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.

ScienceUs Info Day: From Knowledge to Action for Biodiversity

Join us on September 23 at 10:00 AM for our ScienceUs Info Day. This session on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services will showcase three inspiring initiatives from the SEED phase of ScienceUs. Among them: Acqua Sorgente, introducing their project on spring water monitoring together with Alpine Clubs. Also connect with: Night Owl 2.0 - Associació Taxus ¡Por otra Alimentación, Jóvenes en Acción! - Sustainable Living Foundation With the Infoday we give inspirations, how to overcome “learned helplessness” in biodiversity action with citizen science approaches: Discover how citizen science can mobilize communities, build resilience, and turn awareness into tangible impact for ecosystems. Take part in this exchange, connect with stakeholders, and explore how collaborative research can drive change for biodiversity.

ACCTING final conference. Empowering change: Building a fair and inclusive Green Deal

The European Green Deal aspires to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, with a commitment to ‘leave no one behind.’ However, current environmental policies often overlook the diverse social impacts on marginalised groups. Low-income populations, racial minorities, women, or rural communities frequently bear the brunt of environmental challenges, while also facing significant barriers to accessing green solutions. These groups are often excluded from decision-making processes despite possessing the necessary local knowledge and demonstrating resilience and innovation in the face of environmental challenges. ACCTING has critically examined the social and economic impacts of the European Green Deal on marginalised groups. By employing a gender+ intersectional approach, the project has demonstrated how Green Deal policies affect individual and collective behaviours, potentially exacerbating existing inequalities. Based on these extensive research insights, ACCTING has developed innovative, evidence-based solutions, including pilot actions and thematic recommendations that empower vulnerable communities and guide inclusive policymaking. The ACCTING Final Conference, “Empowering Change: Building a Fair and Inclusive Green Deal,” invites a diverse audience of civil society representatives, NGOs, policymakers, researchers, and Green Deal stakeholders to engage with actionable strategies for achieving a socially just and inclusive Green Deal.

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.

OpenLab Conference

From November 12 to 15, OpenLab.brussels* is organizing a CONFERENCE that aims to bring together contributions from researchers and practitioners interested in participatory research projects. We welcome people willing to contribute by presenting a paper, sharing experiences and ideas through a clear presentation (with or without a paper), discussion tables, or on-site visits. Selected contributions will be reviewed and published in a special journal issue. Practical details will be shared in due course. For now, our CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS IS OPEN!! INTERESTED? Find all information and the submission form HERE: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1M3dpCMliv5bOAYP2ArUSHaxMSvfiUK9Z/view Deadline is July 7th. * The OpenLab.brussels is a joint venture of ULB-VUB dedicated to participatory research. It aims to mobilize our academic community and public or private stakeholders willing to collaborate on participatory research projects in Brussels.

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

Let’s imagine training for facilitators in citizen science projects!

ECS and ECSA will be present at the Ecsite conference 2024 (https://ecsite.wildapricot.org/Programme/). Discover and share skills and training methods to facilitate participatory research and citizen science projects. Science centers and museums, universities and third-places are key players in participatory citizen science projects. These programs aim to give citizens their place in the production of knowledge, and can range from the simple collection of scientific data to the co-construction or even co-governance of research projects. In recent years, these approaches have beenstriving to become a mainstream approach to scientific research well beyond the classical topics connected to environment and biodiversity. But citizen science faces many challenges, such as reliable data, recruitment and participation of citizens or reluctance to use this approach by scientists and researchers. A less discussed issue, and perhaps a solution to some of these challenges, is that of the skills needed to facilitate this type of project. Indeed it is essential to create the conditions for dialogue and work for all stakeholders (research teams, citizens, partners, associations...). They need support to create together, transform their perspectives, adapt tools to their context, stay involved, understand each other in depth…What specific skills, knowledge and attitudes do facilitators need in these participatory projects? Could a training programme in facilitation and participation help? This session will offer a feedback from institutions involved in citizen science (inter)mediation and facilitation training. These short presentations will break down the problem into several sub-questions. They will form the basis of the workshop, during which participants will collectively identify the list of skills and training methods that are most relevant for the people in charge of facilitating particpatory citizen science projects. Speakers: Catherine Oualian (Universcience, France), Claudia Aguirre Rios (Groupe TRACES, France), Aoife Taylor (Trinity College, Ireland), Simona Cerrato (ECSA), Paul Boniface (Groupe TRACES, France).

