Austria Center Vienna, 1, …
From Citizens to Science: Tools Driving Climate Action
On April 28, 2025, during the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna, the H2020 I-CHANGE project will hold its final scientific event titled “From Citizens to Science: Tools Driving Climate Action” Over the past four year, I-CHANGE has worked to place citizens at the core of climate action, demonstrating that informed, empowered communities are essential for achieving behavioural change. By combining active citizen participation, innovative technologies, and scientific collaboration, the project has fostered behavioural transformations towards more sustainable living. This closing event will present the outcomes of I-CHANGE, showcasing results from its eight Living Labs across Europe and beyond. These Living Labs served as active hubs for environmental monitoring, and community engagement, emphasizing how citizens can observe and reduce their own environmental impacts. The event will feature the presentation of the project’s final results, including scientific findings, technological and engaging activities that have been implemented to raise climate change awareness and foster participatory science. It will also include talks from sister projects involved in citizen science initiatives related to climate change, and offer reflections on how citizen-generated data can complement scientific observations and help shape a more sustainable future. In addition, on May 1, 2025, key I-CHANGE results will be featured during the EGU session titled “Engaging Citizens in Understanding Urban Climate and Climate Change Risks through Participatory Science.” This session invites contributions that explore citizen participation, crowdsourced data collection, and effective practices for integrating the public into climate adaptation efforts across Europe. For more information, please visit here
Responsible, Trustworthy, and ethical AI in citizen science
The use of AI techniques (such as machine learning, natural language processing, and computer vision) is increasing rapidly across the participatory sciences. Such techniques are used throughout the research process, such as cleaning data before presenting it to volunteers, using volunteers to contribute to the training of machine learning models, in the field data collection aided by computer vision, and creating collaborations between humans and AI to make tasks more engaging and of higher quality. Whilst this can improve the scientific process, it is important to understand the limitations of the use of these techniques, as well as consider the impact on how volunteers understand their role in participatory science. How practitioners communicate the use of AI to volunteers and continue to emphasize the importance of their contributions is also extremely important. To be beneficial to all in the participatory science community, the use of AI must be responsible, ethical, and trustworthy. However, it is not always clear what this means and how it can be applied. This study asks: -What are the opportunities and drawbacks of using AI techniques in citizen science? -What does it mean to be responsible, ethical, and trustworthy in the use of AI? -How should the use of AI in citizen science be advanced? If you are (or have been) involved in planning, carrying out, or taking part in citizen science projects, you are invited to take part in an online survey about your perceptions of the use of AI in citizen science. The survey should take around 20 minutes and you will be asked about -Your experience with citizen science projects -Your experience of AI -Opinions on how/why AI should/should not be used in citizen science -The effects of AI use on volunteers -What the terms ‘responsible’, ‘trustworthy’, and ‘ethical’ mean in the context of using AI in citizen science -How citizen science and human-AI collaboration should develop in the future The results will be presented at the Conference for Advancing Participatory Science in Portland, Oregon, at the end of May 2025.
Do you want to help build the European Research Infrastructure for Excellence in Citizen Science? The first step is happening in the upcoming ECS Collaboration Session! The RIECS-Concept project will conceptualise the European Research Infrastructure for Excellence in Citizen Science. This RI will integrate citizens’ resources, such as mobile phones and computers, with existing scientific platforms and data collections; and it will offer transversal services, improving accessibility across research communities. The RIECS-Concept project will produce two key outcomes: a conceptual design including a feasibility study, and a five-year implementation plan for the new research infrastructure. These outcomes will provide detailed insights into the diversity and maturity of the concept considering technical, operational, societal, and environmental challenges associated with establishing the permanent and shared infrastructure. This is the very first activity of many to gather inputs and community-based evidence, in collaboration with the ECS project. You will have a chance to not only learn about this important project but also to bring your own input, needs and solutions, independently of your background or scientific domains. Who can join? This Collaboration Session is aimed at the entire Citizen Science community: practitioners, students, researchers, educators, representatives of CS projects and networks, etc.
