kingsmead 1
This session is no longer taking place.
Organisations and Volunteer-led Groups Working Effectively Together | Room: Kingsmead 2
Speaker: David Brown, National Trust
The Purbeck Heaths were declared the UKs first ‘super-NNR’ in 2020, across 7 landowners and with a landscape-scale approach to monitoring. Central to this is the newly formed Purbeck Natural History Forum - an umbrella body for volunteers and citizen scientists operating across the landscape and in collaboration with multiple conservation organisations and landowners. Find out how we built this community and some of the challenges we face.
Data Stories - Sharing Local Data | Room:
Walcot
Speaker: Steve Crawshaw, West of England Combined Authority | Isla Gladstone & Rhian Rowson, Bristol Museum
Join this session for a series of talks from organisations in Wessex that are sharing records with a variety of audiences in diverse and engaging ways. Including 15 minutes for questions.
Standardising Survey Techniques: Coastal & Marine Habitats | Room: Camden
Speaker: Mark Ward, Somerset Wildlife Trust | Lin Baldock, Dorset Seasearch
Join this session in which Somerset Wildlife Trust will be sharing their experience in supporting data collection for ShoreSearchThe Wildlife Trusts' national citizen science survey of the intertidal shore, followed by SeaSearch - national project for volunteer scuba divers, free divers and snorkellers.
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