Institutionalization of Citizen Science in ECIU University

Abstract

Participatory approaches, such as citizen science, are increasingly integrated into Europe’s policy landscape, with universities playing a key role in their integration into the research and innovation landscape. This thesis examines the institutionalization of citizen science within the ECIU University, a transnational alliance of 13 European higher education institutions established under the European University Initiative (EUI). Employing a qualitative case study approach grounded in institutional theory, the study analyzes ten semi-structured interviews and key documents to explore how citizen science is implemented, practiced, and perceived within the alliance. The analysis applies two frameworks from institutional theory. The application of the “Component Processes of Institutionalization” model (Tolbert & Zucker, 1996) reveals that citizen science remains in a pre-institutionalization stage, marked by ad hoc structures, temporary roles and standalone practices. The social consensus on the value of citizen science structures is low in the absence of theorizing and interorganizational monitoring by relevant stakeholders. The “Three Pillars of Institutions” framework (Scott, 2014) further illustrates how EU-level policy discourse and funding mechanisms exert normative aspects that shape citizen science practices in the alliance. These findings contribute to the emerging scholarship on the institutionalization of citizen science in Europe and highlight the need for further empirical research on its organizational contexts and institutional aspects of it.