IMPETUS for citizen science!

#CitizenScience Spotlight Nachtlichter is a citizen science project dedicated to understanding the types and impacts of lighting used in urban environments. While streetlights and other forms of artificial illumination are essential, they also carry significant costs, including energy use, maintenance, and the contribution to light pollution that disrupts natural nightscapes. There is little publicly available data on private lighting sources, such as illuminated advertisements or residential lights. Nachtlichter addresses this gap by generating new, large-scale scientific data on real-world lighting practices. Nachtlichter has been selected as one of the 27 projects that have received an honorary mention at the 2025 #EUprize for #citsci. https://lnkd.in/dHDVUrW9 #lightpollution #urbandevelopment #townplanning

🧬💡 𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲, 𝗶𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 ❤️ In a groundbreaking study published in JACC Journals: Heart Failure, researchers from Ospedale San Raffaele and Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele identified a previously unknown mutation in the LMNA gene, a discovery that could not have happened without the active involvement of an entire community. 🔗 Link to the paper: https://lnkd.in/dCG8_vMm 📍In Caposele, a small town in southern Italy, over 230 citizens took part in a large-scale genetic and clinical screening, motivated not by scientific curiosity alone, but by shared memory, civic sense, and a desire to protect future generations. 👥 What makes this study exceptional isn’t just the discovery of a life-threatening genetic variant, it’s how it was discovered. Through grassroots genealogical work, local knowledge dating back to the 1600s, and trust between clinicians and citizens, a rare mutation with severe cardiac and neuromuscular effects was traced across generations. 🤝 This is #CitizenScience in action: a community co-creating knowledge, transforming a suspected family “curse” into actionable medical insight. Families gathered, stories were shared, and science became a collective journey. ⚙️ With the help of artificial intelligence, researchers were able to predict genetic status with 90% accuracy, streamlining diagnosis and enabling preventive care, including life-saving interventions like defibrillator implants. ✨ Caposele reminds us: sometimes, science doesn’t start in the lab, it starts around a kitchen table, with a question, a memory, and a community willing to act. Simone Sala Chiara Di Resta Stefano Previtali Giovanni Peretto #CitizenScience #ParticipatoryResearch #GeneticResearch #PrecisionMedicine #CommunityEngagement #SanRaffaele #LMNA #Cardiogenetics #RareDiseases #Caposele #HumanGenomics #HealthcareEquity #ScienceWithPeople

📲 Did you miss the first initiative of our new event series, called REINFORCING Insights? Now you can recover it on our YouTube channel! This activity focused on knowledge valorization and the mechanisms through which research is allowed to “leave academia” and support societal and institutional changes. 👥 🤝 Iphigenia Pottaki (Policy Officer at European Commission) and Esteban Pelayo (Manager of the Alicante Science Park) participated as guests. They answered questions from moderator Marzia Mazzonetto (Stickydot), speaking of knowledge valorization definition, citizen engagement, the importance of guidelines for ORRI practitioners, and future trends and opportunities in the field of knowledge valorization. 🗣️ Pottaki left to the audience an inspiring reflection: «Knowledge valorization is going beyond the concept of 'knowledge transfer’. One of the basic differences is that it’s very much based on multi-stakeholder engagement. It’s really a process of co-creation». 👇 Watch the full session at the link below!

📚 Our next recommendation for our #CitizenScience reading club is.... Recognizing failures in citizen science projects: Lessons learned #Failure is rarely enjoyable, but it's an essential part of learning and a cornerstone of the scientific process. In citizen science, embracing and sharing our setbacks allows us to grow collectively, learning from each other's missteps and challenges. In this paper, the authors call for a more open culture around failure in citizen science, using real-world examples to show how acknowledging what didn’t work can ultimately make the field stronger, smarter, and more resilient. Florian Westreichera, Marika Cieslinskib, Marlene Ernstc, Didone Frigeriod, Barbara Heinische, Thomas Hübnerf, & Johannes Rüdisserg https://lnkd.in/e8vrBetg #citsci #failure #projectmanagement

