Lessons and insights from WeObserve
WeObserve tackles three key challenges that citizens observatories face: (1) awareness, (2) acceptability and (3) sustainability. Its overall mission is to create a sustainable ecosystem of citizen observatories that can systematically address these identified challenges and help move citizen science into the mainstream. As the project draws to its conclusion, team members will highlight what the project has learnt through its activities. Speakers include: Gerid Hager (IIASA) – WeObserve in a nutshell Uta Wehn (IHE Delft), Joan Maso (CREAF), Dilek Fraisl (IIASA) – WeObserve communities of practice: how to ‘do’ CoPs and some reflections Mel Woods (University of Dundee) – Accelerating the uptake of citizen observatories through MOOCs and open data challenges Joan Maso (CREAF), Valantis Tsiakos (ICCS) – Data interoperability and standardisation: using interoperability experiments and hackathons to address data-related challenges in citizen observatories The webinar will finish with a Q&A by Margaret Gold (Citizen Science Lab). The event will be in English, and you can register for free here.
Monitoring groundwater in Limpopo Province through citizen science
On 2 March 2021 (11:00-12:00 CET), Jaqui Goldin, from the Centre for UNESCO Groundwater, will present the latest findings from a groundwater-monitoring citizen science project based in the Hout Catchment, Limpopo Province – one of the poorest provinces in South Africa. In this project, citizen scientists capture data on groundwater levels and rainfall, putting it onto a smartphone from where it is uploaded to the web. The data is then available to the Department of Water and Sanitation, and others, who are otherwise unable to access groundwater information in remote wells. After the presentation, Jaqui will answer questions about the project. Attendance is free, and the event will be held in English.
PANELFIT Online Webinar: Data protection in journalism: practical tools
The European legal framework on personal data protection is constantly evolving and the issue of citizens’ privacy is increasingly central to the public debate. It is crucial for journalists to move confidently in this area, to ensure that people’s fundamental rights are respected while fully fulfilling their reporting role. During this webinar, the Practical Handbook for Journalists on Data Protection will be presented. This tool will be enriched over the coming months with the input and suggestions of journalists themselves, and will soon be available online. In a spirit of participatory development, the webinar will include an open space for questions, from which we will take inspiration to expand the Handbook. The event will be led by Iñigo De Miguel Beriain, senior researcher at the University of the Basque Country, and moderated by Federico Caruso, a collaborator of OBC Transeuropa. The one-hour webinar is free of charge and will take place on Zoom. To take part, register here: https://zoom.us/meeting/register/tJ0sfuiprzIuGtOpU-mfrr8niXCK3maUWaRR. For questions or information, please write to caruso@balcanicaucaso.org. The event will be recorded.
On 24 February 2021 (15:00-16:30 CET), Cos4Cloud will be running an ECSA/EU-Citizen.Science webinar to share the project’s progress so far. This is a chance for the citizen science community, and anyone else with an interest in this project, to find out more and put their questions to the project team. Attendance is free, and the event will be held in English – although questions are welcomed in other languages, and we will do our best to translate them! More details (speakers, etc.) will be shared soon, but you can register for the event now via the URL.
Lessons from the LandSense project
The LandSense project, which recently ended, was hugely successful, with a number of useful lessons and outcomes. On 3 February, 14:00-15:30 (CET), the team behind the project will be sharing some of their experiences and findings at an ECSA/EU-Citizen.Science webinar. Attendance is free, and the event will be held in English. You can register for the event now via the url.