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Horizon 2020 is the previous Funding Programme. There are no longer calls, but projects can run until 2024.

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Infosheet


Citizen Science in Horizon Europe

This info sheet on citizen science in Horizon Europe summarises the key points on citizen inclusion to pay attention to when applying for Horizon Europe calls for proposals.

Programmes Enhancing EU R&I   Horizon Europe  

Published on | 2 years ago

Last updated on | 1 year ago

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Margot Beereboom

margot.beereboom@fwo.be

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Citizen Science as part of EU’s Open Science policy

One of the eight ambitions under the Open Science policy of the European Union is citizen science. ‘The general public should be able to make significant contributions and be recognised as valid European science knowledge producers.’ The aim under Horizon Europe is to ‘engage and involve citizens, civil society organisations and end-users in co-design and co-creation processes and promote responsible research and innovation.’ (EU’s Open Science policy)

European citizens opinion on inclusion in science and technology

Four in ten European citizens (40%) think that public opinion should be taken into account in decision making about science and technology and six out of ten (60%) think that involving non-scientists in research and technological development ensures that science and technology respond to the needs, values and expectations of society. (‘European citizens’ knowledge and attitudes towards science and technology’ Special Eurobarometer 516 (May 2021) at request of DG Research and Innovation European Commission p.50/1)

Dedicated citizen science calls for proposals in Horizon Europe two yearly work programmes

Citizen science is a theme across all Horizon Europe programme parts, but there are also dedicated (open) calls for proposals with regards to the promotion of Citizen science.

Under the Horizon Europe 2021-2022 and 2023-2024 Work Programme part Widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area, more specifically Destination 3 Reforming and Enhancing the EU Research and Innovation, there are several calls for proposals included with a specific focus on citizen science. The calls for proposals with links to the Funding and Tender portal call topic pages are listed here below:

Other Horizon Europe calls with links to citizen science and public engagement can be found via the Funding and Tender portal by searching on these and related key words (consumers, end-users, societal engagement,…). More and more call topics under Horizon Europe refer in the impact section to inclusion of the public in the actions.

Horizon Europe or EU Missions

Under Horizon Europe five missions are defined on cancer, soil, adaption to climate change, restoring oceans and waters and creating climate neutral and smart cities which should each deliver on a set of goals by 2030. In the framework of the missions it is the European Commissions’ aim to ‘engage with citizens to boost societal uptake of new solutions and approaches.’ (press release September 2021). Concretely this means that the public should be involved in the actions under the Horizon Europe two-yearly work programmes on missions (more info on the call topics for 2021-2022 and 2023-2024).

Resources on missions and citizens involvement

  • Cities and citizens delivering on EU missions’ European Research and Innovation Days 2021 (June 2021)
  • Press release and mission fact sheets - European Commission launch of EU missions to tackle major challenges (September 2021)
  • EU missions and citizen engagement activities
  • The TRAnsnational cooperation on the MIssions approach (Trami) is an EU funded project focussed on Making Missions Work by creating Communities of Practice, exchanging knowledge and offering mutual learning.
  • European Mission Network (EMiN) is created under the Trami project, as an emerging community of practice that connects key players from the business sector, academia, civil society organisations as well as governmental actors. The EMiN will act as central information and exchange platform for the benefit of EU Missions actors across Europe and across EU Missions. Besides offering active exchange and learning formats to its members, its aim is to bundle expertise, experiences, scientific findings and practical examples of adaptation to the mission environment. The European Mission Forum (EMiF) is part of the European Mission Network and will connect all EU Mission stakeholders and actor groups (governmental actors, civil society, business sector, research and innovation). Info on first meeting (25 January 2023)

Other citizen science resources

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Testimonial

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Luciad - Geospatial software for mission-critical operations

Founded in 1999, Luciad serves clients in Europe, Asia and the Americas. Though it recently was acquired by Hexagon Geospatial, they kept an agile SME mindset. Thousands of end users work directly with Luciad’s geospatial applications, and major systems integrators (think Airbus Defense and Space, Lufthansa Systems, NATO, Thales…) incorporate its software in their own products.

NCP Flanders went to Leuven to interview Frederic Houbie, the Research Projects Manager at Luciad, about how he sees Horizon 2020. Luciad is a partner in the MARISA project, which is a collaborative RIA project submitted to an ICT call topic