No project is an island|Bridges towards a joint legacy for the future of citizen science in Europe

Citizen science thrives on collaboration between researchers, policymakers, innovators, and the public. Yet within the citizen science community itself, a critical question remains: do we have the infrastructure to enable effective, lasting knowledge exchange across initiatives and projects? No project operates in isolation, and the collective learning generated across the field represents an underutilised asset for science and policymaking alike. At a time when public engagement is increasingly recognised as essential to rebuilding trust in institutions and tackling mis- and disinformation, the connections we build within the citizen science ecosystem matter more than ever. Sharing what works and what doesn't strengthens the community's capacity to deliver the scientific, environmental, and societal benefits that make citizen science a genuine return on investment for Europe. This summer, both the ECS and IMPETUS projects reach their conclusion. Before they do, we want to invite the citizen science community to come together to reflect on how these projects have supported citizen science across Europe and to celebrate the real-world impacts this work has made possible. The event will also provide an opportunity to hear from new and established citizen science projects, alongside stakeholders and decision-makers, ensuring that the momentum built can be sustained and that science continues to serve the society it represents. Building on the Citizen Science Archipelago series from the ECS project, this gathering reaffirms a founding principle of the citizen science community: no project is an island. Mutual exchange is not simply a nice-to-have; it is the foundation on which the continued growth and impact of citizen science depends.

Education for Climate Community Café - How do you become an Energy Community?

AURORA - Joint event with the Education for Climate Group Community Café 10th September 2025 from 17.00hrs - 18.00hrs Topic School Energy Communities To join the event register here - https://education-for-climate.ec.europa.eu/community/challenge_hub/event/community-cafe-september, This is an exciting event where you can learn about how the Palomeras Cultural Centre School in Spain has pioneered the first school Energy Community in Madrid with the AURORA project. The school, in a working class area of Madrid, has installed solar energy on the roof tops of their buildings, along with two air source heat pumps to keep the classrooms cool in summer. Funds of €140,000 have been raised from their community, staff and parents of the school, along with students and professors from the Technical University of Madrid as part of a share offer. This means everyone can have a stake in the energy transition. Lower energy bills, no capital cost to the school and a small return on investments from everyone supporting the scheme. It really is true that such transformations not only lower carbon emissions, supporting efforts to reach net zero carbon, but they also lower costs by diverting what would have been fossil fuel profits, back into the local community. The renewable energy generated will also be tracked via the AURORA energy tracker app to allow investors to see the energy being generated and to offset their own personal carbon emissions based on the investment they have made. It will join other projects at Aarhus University Denmark and Ljubljana University Slovenia already connected to the AURORA Energy Tacker app . Could schools in your country follow their lead and be the first school in your town, in your city, moving away from fossil fuels towards the future of clean renewable energy. A teacher from the school will explain what it is has meant to the students and staff of the Palomeras Cultural Centre school in Spain. The whole café event will be an opportunity for open discussion, facilitated by Martin Brocklehurst from the AURORA PROJECT, so that you can understand how to follow the lead that has been set. Looking to the future EU Legislation has also recently changed allowing the export of surplus renewable energy from community energy schemes through the grid to be sold to users around the installation. Once enacted into National law this would allow the export of surplus energy from Schools during holiday periods to users around the school. A great idea for public swimming pools for instance seeking to heat the pool during the summer holidays when usage rates are at their highest. The future looks bright for community energy schemes. In the UK, once the Governments strange block on Power Purchase Agreements on public buildings is removed we can perhaps also follow the EU lead and recommence community energy schemes on schools buildings.

SDG Summer School 2024 - Prototype Open Source solutions related to Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games

Initiated seven years ago, the SDG Summer School offers students a framework for engagement and training in sustainability issues through the prototyping of solutions to concrete problems. For several years, this training program has been carried out in partnership with the University of Geneva This immersion program supported by the Institute of Challenges, co-founded by the Learning Planet Institute and the Université Paris Cité, will run from June 24th to July 19th. It is exclusively based on project-based learning and will be taught mainly in English. It is intended for students of legal age enrolled in a higher education institution in France or abroad. The diversity of profiles is an asset, so participants coming from natural sciences, humanities, medicine, computer science, design, gaming or arts are encouraged to apply.

Alternet Summer School: Biodiversity and Society: science, policy and transformative change

Open to graduate and postgraduate scientists (as well as professionals in related fields), the Alternet Summer School creates an innovative atmosphere for considering and resolving the sustainability challenges that society is currently facing. Peyresq, a picturesque village in the Haute-de-Provence Alpes, provides an unparalleled setting for dynamic discussions and transdisciplanry learning. This year’s programme theme is entitled: Biodiversity and Society: science, policy and transformative change. Registration is open from 1 March – 15 April.

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/

Citizen Science and Universities: Summer Course in Santander (Spain)

The summer course "Citizen Science and Universities" organised by the Menéndez Pelayo International University to be held on 11, 12 and 13 July in Santander. Citizen science is already a methodology used in numerous research projects. One of the challenges posed by the course is to find the most effective way to open the university to citizens through Citizen Science. The main objective of this summer course will be to establish a strategic line of work that opens up and brings Citizen Science closer to universities: - The democratization of the knowledge that is produced in the universities themselves, bringing their research work closer to their environment. - Directly linking the scientific advances obtained at the university with the real problems of the society in which it is based, as well as proposing possible solutions. This course will facilitate the identification of strategies to involve the university system more actively in Citizen Science projects, identifying good practices to carry them out and reflecting on the key elements that determine the implementation of Citizen Science methodologies in university science projects.

Oxford|Berlin Summer School on Open Research 2021

Open research practices have the potential to revolutionise the way research methods and results are communicated, and to facilitate research collaborations and sharing of research outputs in an unprecedented manner. However, adopting these practices requires knowledge and skills that are not normally taught in undergraduate or graduate degrees. To close this gap, we offer a four-day summer school to guide early career researchers (PhD students and postdocs) towards an open, transparent, and reproducible research workflow. These topics will be embedded in a more general curriculum on research ethics and meta-research.