Citizen science Consultancy, mentoring and training

European Citizen Science (ECS)

Budget:

SFC:

Partner

Consortium:

21 partners in 15 countries

Duration:

2022-2026

Program:

HE (Horizon Europe)

The main objective of ECS is to make Europe the world leader in citizen science. This will be achieved by creating the European Citizen Science Academy, establishing a network of 28 ambassadors, creating collaborative spaces, strengthening the inclusive and diverse perspective of the community, all through capacity building, debate and awareness raising activities.

ECS aims to move today’s modern science towards open science as a modus operandi. The project will have scientific, social and political impacts that will contribute to positioning Europe as a leader in citizen science in the R&D&I system.

Project challenge

Citizen science plays an increasingly important role within the research and innovation ecosystem in Europe and worldwide. Today, citizen science associations, projects, national and international platforms, conferences and funding programmes are the main drivers of citizen participation in science and scientific production. However, the great potential of citizen science has not yet been fully explored, limited by its still low level of acceptance within academic disciplines and institutions.

Solutions

The European Citizen Science project will build on the foundations and achievements of citizen science over the last decade and strengthen the global citizen science community, positioning Europe as a leader in this sector.

This will be achieved through actions such as the creation of the European Citizen Science Academy, an international network of 28 ambassadors, the inclusion of people traditionally under-represented in science through European public libraries, and the creation of new services for the co-design of open data applications, among others.

ECS will create a broad capacity building network in countries and regions where citizen science is not yet applied. In addition, it will involve researchers from all disciplines, for example through the Marie Curie Alumni Association, and Horizon Europe missions.

Results

The project will build on previous experiences such as the EU-Citizen.Science platform or the Cos4Cloud project to develop collaborations between community members. Community members will be involved in the co-design of services, priorities, workshops and policy recommendations. This space will also serve to familiarise more practitioners with the concept of “FAIR data and tools” (fair, accessible, interoperable and reliable data and tools).

At SfC, we work to promote the integration of citizens in citizen science initiatives in Europe, through an inclusive, diverse and equitable approach. Our goal is to ensure an inclusive participation model at all levels, guaranteeing the inclusion of all social actors in European citizen science.