Wetland Watchers workshop - Empowering Citizen Science for Climate Action
The Wetland Watchers workshop is an opportunity to bring together various researchers and stakeholders with a shared interest in wetlands. Invited speakers: Barbara Sowinska-Swierkosz (PL), Milena Holmgren & Juul Limpens (NL), Rosa Arias (ES), Gitte Kragh (DK) Objectives: * Explore the integration of citizen science into wetland and climate research * Share recent findings and technological advancements * Promote collaboration, innovation and public engagement in climate change mitigation efforts. Program 08:30 - 09:00 | Registration and Welcome Coffee Participants arrival and registration Informal networking over coffee 09:00 - 09:15 | Opening Remarks Welcome by the Workshop Organizer – Lorenzo Pugliese and Shubiao Wu Introduction to the Workshop Objectives 09:15 - 10:30 | Citizen Science Research & Methodology (Gitte Kragh) Introduction to citizen science research design and methodologies/interactive session 10:30 - 10:45 | Coffee Break 10:45 - 11:15 | Communication & public engagement (Rosa Arias/online) Effective communication and engagement 11:15 - 12:00 | Education and Awareness (Gitte Kragh) Raising awareness among researchers, volunteers and stakeholders/interactive session 12:00 - 13:00 | Lunch Break 13:00 - 13:30 | Citizen Science in restored wetlands (Barbara Sowińska-Świerkosz) Citizen science task and toolkit in relation to wetland 13:30 - 14:00 | Citizen Science in the WaterLAND project (Milena Holmgren & Juul Limpens) The WaterLand co-creation method Action sites 14:00 - 14:15 | Coffee Break 14:15 - 15:15 | Citizen science in wetland restoration: overcoming barriers and enhancing methodologies (World café led by Gitte Kragh) Identifying and overcoming barriers Enhancing data collection methodologies Collaborative frameworks: building partnerships between researchers, local communities, and policymakers 15:15 - 15:30 | Closing Remarks and Future Directions (Shubiao Wu/Lorenzo Pugliese) Organiser: Wet Horizons / Aarhus University
Join us as we explore the transformative potential of Citizen Science in shaping the future of research and innovation in Europe and beyond. The webinar is organized within the scope of the PolSCA Horizon Webinars series, targeting research managers, project administrators, and researchers operating in Poland. Its goal is to enhance understanding of citizen engagement, the multi-actor approach, and social readiness concepts in the context of the second Strategic Plan for the Horizon Europe program, upcoming calls within the Work Programmes 2025, and the increasing importance of citizen science in R&D projects. Citizen Science, endorsed by the European Commission and encapsulated within the Horizon Europe programme, represents a paradigm shift in research and development. It champions a multi-actor approach, inviting citizens to actively participate in scientific endeavors, from data collection to analysis, thus democratizing the scientific process. Within the framework of Horizon Europe, Citizen Science serves as a catalyst for social readiness, fostering inclusivity, transparency, and trust in research and innovation.
This event addresses the emerging form of co-creation between researchers and communities known as citizen science. As a compelling form of engagement and inclusivity for societal change, citizen science has emerged as a powerful tool for engaging communities in scientific research, yet its potential in the Arctic region has yet to be fully explored. This one-day workshop will showcase existing work within Northern communities, bringing together several speakers to explore the opportunities and challenges of citizen science in Northern contexts. This will serve as a basis for deepening connections between the work of different colleagues doing citizen science research across the Nordic countries and Europe. Topics include local perspectives on citizen science; best practices from ongoing projects; the use of new technologies in data collection and analysis; and the role of citizen science in addressing the particular environmental challenges of the Arctic region. The workshop will provide a unique opportunity for researchers, students, practitioners, and community members to share their experiences and insights and to network with others working in this exciting field. The event is funded by the ENVIROCEN project (Nordic Council of Ministers) and the Biodiverse Anthropocenes research programme (Academy of Finland).
Join the NEWSERA final conference in Brussels – or follow the livestream – on March 29th 2023 to learn about the project’s journey and results, and join the conversation around citizen science communication and citizen science journalism. During the event, hosted at the “BIP Meeting Centre”, the NEWSERA Consortium members will discuss the achievements of the project and present the NEWSERA Blueprints on innovative citizen science communication. These documents are the results of the many learnings of the #CitSciComm Labs and will be presented with the participation of representatives from the NEWSERA Pilots. Moreover, the NEWSERA final conference will be an occasion to go deeper into the concepts of citizen science communication and citizen science journalism, and will feature the participation of fellow EU-funded projects ENJOI, COALESCE, IMPETUS, and ECS. After the event, participants are invited to visit the DATA4CitSciNews exhibition at 7PM, which was first launched in Barcelona in November 2022. Hosted in the impressive venue “Au Bassin”, the exhibition will showcases several artworks to set off the concept of citizen science journalism, through alternative visuals, installations and critical narratives. The exhibition aims to spark a discussion about how citizens and journalists and well designed data collection can be the drivers behind investigation to ultimately respond to societal needs and benefit communities.