🌊 Flourish Project Spotlight: CoRe-ACTS – Coastal Resilience: Action Through Citizen Science 🐚 Welcome to the Flourish phase, CoRe-ACTS! 🎉 CoRe-ACTS is empowering coastal communities to monitor and respond to climate threats like erosion and sea-level rise — all through the lens of citizen science. By combining local knowledge with scientific tools, this initiative is building stronger, more resilient coastlines — and stronger communities too. 🏖️🌍 With the support of the ScienceUs Upscale Academy, CoRe-ACTS is ready to scale its impact and help more people take climate action where land meets sea. 🌐 🔗 Learn more about ScienceUs: https://lnkd.in/dn8A4an3 #ScienceUs #FlourishPhase #CoReACTS #CoastalResilience #CitizenScience #ClimateAdaptation #UpscaleAcademy #EUProjects #CommunityScience #ClimateAction #HorizonEurope

🟠 Alongside citizen science, ENFORCE applies the #LivingLabs methodology to advance environmental compliance through real-world collaboration and innovation. 🧪 Rooted in the ENoLL (European Network of Living Labs)model, these Labs serve as 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭-𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘯𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴—engaging public authorities, citizens, civil society, researchers, and businesses to co-create effective, usable solutions. ✨ #ENFORCE_eu stands out by scaling the Living Labs approach to the macro level, bringing together broad and diverse interested parties. The goal is to establish large, trust-based co-creation #communities that collaborate over time—beyond isolated innovation efforts. The methodology follows a structured #cocreation cycle: 🔍 Perceive → ✍️ Co-design → 🛠️ Realise → 📊 Evaluate 🤝 With guidance from partners like ENoLL and Waag Futurelab, ENFORCE ensures that participatory processes inform both policy and technology development—making citizen-generated #data more actionable and aligned with institutional needs. 🧩 This harmonised approach supports adaptation to local contexts while fostering shared learning across #Europe. #ENFORCE #LivingLabs #EnvironmentalGovernance #CitizenScience #CoCreation #GreenDeal #HorizonEurope #EnvironmentalCompliance #Innovation #ENoLL

What if the first robot to cross the Andes wasn’t built for conquest—but for liberation? Guanaquerx, created by Argentinian artist and theorist Paula Gaetano Adi, reimagines robotics as a collective, poetic, and insurgent act—far from Silicon Valley’s narratives of optimization and control. Modeled after the guanaco and inspired by Andean cosmotechnics, accompanied by an army of artists, engineers, local muleteers, and 58 mules and horses, guided by local knowledge and ancestral memory. Part science fiction, part pilgrimage, and part political gesture, Guanaquerx does not seek autonomy in the usual sense. It is moved by people, animals, and histories that modern technology often forgets—or erases. At the heart of the project lies a radical question: What does it mean to liberate a robot—and what would a truly emancipatory technology look like? Read more about the winning project in the "Artificial Life & Intelligence" category here: https://lnkd.in/d_3wtBUP Credit: Guanaquerx / Paula Gaetano Adi (AR), photo: Pavel Romaniko. Guanaquerx | Paula Gaetano Adi #arselectronica25

💥 Happy to be at the celebration of The Real World Laboratory in Galway, during the Galway International Arts Festival (#GIAF2025)!

#OPENCALL: What if the future of health and medicine meant coding, questioning and creating together? The Hackathon 2025 brings together students, researchers and contemporary artists to explore the future of health through radical, hands-on collaboration. Over three intensive days in Linz, interdisciplinary teams will prototype bold ideas at the intersection of artificial intelligence, clinical practice, and creative exploration. Submission deadline: June 30, 2025 For more details visit https://lnkd.in/dAbgMd6G

📢  Now online! The Science Europe 2024 Annual Report highlights a year of strong progress in advancing inclusive, ethical, and sustainable research systems across Europe. During 2024, Science Europe worked closely with its Member Organisations to promote values-based research, shape European R&I policy, and strengthen international collaboration. Key highlights include: 🔬 Support for research assessment reform as well as concrete actions on research careers, research integrity, and open science, as part of the development of holistic research cultures. 📋 Active engagement in the European Research Area and policy input on Horizon Europe and FP10, advocating for shared values such as academic freedom and inclusion to remain central to future EU research policies. 🧭📣🤖🌱New guidance on science-for-policy activities, activities to promote the importance of science communication in research processes and responsible AI use in research, and a framework for environmental sustainability, highlighting the role research systems can play in tackling societal challenges. 🌍 We also deepened partnerships beyond Europe- including with Ukraine, and African research organisations - to promote reciprocity, equity, and trust in global research collaboration. The report reaffirms our shared commitment to a strong and cohesive European Research Area, and to ensuring that science continues to be recognised and supported as a public good in the face of evolving global challenges. Download the report here: bit.ly/3In6g3V