[OneAquaHealth] Webinar: Citizen Science in Environmental Observation and Health Research

OneAquaHealth aims to identify early warning indicators and enhance environmental monitoring with digital tools such as a Citizen Science App, to raise awareness and engage all relevant stakeholders to jointly achieve thriving ecosystems and healthier communities for the future. Thus, citizen science has a pivotal role in OneAquaHealth participatory research approach and contributes to shape the way in which data will be collected, shared, and used in the project to deliver accurate monitoring and decision support tools. OneAquaHealth aims to collaborate with projects and initiatives that tackle similar issues to promote healthier communities. Therefore, OneAquaHealth project and and Wise Angle Consulting S.L (OneAquaHealth work package leader) are delighted to invite you to a webinar dedicated to share experiences and viewpoints on the most successful engagement strategies in Citizens Science projects and the usage of Mobile Applications. This webinar will cover two main themes. The first part will focus on Citizens Science Approaches, featuring presentations from publicly funded projects, namely OneAquaHealth, DRYvER, and E4WARNING. Specifically, it will explore how these projects have engaged with citizens to achieve successful participation for the collection of feedback, which is crucial for the development, diffusion, and utilisation of the projects’ digital tools. The second part will delve into Mobile Apps – Challenges and Solutions, with presentations from PHArA-ON and Invasoras.pt Apps, exploring common hurdles faced in promoting the apps or designing them to be user – centric.

YouCount: Save the dates for Final Conference 4-5 December 2023

Youth Citizen Social Science contributing to social inclusion How can we shape an inclusive society for young people at risk of exclusion in Europe? What role can Citizen Science play in this endeavour? The Horizon 2020 research and innovation project YouCount explored these questions through co-creative research with youth and local stakeholders in nine countries across ten cases. After two years of hands-on Youth Citizen Social Science work, YouCount will share experiences and look ahead to discuss findings and potential impacts on EU policies and beyond. Program: The first day includes a seminar focusing on hands-on Youth Citizen Social Science and a welcome reception. The final conference takes place on the second day where we will discuss implications of key findings with stakeholders and policymakers. On both days, the voices of our young co-researchers will be amplified during presentations, interactive sessions, round table discussions and an exhibition. The event will be free of charge and partly hybrid. Event location: DECEMBER 4, 2023 | 14.00-17.00 & 18.00-20.30 | Nordic House, Rue du Luxembourg 3/5 DECEMBER 5, 2023 | 09.00-17.00 | Hotel NH Brussels EU Berlaymont, Bd Charlemagne 11/19 - tagg "YouCount"

ECS Cluster Event 2023 - Fostering High Education Sector In Europe: The Role of Citizen Science in Transforming Universities

The European Citizen Science project, which connects a rich citizen science community, wants to provide a space to exchange practical experiences in integrating and using citizen science practices in universities and to gather recommendations for the European Commission and other stakeholders in ways of supporting citizen science in the high education sector. To do so, the project is organising an online event for everyone (such as academics, educators, university staff, citizen science practitioners, early career researchers, policy makers, civil servants, general public and industry representatives) interested in learning about and discussing the role of citizen science in transforming universities in Europe. The event will take place on 3rd July 2023, 10:00-15:00 CEST.

Open Science Conference

The Open Science Conference is an annual international conference dedicated to the Open Science movement. It provides a unique forum for researchers, librarians, practitioners, infrastructure providers, policy makers, and other important stakeholders to discuss the latest and future developments in Open Science. In 2023, the conference can celebrate its 10th anniversary. The conference is hosted by the Leibniz Strategy Forum Open Science and organized under the lead of the ZBW – Leibniz Information Centre for Economics. The conference offers insights into both practical and technical innovations that serve the implementation of open practices as well as current and pioneering developments in the global Open Science movement. Such developments are, for example, the increasing plea for open practices as lessons learned from global crises as well as recent discussions on the relation of Open Science, civic science education, and knowledge equity. Furthermore, the conference offers many opportunities for networking and exchange.

ECS at the Ecsite conference 2023

A representative of the ECS | European Citizen Science project will be at the Ecsite conference 2023 to talk about the opportunity it offers. ECS represents a wide diversity of stakeholders have joined forces to create the capacity, structure, and connections to widen and strengthen the European citizen science community and establish citizen science as a recognised, promoted and funded approach. The four-year EU-funded project European Citizen Science will create capacity-building opportunities, provide open collaborative spaces where citizen scientists can familiarise themselves with open science principles, engage public libraries to attract underrepresented publics, as well as provide support to countries and regions which lack citizen science networks, platforms and policy recognition.