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 in the North

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).

TIME4CS webinar: “The Citizen Science Funding Landscape”

“The Citizen Science Funding Landscape” will provide participants with an overview of different funding opportunities for Citizen Science projects, on a national and international scale. The event will consist of a discussion with representatives of different funding sources at local, national and international level to discuss similarities and highlight specificities between the different approaches. The event will take place on Thursday, March 9, 2023, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET. By attending this event, participants will have the opportunity to explore the wide-ranging Citizen Science funding landscape and get acquainted with new opportunities for Citizen Science initiatives.

Methodologies & Evaluation: Setting up Youth Citizen Social Science

Young people in Europe are facing many challenges with regard to social inclusion (e.g. social participation, employment, social belonging). There is a pressing need to develop more knowledge and innovation to create more inclusive and youth-friendly societies. One way to contribute to this is through Citizen Social Science with young people - Youth Citizen Social Science (Y-CSS). This webinar offers an opportunity for exchange on doing Y-CSS in practice and it seeks to mobilise your expertise and feedback for the YouCount project. Members of the project are developing a framework for setting up case studies in several countries. The challenge is to translate the many ideas surrounding youth citizen social science into practical research and innovations. They will present their concepts and seek your feedback and discussion on how local case studies and integrating frameworks can be designed. Claire Murray (ECSA) will get us started with essential points for practically preparing for youth participation. To illustrate an ambitious ways of how this can be done in a European project, Julie Ridley (UCLan) will give us an overview on the multiple case study approach that is used in YouCount. Then there will be a series of in-depth discussions on key aspects of setting up Y-CSS projects in practice.

The D-NOSES project at a glance

This is the first webinar of the D-NOSES Conference on Odour Management and Citizen Science. After honourable opening remarks by EC representatives, the D-NOSES project will be introduced as an innovative methodology to tackle odour pollution through citizen science. The need of a multi-level governance model and a multi-level engagement model will be discussed, as well as the D-NOSES engagement model and project tools. Further, 10 citizen science interventions at local level to monitor and improve odour issues will be presented. Finally, the D-NOSES Exploitation and Sustainability Plan will be described.

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

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!

The right to contribute to environmental information, a year later: lessons from the SensJus project

The SensJus project would like to invite you all to a hybrid workshop to be held at LocHal, the beautiful Tilburg Public Library, NL, titled ‘The right to contribute to environmental information, a year later: lessons from the SensJus project’ which will take place on July 8, 15:00-17:00 CEST. Find the detailed program at https://sensingforjustice.webnode.it/l/sensjus-nnhrr-workshop/. The event is organized by SensJus and supported by the Netherlands Network for Human Rights Research. Speakers will be there at the library with a limited number of ‘distanced’ audience. If you are interested in joining physically in Tilburg, please let me know as places are limited. For everyone else, the livestream and recording will be accessible at https://www.youtube.com/user/BBLTHK. Audience will be able to submit questions in advance to us and we will address them during the event. For registration and submitting questions, please reply to this email. In alternative, audience will be able to post questions and comments live in the YouTube chat. PROGRAM 15:00-15:30: roundtable, what is a right, what is environmental information in a word/drawing/action 15:30-16:00: the concept of a ‘right to contribute to environmental information’ a year after, lessons from the SensJus project 16:00-16:30: experts from environmental justice, social movements and data activism join the debate 16:30-16:45: performance break, ‘the civic sentinel on stage’, performed by theatre actor 16:45-17:00: active drawing on the right to contribute, collective commenting 17:00-17:30: concerned citizens share their viewpoints from local instances to global 17:30-18:00: launching the vignette-based story of civic monitoring in Basilicata There will be drawing, performing, beyond the inspiring pitches from experts and member of communities. This way, we will make sure to ‘engage’ with the space of the library and with the virtual audience! During the workshop, we will present a graphic novel recounting the story of a civic sentinel that we recently realized. Free e-download here: https://sensingforjustice.webnode.it/l/fumetto/.

Citizen Science for Policy across Europe

EU-Citizen.Science is inviting representatives from ministries across Europe and at the regional and local levels to engage in a discussion about citizen science and its benefits for policy making. The main aim of this event is to develop collaborations among policy makers with citizen science interests. This event will be held as a satellite event of the European Research and Innovation Days on 22 June 2021.

Art Pluriverse: A Community Science Series

The Biennale of Western Balkans opens a month-long online programme of collective actions for intangible cultural heritage and open knowledge. The programme focuses on empowering communities of practice in the Balkan region, documenting their cultural knowledge in cooperative, ethical and accessible ways. The 1st edition aims to uplift local knowledge and intangible cultural practices related to textiles, through the development of FAIR community archives and research-based art creation. Share the open calls and join as a partner.