We are organising an hybrid scientific session at the Ocean Science Meeting, 27 Feb - 4 March 2022 on ‘The uptake of data by citizen scientists, aggregators and end-users: successes, challenges and gaps in the dataflow’ and are inviting you to submit an abstract by 29 September 2021. Please find more details of the session below. OD11 The uptake of data by citizen scientists, aggregators and end-users: successes, challenges and gaps in the dataflow Keywords: Citizen science, marine data, dataflow, interoperability, acceptance, engagement, policy, data management, validation, end user needs, sustainability, impact Organizers: Patrick Gorringe, patrick.gorringe@smhi.se, James Sprinks, jsprinks@earthwatch.org.uk, Peter Thijsse, peter@maris.nl, Emilie Breviere, emilie.breviere@smhi.se Citizen science is a particularly impactful channel to collect data and its utility has been proven on small scales, yet the groundbreaking, and absolutely necessary, potential of citizen science has yet to be realized. Over the last decade, marine citizen science projects have provided a cost-effective means to collect extensive data sets covering vast spatio-temporal scales where conventional data collection is limited in operation, such as coastal seas. However many initiatives fail to be sustainable, and fail to reach acceptance of their data by scientists and by policy makers. To be efficient and successful a project should provide data with sufficient quality, structure and availability to be used by professionals and ensure that citizen scientists realize and appreciate the impact of their contribution towards the understanding of the scientific big picture. When studying the flow of citizen science data, it follows a series of steps from the providers to the users, via data aggregators. The essential steps of this process are the acquisition, management, flow in key infrastructure, evaluation and impact analyses, use in ocean models, research and forecasting, and public visualization. The objective of the co-organizers is to provide a session during which participants will share experiences on successes and failures, needs and limitations in the data flow chain. The session wishes to be a unique niche for the numerous actors of the data flow in marine citizen science initiatives to meet and exchange. It will explore current and future collaborations, hear from invited experts about wider citizen science initiatives and discuss how marine data aggregators in its next phase can more systematically link with citizen science to not only expand the data provision from citizen science, but also find ways to encourage citizen science to work closer with data aggregators across the full value chain.
Engaging the society beyond data collection
The challenges of ocean monitoring require data from everywhere at all times, we need to involve society in all steps of the process to achieve the information necessary to implement evidence-based policies in coastal and ocean management. This workshop is a Satellite Activity of the Event “A Predicted Ocean”, an Ocean Decade Laboratory organized in the framework of the United Nations Decade of Ocean for Sustainable Development. The workshop will analyse different challenges in volunteer participation in ocean monitoring projects: from potential barriers for volunteer participation up to how to improve the management of the cost and oceans developing evidence-based policies using in some cases the information generated in these participative processes. REGISTER HERE: https://www.eventbrite.es/e/entradas-workshop-engaging-the-society-beyond-data-collection-in-citizen-science-168961358973 The workshop “Engaging the society beyond data collection” will be divided into two parts: - First part: an overview of lessons learned in previous and ongoing projects. - Second part: moderated discussion (both in English and Spanish) with all the involved actors, including academia, industry, policymakers and civil society WHO CAN PARTICIPATE? This workshop is aimed at all the communities interested in participatory coastal monitoring: Academia, Industry (particularly SMEs), Policy Makers, and Civil Society (NGOs, local groups, environmental associations, Schools, …). PRELIMINARY AGENDA: 1- Welcome and introduction: Jaume Piera (ICM-CSIC) 2- An overview of previous and ongoing experiences: -Ocean Cities. Josep Lluís Pelegrí (ICM-CSIC) -Australian Coasts. Libby Hepburn (CSA) -Wadden Sea. Soledad Luna (W-S World Heritage) -Our Coast. Luigi Ceccaroni (EarthWatch-UK) -Reef Monitoring. Phanor Montoya (Corales de Paz) -Urban Beaches. Andrea Comaposada (Anel·lides) 3- Interactive session: going beyond data collection: -Breakout Room 1. English session -Breakout Room 2. Spanish session
Learning Data Naturally SLA (Special Libraries Association) 2021
Public participation in scientific research through citizen science is gaining popularity across the world. Through data collection, citizen scientists contribute to the creation of open and research-grade data and build data literacy skills. Academic librarians are often uniquely positioned to promote citizen science projects both in the classroom and among community advocates, connecting researchers with life-long learners for the benefit of open science. During the on-demand session and throughout the conference, participants and attendees will ‘naturally’ engage with the process of science and learn data literacy skills such as data collection and sharing, by contributing to this dataset. Participants in the session will also be encouraged to pose questions, analyze data, draw conclusions, and communicate findings by exploring the data collected by conference attendees from around the world. Sign up/log into iNaturalist and join the project.