Abstract A major challenge among urban planners and environmental organizations centers on how to maintain, strengthen, and create connections between humans and their natural environments. Public participation in scientific research (hereby referred to as citizen science) is often touted as a way to help people get to know, connect with, and care for an ecological place. But there is a lack of empirical evidence about if and how this works. This paper explores how citizen science can connect people more closely with place, create new understandings of what those places mean, and encourage people to participate more fully in being stewards of those places. We evaluated the motivations and experiences of citizen scientists working with the Billion Oyster Project (BOP), a nonprofit organization working to restore oysters to New York City (NYC) waters, to better understand the links between citizen science and sense of place with regard to urban waterfronts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with BOP participants and field site visits of volunteer-run oyster research stations along waterfront areas in NYC. We found that place-based citizen science can strengthen attachment to the personal, social, and environmental dimensions of place, and additionally has the potential to enhance both individual and collective social-ecological meanings of place through active processes of place -making. If urban sustainability movements are going to succeed in their mission to reconnect people to nature, there needs to be a broadened understanding of what this looks like beyond individualized constructs of connection.

中文翻译：

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公民科学的场所营造潜力：在城市化世界中创造社会生态联系

摘要 城市规划者和环保组织面临的一个主要挑战是如何维持、加强和建立人类与其自然环境之间的联系。公众参与科学研究（在此称为公民科学）通常被吹捧为帮助人们了解、联系和关心生态场所的一种方式。但是缺乏关于这是否以及如何运作的经验证据。本文探讨了公民科学如何将人们与地方更紧密地联系起来，对这些地方的含义产生新的理解，并鼓励人们更充分地参与成为这些地方的管理者。我们评估了参与十亿牡蛎项目 (BOP) 的公民科学家的动机和经验，一个致力于将牡蛎恢复到纽约市 (NYC) 水域的非营利组织，以更好地了解公民科学与城市滨水区的地方感之间的联系。我们对 BOP 参与者进行了半结构化访谈，并对纽约市海滨地区志愿者经营的牡蛎研究站进行了实地考察。我们发现，以地方为基础的公民科学可以加强对地方的个人、社会和环境维度的依恋，此外还有可能通过积极的地方营造过程来增强地方的个人和集体社会生态意义。如果城市可持续发展运动要成功实现将人与自然重新联系起来的使命，就需要更广泛地了解这种情况，超越个性化的联系结构。更好地理解公民科学与城市滨水区地方感之间的联系。我们对 BOP 参与者进行了半结构化访谈，并对纽约市海滨地区志愿者经营的牡蛎研究站进行了实地考察。我们发现，以地方为基础的公民科学可以加强对地方的个人、社会和环境维度的依恋，此外还有可能通过积极的地方营造过程来增强地方的个人和集体社会生态意义。如果城市可持续发展运动要成功实现将人与自然重新联系起来的使命，就需要更广泛地了解这种情况，超越个性化的联系结构。更好地理解公民科学与城市滨水区地方感之间的联系。我们对 BOP 参与者进行了半结构化访谈，并对纽约市海滨地区志愿者经营的牡蛎研究站进行了实地考察。我们发现，以地方为基础的公民科学可以加强对地方的个人、社会和环境维度的依恋，此外还有可能通过积极的地方营造过程来增强地方的个人和集体社会生态意义。如果城市可持续发展运动要成功实现将人与自然重新联系起来的使命，就需要更广泛地了解这种情况，超越个性化的联系结构。