Research project
Citizen Science Nederland
The CS-NL network is a vibrant and active community of Citizen Science practitioners, initiators, researchers and participants from across all corners of society (Academia, Industry, Government, Civil Society, and Citizens) who come together to share knowledge and know-how for participatory research and societal engagement practices that partner with and for the benefit of society. CS-NL supports the effective consolidation, dissemination and further development of best practice and innovative new approaches, facilitates networking and capability building, enables the formation of new multi-stakeholder initiatives, and promotes the mainstreaming and embedding of Citizen Science within Open Science.
- Duration
- 2024 - 2028
- Contact
- Anouk Spelt
- Funding
- Open Science NL
- Partners
Twente University
As stated in both the UNESCO Recommendations on Open Science and the NPOS 2030 Ambition for Open Science, Citizen Science (CS) is essential to opening up the processes of knowledge creation to the participation of all societal actors, including citizens. A wide variety of participatory research practices from across all domains fall under the broad umbrella of CS, with the common characteristic that societal actors are engaged as genuine partners in knowledge production. Science Communication, Public Engagement, and Societal Dialogue exist alongside CS practices within a fluid spectrum of societal engagement practices, where CS represents the co-production of science within and for society at the core.
With impulse funding from NWO in the 2024-2025 Open Science NL work programme, the CS-NL Network will continue the NPOS mission to embed CS within OS practices across the Netherlands, such that participatory processes for knowledge creation initiated by both citizen scientists and professional researchers are recognised, valued, and supported as part of ‘mainstream’ research. The main objectives of CS-NL are thus to:
- Create awareness of the benefits of Citizen Science approaches for science, policy and society;
- Facilitate knowledge exchange within and amongst members the CS community and adjacent OS
communities, from across the Quadruple Helix; - Consolidate and further develop best practices for CS within all domains of research;
- Embed CS practices in the system of rewards and recognition, as a valued research approach with valorised societal impact;
- Promote the development of training and education resources, to increase appropriate support and execution capacities within research and higher education organisations and civil society partners;
- Foster greater and enhanced cooperation, synergies, and crosspollination of practitioners among and between the Citizen Science, Open Science and Public Engagement communities, and between the Academic Universities and the Universities of Applied Sciences; and
- Promote the development of supporting (technical) infrastructures and other aspects of an enabling environment for CS in the Netherlands, including through specific funding programmes and policy instruments.