Cos4Cloud integrates citizen science into the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) ecosystem. Based on the experiences of various biodiversity platforms (including Artportalen, Natusfera, iSpot) and environmental monitoring platforms (including FreshWater Watch, KdUINO, OdourCollect, iSpex and CanAir.io), Cos4Cloud is co-designing, prototyping and implementing 13 new tools and services for improving data and information quality of observations in citizen observatories.
ECSA activities and milestones
During 2021, ECSA focused predominantly on networking, training and capacity building, communication, outreach, and stakeholder engagement. ECSA has been active in the CoNNect group, which was set up to ensure smooth collaboration throughout the project partners. ECSA supported Cos4Cloud’s communications efforts and shared important news items and updates through the ECSA channels.
In March, ECSA hosted a webinar at which attendees could learn about Cos4Cloud and its ambitions. During the summer months, together with other consortium members we worked on a paper for submission to the journal Sustainability. We conducted a series of interviews with potential end-users of Cos4Cloud’s tools and services, which were written up as blog posts and began work on the policy briefs series to be delivered for the project.
Next steps
Communications and outreach for the project will step up in pace during 2022. We will launch the first policy briefs in the series, as well as support other project outputs. The fourth ECSA international conference will also be a significant outreach opportunity for Cos4Cloud, offering the chance to engage with the wider citizen science community in Europe and share the project’s tools and services with target groups.
