ScienceUs - Crops Final Conference, From Local Action to European Impact

From Local Action to European Impact: Join the ScienceUs–CROPS Final Conference in Athens 25 November 2026 | Athens, GreeceHow can successful citizen science initiatives move beyond local experimentation, reach new communities and create lasting impact across Europe?On 25 November 2026, the ScienceUs and CROPS projects will come together in Athens for their Final Conference:“From Local Action to European Impact: The ScienceUs–CROPS Journey in Citizen Science Upscaling”The event will bring together citizen science practitioners, researchers, policymakers, project partners and stakeholders to exchange experiences, explore practical approaches to upscaling and reflect on how citizen-generated knowledge can contribute to more inclusive decision-making.Citizen science in actionA central part of the conference will showcase the experiences and achievements of the five initiatives supported by ScienceUs:CORE ACTS – Coastal Resilience: Action Through Citizen Science, IrelandThe Future is Climate, SpainBlue-Green Tops: Adapting Building Roofs for Climate Resilience, GreeceAcqua Sorgente, ItalyAlleviating Energy Poverty in Vulnerable Households, SpainTogether, these initiatives demonstrate how citizen science can address real societal and environmental challenges—from coastal and climate resilience to water monitoring and energy poverty.Their journeys also offer valuable lessons about what it takes to move from a promising local initiative to a sustainable model that can be replicated and adapted in other regions.From citizen-generated knowledge to policy impactCitizen science does not end with data collection. Its real potential emerges when evidence, community knowledge and lived experience are translated into decisions, policies and practical action.The conference will therefore explore how citizen science results and data can support inclusive policymaking, including the role of policy briefs in connecting project findings with the needs of decision-makers.Participants will also be introduced to the ScienceUs Upscale Academy, its portfolio of resources and the citizen science knowledge developed throughout the project.Exploring the practical dimensions of upscalingThe afternoon session will bring insights from the CROPS project and focus on three essential questions:Which citizen science projects are ready to scale?How can a citizen science project be successfully replicated and adapted?How can a scaled initiative remain useful, sustainable and connected to its communities?The discussion will draw on CROPS’ work in project curation, replication, orchestration, sustainability and community building.A dedicated CROPS Matchmaking Workshop, facilitated by OutBe, will create opportunities for participants to connect, exchange knowledge and explore potential collaborations. The conference will conclude with an open networking session.

ScienceUs–CROPS Final Conference

How can successful citizen science initiatives move beyond local experimentation, reach new communities and create lasting impact across Europe? On 25 November 2026, the ScienceUs and CROPS projects will come together in Athens for their Final Conference: “From Local Action to European Impact: The ScienceUs–CROPS Journey in Citizen Science Upscaling” The event will bring together citizen science practitioners, researchers, policymakers, project partners and stakeholders to exchange experiences, explore practical approaches to upscaling and reflect on how citizen-generated knowledge can contribute to more inclusive decision-making.

Impactful Citizen Science in the social sciences and humanities – a hands-on workshop exploring Participatory Research practices and a new tool to support them

Participatory research/ citizen science in social sciences and humanities disciplines usually involves small-scale, intense collaborations between members of academic institutions (universities and other research institutions) and members of non-academic organizations that work directly with the community (community-based organizations, non-governmental organizations, civil associations, small businesses etc.). The VERA platform serves as a “collaboratory” where participatory research/citizen science projects can be realized and new collaborations can be established. Through its profiling and matchmaking tool, its project management features and its funding database, VERA helps projects get started, stay organized, and find the necessary funding. At this interactive workshop, participants will share their experiences about the various dimensions of practicing participatory research/ citizen science within the social science and humanities domain and will get guidance on how to use the newly published VERA platform to best serve their project’s needs. The VERA developers and community manager will be onsite to collect valuable feedback from participants on how we can improve VERA before the final version is released in December 2023.

