About the project
The proposal responds to the call “A capacity-building and brokering network to make citizen science an integral part of the European Research Area“. It aims to strengthen collaboration between citizen science initiatives and other research and innovation actors as well as increase the capacity to conduct excellent research through citizen science. The project is led by ECSA and if successful it is expected to start in the summer of 2022. The consortium wishes to select a maximum of 10 organisations to join the proposal, depending on the available budget.
Role of a Third Party
A Linked Third Party under Clause 14 of the European Commission’s Grant Agreement is a legal entity which can demonstrate a legal link with the beneficiary of the project not specifically created for the work in the project (in our case, paid membership of our members suffices to demonstrate that link). ECSA signs the agreement with the European Commission and is in charge of all the technical and financial reporting and distributing payments to its Third Parties.
The main tasks of the Third Parties will be (you should choose between two tracks):
Equity track
- To attend an equity training provided by the consortium
- With the support of the consortium to design a strategy in engaging one or more “hard-to-reach” citizen groups in your existing citizen science project (in terms of geography, gender, ethnicity, disability, age, socio-economic background etc.)
- To fully or partially implement this strategy during the course of the project
- To take part in the evaluation activities
Advocacy track
- Ambition to create or strengthen a national citizen science network/association
- Organise a series of 3-5 meetings/workshops with actors active in citizen science in your country/region
- Organise a series of meetings with national/regional policy-makers to lobby for citizen science support and funding
Other common tasks for both tracks
- Participate in co-design activities for the project’s citizen science digital platform
- Run training sessions on citizen science
- Attend digital and a maximum of two in-person project meetings
- Disseminate the project and its results through your usual channels
- Provide detailed reports and insights on all activities as required by ECSA
Indicative budget
The budget will be calculated based on the Person-month rate (the salary of one person working full time for one month, including all taxes and charges).
- Up to 8 Person-months of salary costs
- Up to €8 000 in Other Direct Costs (hosting of workshops and meetings, support to citizens if applicable, travel costs, etc)
- Overheads (indirect costs): 25% of the sum of the above two categories
Criteria for selection: obligatory
- ECSA organisational member status
- Experience in citizen science
- Proficient English-speaking project manager
- The institution should be located in one of the following countries (note that not all EU member states appear in the list as some countries are already represented in the consortium): Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Sweden or associated countries eligible for Horizon Europe funding, e.g. Israel, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Turkey, Ukraine and UK.
Criteria for selection: desirable (equity track)
- Have an existing or upcoming project that will be running in 2023-2024 and for which you have an ambition to engage “hard-to-reach” groups
- Commitment to equity/inclusion
- Have a large network of stakeholders with potential interest in citizen science
Criteria for selection: desirable (advocacy track)
- Well-connected to national/regional citizen science actors
- Well-connected to policy-makers
- Have a large network of stakeholders with potential interest in citizen science
How to apply
To apply, please fill out this online form by Sunday 5 September 2021 23:59 CET. Organisations can apply to both tracks if desired, but in their role of third party only one track can be carried out. Please notice that you will need to fill in and submit the online form twice if you want to apply to both tracks.
For any further questions, please contact D.Riemenschneider@mfn.berlin.
