Capturing mink and data: Interacting with a small and dispersed environmental initiative over the introduction of digital innovation

The MinkApp project – a cooperation between the University of Aberdeen’s digital hub dot.rural (initiator) and the Scottish Mink Initiative (SMI) (project partner) – has developed a digital platform enabling SMI’s volunteers to directly upload records of signs and sightings of mink to SMI’s main database. While successful already in various ways, the development and implementation of this platform has raised at least two ethical questions (i.e. questions that revolve around responsible practice) that are tightly interwoven with the small and dispersed nature of the project partner. The first question concerns the impact of the innovation on the organisational nature of the project partner. The second concerns dealing with a variety of staff. One of the main insights is that the initiator needs to be sensitive to the diversity of staff from the earliest stages of the project, to ensure the most fruitful cooperation in the long run.