ECS at the Ecsite conference 2023

A representative of the ECS | European Citizen Science project will be at the Ecsite conference 2023 to talk about the opportunity it offers. ECS represents a wide diversity of stakeholders have joined forces to create the capacity, structure, and connections to widen and strengthen the European citizen science community and establish citizen science as a recognised, promoted and funded approach. The four-year EU-funded project European Citizen Science will create capacity-building opportunities, provide open collaborative spaces where citizen scientists can familiarise themselves with open science principles, engage public libraries to attract underrepresented publics, as well as provide support to countries and regions which lack citizen science networks, platforms and policy recognition.

Empowering and skilling citizens to become drivers towards a climate neutral and sustainable Europe through citizen science

Citizen Science has the power to deliver major change in the way the EU Green Deal objectives are delivered. If we can get just 15% of the population of Europe engaged to tackle behavioural change issues through citizen science nearly 70 million people would be driving change on issues such as air quality, climate change and sustainable lifestyles. Come and learn about the cutting-edge research that is seeking to make this possible. The event will have a speaker from the UNEP as well as presentations from 7 Green Deal Call projects on their work across the EU: AURORA, I-CHANGE, SOCIO-BEE, COMPAIR, ECF4CLIM, GreenSCENT and PSLifestyle. The event will be of particular interest to policy makers, researchers and others interested in finding out more from forefront of climate change research and innovation.

Citizen Science Summer School: Transforming research through public participation

What are the potentials of citizen science for increased dialogue between science and society? How can citizen science contribute to solving societal challenges and transforming science? How do I improve equity and inclusion in and through my participatory research project? What skills and competencies do researchers and citizens need to do citizen science? The Citizen Science Summer School tackles these and other issues from 04-09 June 2023 in Zurich, Switzerland. We welcome researchers from all research institutions and disciplines. However, we also encourage practitioners who work in the field of citizen science to apply! The School is organized by the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. The fee of 290 CHF incl. tax entails access to 5 days of lectures and practical course work, accommodation, lunch and coffee breaks. In cases of special financial burden, we are able to grant a participation fee reduction of CHF 100 for a limited number of applicants. Apply by March 1st, 2023!

PREP4BLUE Webinar series: Planning for Citizen Participation in Mission Ocean & Waters

PREP4BLUE is running a spring/summer webinar series titled “Planning for Citizen Participation in Mission Ocean & Waters.” Over five one-hour sessions, participants will learn how to design a project, work package, or programme of activities in alignment with the citizen engagement targets of the EU Mission: Restore Our Ocean and Waters By 2030 (or Mission Ocean). The webinars are designed as bite-sized, targeted sessions that will equip the audience with key information and knowledge of where/how to access more details or expertise. The webinar series is aimed primarily at anyone applying for Mission Ocean funding under Horizon Europe. It will also be of interest to current Mission-funded projects, as well as those working on citizen engagement in marine and freshwater-related activities across the NGO, industry, research, community, citizen science groups, and local government sectors. The European Commission’s ambition in relation to citizen engagement with Mission Ocean falls under a handful of clear themes. Each of the webinars in this series is structured around one of these themes. Overall, the series will equip the audience with the knowledge required to orient project proposals and restoration, anti-pollution, and other related activities towards the Mission’s targets in relation to citizen engagement. More information for the webinar series schedule and registration is available here: https://prep4blue.eu/events/prep4blue-webinar-series-planning-for-citizen-participation-in-mission-ocean-waters/

Workshop: Gedeelde uitdagingen in citizen science

Bij het opzetten van citizen science komen heel wat unieke uitdagingen kijken. Op 31 mei organiseert Scivil drie workshops om deze uitdagingen te bespreken en samen mogelijke oplossingen te bedenken. De drie parallelle workshops focussen zich op 1) musea, bibliotheken en archieven, 2) lokale besturen, 3) citizen science ondersteunen in je organisatie. Heb je nog weinig ervaring met of kennis van citizen science? Geen nood, we beginnen de namiddag met een lunchpresentatie waarin we de algemene principes en inspirerende voorbeelden uit de doeken doen.

