In As part of the Geneva Trialogue, the European research project Crowd4SDG organized a hybrid workshop on March 17 entitled “Closing the gap between institutions and citizen science generated data and solutions”.The Learning Planet Institute, Université Paris Cité and their associate partners in the Crowd4SDG* consortium brought together institutional members and finalists from the most promising projects to provide concrete feedback. During the day-long workshop, the group provided an update on the progress of the Crowd4SDG project, highlighting its mission: to launch youth-led crowdsourcing projects that track progress towards the SDGs and generate local innovations for the SDGs. Participants brainstormed to identify gaps between institutional data and data generated by citizen science. They discussed how these gaps can be bridged through knowledge sharing, the creation of synergies and potential partnerships, particularly in the field of water and sanitation.
A community mobilized around climate issues and gender inequalities
The two finalists“WOMER”and“DONATE WATER”They also shared their observations on the challenges and opportunities they faced in implementing their projects. The group as a whole identified some challenges that need to be addressed, including: * alignment of SDG methodologies with the way data is collected; * confidence in citizen science data created from scratch versus existing data; * institutional resistance to data quality, design and other forms of implementation; * links between national statistical offices and citizen science initiatives
The GEAR cycle
Initiatives organized by Crowd4SDG follow a robust innovation cycle called GEAR (gather, evaluate, accelerate, refine) over six months for each period. The second cycle, which began in August 2021, aims to tackle climate and gender issues. Five teams took part in a challenge-based innovation workshop organized by IdeaSquare at CERN. The Geneva Trialogue marked the end of this second GEAR cycle, where the two finalists presented their projects and received substantial opportunities for further development. Crowd4SDG partners are now preparing for the final cycle, which will begin in the coming months. -------------*TheCrowd4SDG consortium(UNIGE/CitizenCyberLab, CERN, CSIC/IIIA, Politecnico di Milano, UNITAR, Université Paris Cité/Learning Planet Institute) promotes citizen science aimed at the SDGs, with a focus on Climate Action. The aim of this EU-funded project is to assess the usefulness of the practical innovations developed by the teams, and to research and investigate how AI applications can enhance and provide effective citizen monitoring of SDO targets and indicators.
