The European Union’s prize for citizen science was awarded for the second time since its conception to a wide range of citizen science projects. The prize supports outstanding projects whose social and political impact advance the development of a diverse, inclusive and sustainable society in Europe. Managed by Ars Electronica, an IMPETUS consortium partner, it runs alongside the accelerator programme to support a more impactful and sustainable citizen science ecosystem. 

INCREASE is a large-scale citizen science experiment to increase agricultural biodiversity in Europe. It focuses specifically on legumes such as chickpeas, common beans, lentils and lupins. Legumes play a crucial role in issues such as soil health and climate resilience in the face of food security and scarcity concerns. 

The project tests a decentralised approach to the conservation of genetic resources by setting up a citizen science experiment, where participants grow legumes in their garden, or on their terrace or balcony. Each participant receives a random set of five seeds (among more than 1,000) from common bean local varieties, plus a common commercial variety as a control, and then documents their growth and plant traits using the INCREASE mobile app. The project aims to spread knowledge about the biodiversity of legumes, and to involve citizens in evaluation and conservation activities, as well as in sharing and exchanging seeds via the app.

SeaPaCS participatory citizen science against marine pollution is a grassroots citizen science initiative kickstarted in the first cohort of the IMPETUS accelerator programme. The initiative engaged over 250 fishermen, North African migrants, school children, teachers, environmental NGOs, marine lawyers, sailors and divers in co-producing knowledge about the health of the Mediterranean Sea. The initiative involved citizens in activities beyond plastic sampling and data collection, such as plastisphere DNA analysis, documenting underwater ecological niches, creating photo and video exhibitions, testing DIY microplastic trawling instruments, and building marine plastic recycling stations. SeaPaCS’ innovative approach demonstrates how to involve citizens not just in mapping problems, but also in taking collective action towards restoring biodiversity and ecological resilience in European oceans.

CoAct for mental health involves patients with lived experience of mental health issues, and their families, as co-researchers and co-producers of evidence on their experiences of social support networks in their communities. The project developed an open-source chatbot using Telegram, where anyone can listen and react to micro-stories. A small, dedicated core group of 32 citizen scientists participated in the project, from inception to data analysis and interpretation. The resulting policy recommendations were presented to decision-makers in Catalunya, while a further 900 citizens in the region used the chatbot to engage with the research. 

These citizen researchers contributed their daily micro-stories to create a body of evidence that aims to transform the paradigm for mental health care. Moving away from a biomedical approach towards personalised medicine and  community-centred approaches shows the power social support networks can have in mental health care for recovery, crisis management and wellbeing.

As the second cohort of pilot teams in the accelerator programme start their seven-month journey, stay up-to-date with the latest innovations they develop to tackle the challenges of citizen science for sustainable lifestyles and citizen science for justice and equity. This second cohort is made up of 35 new citizen science initiatives and 12 existing initiatives covering a wide range of issues, from climate change and food waste to mobility and health.  

We’re also launching a seminar series to bring together local authorities, public sector organisations, the citizen science community and anyone interested in working with citizen science data . The first events in the series took place this week as part of London Data Week. Get in touch with the team to stay up-to-date with upcoming events.