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1. Launch & Active Phase

(a) Studies are published online and conducted via Google Forms hosted within the @auroville.org.in Workspace environment, with a dedicated and secure email address.

(b) Each active data collection phase runs for 3-months from the initial launch date.

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2. Temporarily Pause Studies (Interim Period)

Upon reaching the 3-month mark, the study is temporarily suspended for a few days to process data. A prominent notice will be displayed online informing users that data processing is under way.

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2.1 Anonymisation

(a) To ensure complete anonymisation, all participants email addresses are permanently unlinked from their survey responses before being integrated with any AI-supported or automated systems - no personal data will be entered into any AI generator. 

(b) Additionally, email addresses and raw data will be deleted from the Google Form entirely. 

(c) This structural pseudo-anonymisation ensures participants can safely join future study cycles with fresh inputs, allowing new outcomes to evolve over time.

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3. AI Integration & Human Review

(a) Study facilitators export the anonymised dataset into Google AI (NotebookLM) to generate initial summary reports.

(b) To ensure the AI-generated summaries are safe, accurate, and harmonious, study facilitators (Human-in-the-Loop) will conduct a thorough human review of all generated materials before public distribution.

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4. Integrate Feedback & Re-launch (The Living Laboratory)

(a) Following the review, feedback from participants is integrated and an updated version of the same study is re-activated for a new 3-month cycle using the same Google Form and URL.

(b) The updated version will feature a dated summary report of the previous cycle, ensuring prior outcomes remain accessible to everyone online.

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5. Institutional Memory & Long-Term Storage

(a) Final summary reports and project outcomes are stored in (Central Archive) a dedicated Citizen Science folder within the CIRHU Google Drive. This archive serves as the institutional memory of the project and remains accessible to CIRHU at all times.

(b) The pseudo-anonymised raw data from all Citizen Science studies will be stored securely on the cirhu_citizenscience Google Drive to be available for use in future CIRHU research studies.  

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6. Annual Review (After 4 Completed Cycles / 12 Months)

(a) Verify if 12 months of data collection has yielded a sufficient volume of valid input.

(b) Gather the facilitation team to evaluate the effectiveness of the 3-month timeline and make adjustments if necessary.

(c) Publish topics/areas for further research suggested by the community.