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.
ECS Collaboration Session - Citizen Science and Ethics
Do we ever stop to consider the ethical issues and dilemmas that arise within citizen science and other participatory processes? And what are the causes of, and possible solutions to, such issues? Are our organisations even adequately equipped to navigate these issues? Join our Collaboration Session on ethics in citizen science to discuss and work through these key issues. For this session, we will welcome the contributions of Stefanie Schuerz and Matimba Swana, who will share some of their experiences working on this topic. The session will consist of a presentation from the speakers, as well as a participatory group activity related to the topic. Information about the speakers: Stefanie Schuerz is a sociologist who works as a researcher and project manager at the Centre for Social Innovation (ZSI). Her primary focus is on evaluation and impact assessment, multi-stakeholder engagement and citizen science, research ethics and integrity, as well as data ethics and open science. Stefanie has coordinated processes for the co-design of R&I policy recommendations and has collaborated with funding agencies in the development and evaluation of ethical participatory activities. Matimba Swana is a PhD student at the University of Bristol with experience working in the UK Government Office for Science, Stemcell Technologies, and the Medical Research Network. Her research centres on cancer nanomedicine, swarm robotics, and bioethics, particularly regarding regulatory frameworks for cancer trials using nanoswarm technology, with a focus on Patient and Public Involvement. She co-founded PROTEAS to promote sustainable practices in robotics and Black and Brown in Bioethics to advance racial equity in the UK bioethics community, and serves on various committees related to cancer research and the arts.
Webinar training on VERA, the Virtual Ecosystem for Research Activation, developed through the COESO project
Join our webinar training on VERA, the Virtual Ecosystem for Research Activation, developed through the COESO project (Collaborative Engagement on Societal Issues). 📅 Date: 16 January 2024 ⏲️ Time: 11:00-12:00 CEST 🚩 Register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEld--rpz4qEtdUv1lf9dydbluoUKHcpYDc 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 webinar, participants will get guidance on how to use VERA platform. The COESO project is a 3-year project funded until Dec 2023 by the European Commission's Science with and for Society grant and supported by the OPERAS research infrastructure.
Bonn, Germany at Max …
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.
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 for Policy and Practice event
Join us to discuss participatory research and citizen science and their impact on policy and practice. This event aims to inspire and support you to explore what citizen science is and the opportunities it offers, for policymakers, funders and researchers alike. A range of speakers from international research and policy areas will reflect on citizen science as a form of participatory research, and its impact on policymakers and practitioners around the world. Attendees will have the opportunity to learn more about current projects funded by UKRI and FSA which are exploring ways of embedding citizen science across research, from the safety of infant formula to young people’s mental health. There will be opportunities to explore themes based on your interests in citizen science and its potential impacts, and network with others interested and involved in citizen science. Who should attend this event? This event is open to anyone to attend. You may be interested in this event if you are a policy-maker, funder, commissioner of research, or a researcher. You are welcome to attend if you are familiar with citizen science or interested in finding out more. UKRI, the Food Standards Agency and the Institute for Community Studies are pleased to be partnering to organise this event. The event is also supported by the Government Social Research Profession. Speakers Dr Marc J Kuchner, Citizen Science Officer at NASA Professor Tim Spector, Professor of Genetic Epidemiology at Kings College London and director of The Zoe Project Professor Robin May, Chief Scientific Adviser at the Food Standards Agency Achla Joshi, Senior Program Officer, Health Canada Professor Jennifer Gabrys, Chair in Media, Culture and Environment, University of Cambridge Dr Margaret Gold, Coordinator, Citizen Science, Leiden University Dr Christian Reynolds, Senior Lecturer in Food Policy, University of London Sian Whyte Head of Strategic Design and Insight, The Young Foundation Dr Helena Hollis, Senior Researcher, Institute for Community Studies Dr Steve Scott, Public Engagement Lead, UK Research and Innovation
SeeRRI Final Conference | Bringing RRI into Regional Planning
Since January 2019, the SeeRRI project has been working with European regional policymakers to explore how regional governments can practice responsible regional planning – regional planning that is anticipative, reflexive, inclusive, and responsive. Nearly three years of joint efforts will culminate in the “Bringing RRI into regional planning: From theory to SeeRRI” Conference to be held in Barcelona on September 29-30, 2021. At the conference, participants will: (1) Learn about the outcomes and lessons from the SeeRRI project; (2) Hear interesting perspectives on sustainability, regional innovation strategies, RRI, and related topics from a range of distinguished guest speakers; (3) Engage in debates that challenge conventional wisdom on how to be responsible in regional planning; (4) Have a chance to network with professionals from across Europe who have an interest in responsible regional planning and responsible research and innovation. The conference is free to attend for anyone who is interested.
Webinar: Blueprint for reducing plastic pollution in rivers through citizen science
Rivers are critical to all life on the planet. They are a source of drinking water and a vital ecosystem for many species. Clean rivers are key. In most recent years, it becomes clear that our rivers are polluted with plastics. Scientific evidence shows that these polluted rivers also contribute to the worldwide plastic pollution of our oceans. In this webinar, we will present the blueprint of our Clean Rivers project and explain how to set a project that focusses on tackling river litter pollution. The program will be interactive to share experiences, knowledge and future collaborations. The program is targeted at non-governmental organisations, policy makers and advisors at European, regional and local level, politicians, waterboards, institutes, universities and companies. Join us for plastic free rivers in 2030!
Citizen science: an approach to promote Planetary Health - 2021 PHAM
We live today in a risky society, which imposes on the current and future generations the need to know how to deal with uncertainties and the complexities of the environmental, social, political and economic systems that lead to the threat to the continuity of the human species on the planet. These uncertainties can directly affect individual and collective health, making it imperative that individuals understand the causes and consequences of global changes so that they can not only reflect, but also act individually and demand action from their representatives in the government based on that understanding and on evidence. Citizen science offers the opportunity for social participation in the generation of scientific knowledge and, at the same time, can empower individuals towards change. To discuss this issue, three distinguished guests were invited to the panel "Citizen science: an approach to promote Planetary Health": - Dr. Alan Irwin - "Citizen Science: a new knowledge politics?" - Dr. Andrea Grover – “Citizen Science for Community Resilience" - Dr. Uta When - Facilitating the co-design of purpose-driven Citizen Science for Planetary Health