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:

• HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01-08: Laying the groundwork towards Europe-wide citizen science campaigns
• HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-60: A capacity-building and brokering network to make citizen science an integral part of the European Research Area
• HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-61: Supporting and giving recognition to citizen science in the European Research Area

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

• European Commission Citizen Science fact sheet (September 2020)
• European Commission DG Research and Innovation report “Citizen science and citizen engagement - Achievements in Horizon 2020 and recommendations on the way forward” (July 2020)
• Horizon 2020 project EU-Citizen.Science, an online platform where citizen science projects, resources, tools and training is shared
• Guidance Valorising research through citizens’ engagement: how to run hackathons with citizens
• Citizen Science projects – Cordis Results Pack
• Citizen Science and Frontier Research: ERC Annual Event 2022
• Citizen Science in ERC projects – mapping ERC frontier research
• Showcase of citizen science by ERC grantees and other EU-funded projects