**1. Introduction**

Climate change is a global health crisis and one of the most pressing issues of our time [1–3]. Research has well established the myriad impacts of climate change, including the direct and indirect risks that extreme heat, poor air quality, and adverse weather events pose for human health in particular [3–7]. As identified in the 2021 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Report, rapid and swift action is required to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change [7]. This urgency was reiterated by nations across the world at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference, where key goals were set to minimize the impacts of climate change [8]. Apart from limiting the rise of global temperature to 1.5 degrees Celsius, one of the key goals is to protect communities and natural habitats by implementing adaptation strategies including building defences, warning systems, and resilient infrastructure. Another key goal is to accelerate action through collaboration between governments, business, and civil society [8]. Citizen science can play a significant role in achieving these goals, as it can be used to not only leverage big data that can inform rapid responses [9,10], but also to bring decision-makers and civil society together to co-create solutions [11,12].

Citizen science refers to active citizen participation in research, from data collection to the knowledge dissemination stage [11,13–15]. Digital citizen science is an emerging area whereby digital tools, such as smartphones, are used to capture data and engage with citizens in real time [11,16]. Digital tools have immense potential to advance citizen

**Citation:** Bhawra, J. Decolonizing Digital Citizen Science: Applying the Bridge Framework for Climate Change Preparedness and Adaptation. *Societies* **2022**, *12*, 71. https://doi.org/ 10.3390/soc12020071

Academic Editor: Ranjan Datta

Received: 28 February 2022 Accepted: 14 April 2022 Published: 17 April 2022

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**Copyright:** © 2022 by the author. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

science research, as rapid-response interventions and knowledge sharing can be administered in near real time [9,10,17]. Combined with artificial intelligence, there is increasing sophistication that can be built into digital platforms to enable time-, user-, event- or location-triggered prompts for citizens' feedback [9,10,16,17]. Digital technology has an even greater role to play in time-sensitive crises such as climate change preparedness and adaptation.

While there is an immense global effort to mobilize against rapid climate change, the communities most negatively impacted are often not well represented in these critical conversations, if at all. In many regions across Canada and worldwide, Indigenous and racialized communities live in the most severely impacted areas, and as a result experience worse health outcomes [18–23]. On the collective territories or land we call 'Canada', Indigenous Peoples include First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, with each group representing unique cultures, languages, beliefs and histories [24]. Indigenous communities are one of the most adversely affected by climate change because their strong connection to the land means that even subtle changes in the environment can have a disproportionately greater impact on their food systems, economy, and livelihoods [21,22,25,26]. In 2022, a new report released by the IPCC, "Climate Change 2022: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability", importantly acknowledged the role of colonization in perpetuating the climate change problem, as well as the lack of representation from the most vulnerable population groups in determining solutions [27]. If the goals of the IPCC and United Nations Climate Change Conference are to be achieved, consistent and equitable engagement with Indigenous communities is critical to managing climate change [28–31].

Given the disproportionate impact of climate change on Indigenous Peoples, the voices and knowledge of communities who have been experiencing the closest and most frequent effects must be amplified [27]. In exploring opportunities for climate change preparedness and adaptation, integrating Traditional Knowledge (this term is capitalized out of respect for the cumulative body of knowledge, practices, and beliefs that Indigenous Peoples have developed and maintained over time) with Western research methods such as citizen science could provide unique and timely solutions to mitigate climate and related health issues [32,33]. However, traditional citizen science approaches stem from Western ideology, with many projects placing the focus on individual participation and data collection rather than the community as a whole [12,34]. Nevertheless, digital citizen science, in particular, has great potential to aid meaningful climate change preparedness efforts in Indigenous communities, if decolonized and viewed as a collective community effort working towards common goals [10,33].

Researchers, scientists, and thought leaders in this space have paved the way for decolonizing research methods [35–39], and it is important that we apply these principles if we are to address the climate crisis equitably. Decolonizing research methods involves unlearning the hierarchy attributed to Western research methods and respecting Traditional Indigenous Knowledges as valid climate change solutions. Decolonizing digital citizen science has great potential to improve research on climate change preparedness and adaptation.

This paper describes a framework for decolonizing digital citizen science for climate change preparedness and adaptation. Applying three core theoretical approaches (decolonizing research methods, citizen science, Two-Eyed Seeing), the 'Bridge Framework' can contribute to decolonizing citizen science projects. A case example is provided of a subarctic Métis community in Canada to illustrate the application of decolonizing citizen science for a project focused on climate change impacts on food systems—the Food Equity and Environmental Data Sovereignty (FEEDS) Project [40]—where Indigenous self-governance and data sovereignty are prioritized.
