Public science

Public science is a collaborative research process in which citizens or amateur scientists collaborate with scientists who conduct research professionally. Public science also plays a growing role in the protection of nature, because the data necessary for nature research can be obtained in large quantities only with the involvement of society.

Society can participate in the process of natural scientific research in various ways, mainly – observing phenomena and collecting data. The possibilities provided by modern information and communication technologies make this process simpler and accessible to a wide range of people. Observing nature is also a passion for many, and public science initiatives allow you to combine personal interests and contribute to research – observe and list birds, identify plants, make species inventories or phenological observations.

The Latvian Fund for Nature creates and maintains the largest nature observation and social science portal in Latvia, Dabasdati.lv, where individual initiatives with specific research goals also take place regularly.

We also design and develop a variety of materials and identifiers that help people expand their knowledge and get to know nature better and identify species.