Crowd-sourced glacier mapping as a tool for enhancing climate literacy and data generation

Citizen science approaches are increasingly used to support data generation and public engagement across the environmental sciences, yet their wider pedagogical value within physical geography remains underexamined. To explore the value of mapping-based citizen science for both glaciological investigation and geographical learning, we developed GlacierMap, an interactive online tool enabling participants to map glacier change in Peru’s Cordillera Blanca over a 34-year period. GlacierMap was designed not only to assess the feasibility and value of crowd-sourced glacier mapping, but also as a vehicle to support experiential learning of the trends in, and impacts of, tropical mountain glacier retreat. Participants mapped glacier change from Landsat imagery for two different years, 1984 and 2018, with analysis of glacier extents mapped by both ‘expert’ and ‘non-expert’ participant groups supporting assessment of the value of GlacierMap as a data generation activity. Participant responses to pre- and post-mapping surveys were also analysed to understand the benefits, challenges, and limitations of citizen science for the purposes of crowd-sourcing glacier inventory data, dissemination, and geographical learning. We found that while many of the individual mapping contributions were a good fit to the Randolph Glacier Inventory, there was considerable variability in accuracy, for both experts and non-experts, likely due to challenges of image interpretation, levels of engagement with the task, and a need for more targeted pre-task training. Crucially, however, participants consistently reported improved understanding of glacier change and its downstream impacts, with teachers communicating the value of the tool for classroom use. These findings demonstrate that mapping-based citizen science can meaningfully enhance climate and spatial literacy, highlighting the potential for tools like GlacierMap to strengthen connections between physical geography research, schools, and wider publics.