Green spaces and citizen science
Our Mission/Vision statement stands as follows:
‘Every citizen is engaged in citizen science across urban environments in order to support biodiversity monitoring as well as contributing to establishing greener cities. This ultimately supports biodiversity and quality of life as well as cultural diversity.’
The working group aims to share existing practices of citizen science in Green spaces (with focus on urban areas). Our aim is to understand the various dimensions on how Green spaces (e.g. Botanical gardens) develop and integrate citizen science approaches and how those contribute (can contribute) in achieving Sustainable Development Goals.
Chairs
Co-chairs
Vito Emanuele Cambria, Stefano Martellos, Sofie Meeus
Working group
members
- Nienke Beets
- Rebecca Gosling
- Teije Terhorst
- Fabio Attorre
- António Gouveia
- Michael Kiehn
- Giulia Mattalia
- Rita Campos
- Anneleen Kool
Activity plan
- Monthly meetings at the last Wednesdays’ of each month are taking place from 16:00-17:00CET.
- We have had the opportunity to learn from colleagues about several topics, e.g., Anna W.I. Au introduced us with a topic on participatory urbanism, working group members exchange links on Tiny Forest activities in Italy and United Kingdom, Lars Bults presented insights from his thesis on Local ecological knowledge in Botanic gardens, Jutta Kleber shared an experience on Big Picnic project.
- Many lessons learned and more to come! Join us, everyone welcome to bring ideas, guest speakers and provide questions/solutions
We would like to promote the connection of people with scientific research by moving forward the citizen science activities in the green spaces and botanic gardens of our cities
— Vito Emanuele Cambria, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
We are eager to discuss the potential of green spaces and particularly botanical gardens when it comes to citizen science including but not limited to local ecological knowledge!
— Baiba Pruse, University College Cork, MaREI, Ireland
Interested to learn more? Join the podcast with Sasja Voet, Marjoleine van der Meij and Baiba Prūse on Citizen science and Biodiversity, full recording available here.
(The podcast is a collaboration between the Amsterdamse Bos and the Athena Institute, a research institute of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. The recordings were made on the banks of the Bosbaan on one of the days of the quadrennial EASST conference.)
WG members share the following resources: https://tinyforest.earthwatch.org.uk/resources#education-resources
How to get involved
This working group only makes sense if it is a relevant forum for what our members want to do – please make it so! The chairs and ECSA headquarters will do our best to support you.
Subscribe to our mailing list to receive information about working group activities and contents posted by other people.
Reach out to: Baiba Prūse via LinkedIn
Join! ECSA WG Green spaces & Citizen science at EuroGard10!
We are delighted to invite you to participate in EuroGard10, the 10th European Botanic Gardens Congress, which will take place from September 22 to 26, 2025, at the FAO Headquarters in Rome, Italy. Under the theme “Botanic Gardens in the UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration,” this congress will bring together experts, researchers, and practitioners to explore the vital role of botanic gardens in biodiversity conservation and ecological restoration.
“Citizen Science and Community Engagement in Conservation”
This session will highlight the role of citizen participation in biodiversity monitoring and restoration projects, fostering awareness, data collection, and long-term stewardship. Given the growing impact of citizen science in conservation efforts, this is a great opportunity for ECSA members to share experiences, innovative methodologies, and collaborative approaches that strengthen the connection between people and nature.
We encourage you to submit an abstract and contribute to this important discussion!
Key dates:
- Abstract submission deadline: April 18, 2025
- Notification of acceptance: May 20, 2025
More information:
https://www.eurogard10.org/
