Imagine being part of a vibrant community acting together on environmental issues at the neighbourhood, town, or city level. That’s exactly what Citizen Observatories (COs) are all about. COs are community-based environmental monitoring initiatives that bring people together to collect data and insights that can make a real difference right where they live by informing policy or citizen-led actions to address issues like air pollution, noise, and urban heat.
The CitiObs project – which includes Eurocities as a partner – has launched an Open Call for Citizen Observatories and Citizen Science initiatives across Europe to become the project’s Alliance Partners.
The selected Alliance Partners will join its efforts to enhance and strengthen the activities of COs addressing urban environmental issues, such as air quality, noise pollution, urban heat or related topics. 30 Alliance Cases will be invited to join our mutual learning activities and mentoring workshops that aim to enhance the impact and effectiveness of their initiatives.
Interested COs can apply online through the CitiObs website until October 2024. Onboarding for selected Alliances will occur from November 2024 to December 2024.
Alliance COs will attend online workshops and peer learning activities that will take place between January to December 2025. All selected Alliance Partners will have the opportunity to undertake an exciting all-expenses-paid study visit to one of the CitiObs Frontrunner Cities.
Alliance Partners will have access to specialised tools tailored to their unique needs, including a variety of low-cost sensors, and will receive mentoring and training on the use of the CitiObs toolkits. Mutual learning activities will connect Alliance Cases with a network of 85 like-minded COs, along with Citizen Science Practitioners, FabLabs, MakerSpaces, Creative Communities, and Communities of Practice.
The specific CitiObs toolkits under development, which partners will have the opportunity to receive training and work with, are designed to help improve diversity and inclusivity in citizen engagement, strengthen cooperation among stakeholders, and support citizen-led environmental actions.
Additionally, tools for low-cost sensor use, data quality enhancement, and interoperability will empower COs to collect reliable data and contribute to broader environmental monitoring efforts across Europe.
What are Citizen Observatories?
Citizen Observatories are community-based environmental monitoring initiatives that bring people together to gather data and insights for policy and actions that can make a real difference right where they live, while also contributing to broader national and global environmental efforts.
Citizen Observatories use modern mobile and web technologies and sensing devices to collect and share valuable environmental data that can fill in the gaps and add rich detail to existing formal monitoring systems and official data sources, making our understanding of the environment more comprehensive than ever before. With the proper use of technology and tools, COs can create seamless communication channels between citizens, scientists, and decision-makers.
This collaborative flow of data and information not only enhances scientific research but it can also play a crucial role in influencing policy changes and improving environmental governance. Citizen participation in a CO means their observations and insights, if presented effectively can directly impact decisions that shape the health and sustainability of our communities!
About CitiObs
CitiObs aims to empower Citizen Observatories and enhance the role of citizens in environmental monitoring, fostering their active participation in creating more inclusive, sustainable, and liveable cities. The project seeks to equip Citizen Observatories with the tools and methodologies to make their observations more inclusive, trustworthy, and easily accessible, enabling them to inform actions and support policy decisions.
CitiObs is a four-year project funded under Horizon Europe by the European Commission. Over its 48-month duration, CitiObs will collaborate with a total of 85 COs involving members from diverse backgrounds, authorities, scientists, and other stakeholders. Working with established COs, CitiObs strives to create, enhance, and scale up inclusive and diverse observatories, fostering citizen engagement in urban environmental monitoring.
The project seeks to expand the deployment of COs as part of inclusive multi-stakeholder governance, generating validated data for policy and research, contributing to GEOSS and GEO initiatives, and co-designing local actions to address urban challenges related to pollution and climate change as part of the European Green Deal transition.
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For more information, please send us an email to: citiobs@nilu.no
