The Scivil team and everyone at RVO-Society wish you an inspiring 2025!

We look forward to entering the new year with you, filled with exciting projects, new collaborations, and plenty of enthusiasm for citizen science. Here's to even greater things in the year ahead!

On 18 November 2019, Scivil published the communication guide 'Communication in Citizen Science'. Five years later, the guide still proves its value as the definitive resource for anyone looking to set up a citizen science project and develop a robust communication plan.

As you can read further in this newsletter, we interviewed the creators of this guide. You can read that success story here.

The amai! team has reached a milestone: their paper 'Co-creating Artificial Intelligence: Designing and Enhancing Democratic AI Solutions Through Citizen Science' has been published in the renowned journal Citizen Science: Theory & Practice. The paper explores how amai! actively involves citizens in developing AI solutions.

The new Scivil project Citizens4Water has launched its own website! Curious about what’s happening in the world of citizen science initiatives for water management? Check out the first of many blog posts on the website, and don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter.

Science magazine Eos dedicates a special edition to the scientist in each of us. Scivil contributed to several articles in this fascinating issue! In this Special, you'll discover a wide range of citizen science projects, get an insight into the impact of citizen science, read inspiring profiles of dedicated amateur researchers, and find a practical guide to starting your own project. Plus, you can take a fun test to find out what type of citizen scientist you are. And that's not all! Purchase your copy here (Dutch only) and dive into the world of citizen science.

Stickydot is looking for a Project Manager. In this role, you’ll work closely with the team on exciting projects focused on public engagement. Do you have experience in project management and a passion for citizen science? Apply by 16 December 2024!

Have you always wanted to measure air quality or traffic flow with local enthusiasts but aren’t sure where to start? COMPAIR is launching an online course with 5 modules, guiding you step by step to set up a successful citizen science project.

The European research and citizen science project LEARN has developed the educational game 'Clean air in school! Play & LEARN'. Through play, children aged 9 to 12 learn how to improve air quality at school or at home, as well as how poor air quality can arise. The game can be downloaded for free, or you can request a physical version of the game.

The second global conference on citizen science for health, CS4Health, will take place on 6 and 7 November 2025 in Zurich, Switzerland. Sign up for email updates about the conference and be notified as soon as the call for abstracts opens. This conference is organised by the ECSA working group Citizen Science for Health.

More conference news: On 14 January 2025, CS-NL will host its third network day on citizen science in Utrecht, Netherlands. Learn more about the successful 'Samen aan de HartSlag' funding call and the future plans of the CS-NL network. In addition to presentations, there will be workshops and sessions where you can connect with the working and thematic groups of CS-NL. Registrations are now open.

On Wednesday 22 January 2025 (10:00-12:00 CET), ECS is hosting the Policy Event ‘Citizen Science beyond 2030: Societal Engagement for a Sustainable Future’. During this event, experts and policymakers will discuss the role of citizen science in supporting sustainable transitions and its contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). They will evaluate the progress made so far, identify challenges, and explore how citizen science can further advance sustainable development in Europe.

Each month, Scivil interviews someone about their experiences with citizen science. This month, we spoke with Liesbeth Gijsel, Hilde Devoghel, and Carina Veeckman, the driving forces behind our communication guide 'Communication in Citizen Science'. They share insights into the how and why of creating a communication guide and explain why it remains highly relevant today.

CS-NL, the citizen science network from the Netherlands, is organising its third CS-NL Networking Day on 14 January 2025, in Utrecht.

From 19 to 24 January, the Citizen Science School will welcome novice researchers and citizen scientists to a new edition of the Citizen Science Winter School.

On 22 January 2025 (10:00-12:00 CET), ECS is hosting the Policy Event ‘Citizen Science beyond 2030: Societal Engagement for a Sustainable Future’. 

The EUSEA Conference 2025 will take place on May 14 and 15 2025, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The theme of this conference is 'Crossing Oceans - Raising Our Sails. Navigating Public Engagement in Turbulent Times.'other related research initiatives.

The 6th Open Innovation in Science Research Conference will take place from 14 to 16 May 2025 in Vienna and invites discussions on the collaboration between research and industry.

From 27 to 30 May 2025, the Conference for Advancing Participatory Sciences will take place in Portland, Oregon, USA. This multidisciplinary event will bring together people designing, researching, and facilitating citizen science, community science, volunteer monitoring, and other related research initiatives.

The Citizen Science 4 Water (CS4Water) Conference will be held from 3 to 5 June 2025 in Delft, Netherlands. The conference will focus on the crucial role of citizen science in monitoring, managing, and governing water resources, as well as community-based actions.

On 6 and 7 November 2025 the second global conference on citizen science for health will take place in Zurich, Switzerland.