The EU-funded ECS (European Citizen Science) project is looking to create a network of 28 Citizen Science Ambassadors (EU-27 + the UK) to support its activities, raise awareness about citizen science and spread and strengthen citizen science in Europe.
Applications are open until 29 June, 2023
The 28 Citizen Science Ambassadors will be selected to act as the local representative and promoter of citizen science and the ECS project in their respective country.
ECS ambassadors will support and promote ECS activities, and more generally raise awareness about citizen science, spread and strengthen citizen science in Europe.
If you wish to know more about the opportunities of becoming an active member of a growing citizen science community, read the Applicant Guide here!
Empowering and strengthening the citizen science community across Europe
With the overall objective to widen and strengthen the European Citizen Science community, the EU-funded ECS (European Citizen Science) project focuses on supporting and empowering citizen scientists, and on enlarging and strengthening the initiatives they carry out across Europe. For example by creating a European Citizen Science Academy, spearheaded by the Université Cité Paris and the Learning Planet Institute.
All the initiatives carried by the project aim at one or more of the following objectives:
- Empower the European citizen science community through co-design and co-creation
- Strengthen the links and collaboration between existing citizen science initiatives
- Increase the participation of citizens from all walks of life in citizen science through an inclusive approach
- Build the capacity to conduct excellent research and innovation through citizen science
- Raise awareness, support and mainstream citizen science among new actors, new territories and scientific fields
- Better align data infrastructures to the needs of citizen science, and improve open science practices employed by citizen science initiatives
Creating a multidisciplinary network around citizen science in Europe (EU-27 + the UK)
To fulfil these objectives, the ECS project is launching this month its call to recruit 28 citizen science ambassadors across Europe (EU-27 + the UK).
Are you someone interested in solving problems? If yes, unleash your passion for citizen science and make a difference. Become a Citizen Science Ambassador and connect with a vibrant community. Together, let’s expand the citizen science community.
Zahra Farook, Université Paris Cité – Learning Planet Institute, France
©Antonin Weber – Hans Lucas
Open and citizen science central to the Learning Planet Institute since its creation
Both open and citizen science have been Learning Planet Institute’s governing principles since its creation and have been embodied in all the projects of our R&D hub. Thanks to the work of its Citizen Science team, the Institute is supporting a range of projects that engage people from all walks of life in research projects.
Through citizen science, all people can participate in many stages of the scientific process, from the design of the research question, to data collection and volunteer mapping, data interpretation and analysis, and to publication and dissemination of results. Citizen scientists, acting as contributors, collaborators, or as project leaders, have a meaningful role in the science project. Everyone is a potential researcher.
In the ECS project, our researchers are determined to create high quality resources and activities to improve skills and knowledge for citizen science practitioners, civil society, public authorities, businesses, (in)formal and education establishments, museums, public libraries and research funding and performing organisations.
The Institute is as well currently engaged in the citizen science project PATTERN, that aims to promote the practice of Open and Responsible Research and Innovation (Open RRI) by developing and piloting training activities for researchers at all stages of their careers.
In the past, the Learning Planet Institute has also been the French partner in the successful “Doing It Together Science (DITOs)”, a 3 year European project which was completed in 2019. The aim of DiTOs was to empower and engage citizens and policy makers in open scientific research and innovation. To carry on this engagement, the Learning Planet Institute has also been one of the six partners of the transdisciplinary Crowd4SDG consortium. The programme – ended in March 2023 – was a Research and Innovation Action supported by the European Commission’s Science and promoted the development of citizen science projects with a focus on climate action.
The European Citizen Science (ECS) project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement No. 101058509. The Learning Planet Institute and Université Paris Cité are partners in this project.
Follow the project on social media:
The Citizen Science team at the Learning Planet Institute:
- Muki Haklay – Team leader of the Citizen Science team, and professor and co-director of the Extreme Citizen Science group at UCL
- Cléa Montanari – Research assistant on the ECS project
- Andrea Giraldo Sevilla – Project manager on PATTERN
- Zahra Farook – student in the AIRE master programme