Monitoring and Evaluating the impact of Citizen Science Hubs

The webinar is a combined effort of the INCENTIVE and the TIME4CS projects. During the webinar, participants will have the opportunity to dive into aspects of monitoring and evaluating the impact of Citizen Science Hubs, including (i) a step-by-step approach to how to create an M&E framework to assess the impact of the Hubs; (ii) an evaluation approach to monitor and evaluate the impact of the institutional changes made by Research Performing Organisations that aim to lead to a better and more effective engagement of citizens in research. Furthermore, (iii) a guest speaker from the MICS project will guide the participants through the MICS impact assessment tool and its utilities.

Citizen science in the dialogue between science and society

The WomenWaterWatch project will hold a webinar with Simona Cerrato, communication and community manager at ECSA and the European Citizen Science project. CONCEPT: Citizen science has the potential to bring together science, policy makers, and society as a whole in an impactful way. In this process, communication is key. But what do we mean by “communication”? In this webinar we will explore how dialogical and participatory communication, where all parties are actively involved, is strategic both for research and for society. We will take a journey through science in recent decades to grasp its rapid and incredible transformations and understand how science communication has welcomed and interpreted them. And we will see how citizen science can be a truly revolutionary approach to democratise science and make it truly inclusive and open to diversity. Participants will explore how dialogical and participatory communication is strategic both for research and for society.

UNICA-EUTOPIA TRAIN Webinar: How European University Alliances can support citizen science

Since January 2021, the EUTOPIA European University Alliance has been supporting citizen science through means of the EUTOPIA TRAIN project (H2020 SwafS). With this project nearing its ending, we’re looking back on the ways the alliance has allowed citizen science support and initiatives to grow and flourish. In this webinar, EUTOPIA is joining forces with UNICA to bring you both a deep dive and 3 shorter case studies on how European university alliances can provide an important framework for citizen science at your university. Register now to join the third UNICA and EUTOPIA webinar on citizen science on May 25th!

2023 Citizen Science Association conference

The 2023 Citizen Science Association conference, C*Sci 2023, will be held from May 22-26 on the Arizona State University campus in Tempe, Arizona (Phoenix metro area). This event convenes conversations across disciplines, roles, and perspectives. Together, we seek and share the traditional and innovative practices that lead to powerful partnerships for discovery, learning, and action. The conference will be interdisciplinary in scope, inviting abstracts for cross-cutting symposia, interactive workshops, engaging talks, and dynamic posters. Over the past few years, the CSA Conference Team has also piloted innovative ways to convene across boundaries of space and time. The 2023 event offers us the first opportunity since 2019 to connect in person, and the program leans into the unique ways we learn from one another in a shared space. A light hybrid program will also be available to ensure that travel is not a barrier to contributions.

Citizen Science: New ways to engage people for more liveable cities [CitiMeasure Final Event]

Join us to celebrate the completion of the CitiMeasure project! For the past two years, our mission has been to engage citizen science practitioners in developing tools and instruments for more liveable cities. In doing so, we launched the first online inventory of participatory air quality initiatives in Europe; we developed guidelines on behaviour and policy change in citizen science; and we came up with competencies and recommendations to increase digital inclusion in citizen science projects. As we look back on past achievements, we will also discuss what the future holds for citizen science. What does it take to make it more mainstream? How do we ensure that citizen science projects are accessible to all? And why is citizen participation so crucial for shaping the cities of tomorrow? Register here: https://teams.microsoft.com/registration/Cokv0QqVgEaMp1o28Iic0w,E8q7IUWJ2UyrJtA3WOrCQg,n3HBKWnCMkOaOOMTvBoenw,R9aTRagBfEeG-filZ_e6zw,yVg_cplABk-qc1YciY5iOQ,QeFCcgy2_0mnXv0qE-1Z_Q?mode=read&tenantId=d12f890a-950a-4680-8ca7-5a36f0889cd3

Ethical and legal aspects of Citizen Science

This webinar will provide participants with a specific Citizen Science case study, which implies different levels of ethical and legal challenges, including GDPR compliance and various ethics dimension (i.e. research integrity, gender perspective, open access, public engagement, etc.). The moderators will take care of presenting the case study as a whole, highlighting the most sensitive aspects of its implementation to focus the participants’ attention on the needed interventions.