New on the SPOTTERON Citizen Science Platform: Spot-A-Bee

Tuesday, 07 July 2020 16:17

Spot-A-Bee, a new app by The University of Glasgow and the Cardiff University aims to find out which plants in urban areas are especially bee-friendly and help bee populations thrive.

"If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe, then man would only have four years of life left. No more bees, no more pollination, no more plants, no more animals, no more man" (Albert Einstein).

Unfortunately, in the last 60 years, a staggering 90 % of wildflower meadows in the UK fell victim to intensive farming, pesticides, pests, and climate changes, which led to a steep decline in bee populations.
On the bright side, towns, parks and suburban back gardens are stocked with a rich diversity of plants and flowers from around the world and as such could serve as an oasis for one of the most important pollinators.

To determine if this is the case our partners and the University of Glasgow and the Cardiff School of Pharmacy are asking the general public to observe bees and plants in their gardens, towns, cities and villages across the United Kingdom, to take part in this citizen science project.

The Spot-A-Bee app allows you to observe and document any flowers, shrubs, climbers or trees and the bees on them. Additionally, it contains useful information on those plants and the most common bee species in the UK.
As a bonus, the researches behind Spot-A-Bee also want to understand how planting in urban spaces might affect the production of urban honey.

Find the citizen science app in your app store:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.spotteron.spotabee
IOS: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/spot-a-bee-spotteron/id1509849471
Web-App for the browser: https://www.spotteron.com/spotabee

Example Horizon Europe / Horizon 2020 Collaborations

App Icon
Horizon 2020 Invasive Species Monitoring App

The IPM-Popillia Horizon 2020 project aims to address the challenge of a new risk to plant health in Europe's agriculture and food safety: the invasion of the Japanese Beetle, Popillia japonica. This invasive species was introduced accidentally to mainland Europe in 2014 and can quickly spread by transportation and trade. As a species with a wide range of feeding plants, P. japonica threatens the entire agricultural sector, urban landscapes, and biodiversity in invaded areas.

Learn more about
IPM Popillia | Integrated Pest Management of the Japanese Beetle
App Icon
Horizon Europe Citizen Science App

EFFECTIVE, a Horizon Europe initiative, targets the emerging threat to the EU's Mediterranean Blue Natural Capital. By leveraging advanced science, technological nature-based solutions, digitalization, and social implication, the project aims to develop a comprehensive scientific knowledge base and practical guidance for the application of Ecosystem-Based Management to promote large-scale marine protected areas establishment in the European seas.

Learn more about
EFFECTIVE | Protection and Restoration Management of Mediterranean Marine Protected Areas
App Icon
Horizon Europe Citizen Science App

TRANSEATION, funded by Horizon Europe, aims to validate a new level of ecosystem-based management by integrating social implication digitalization and nature-based solutions to safeguard and restore marine ecosystem health and services. The project focuses on demonstrating the effectiveness of marine and coastal hybrid blue-grey infrastructures and developing digital tools for monitoring, analysis, and social involvement, addressing societal challenges and promoting sustainable management practices.

Learn more about
TRANSEATION | Advancements through Hybrid Blue-Grey Infrastructures in Marine and Coastal Areas
App Icon
Horizon 2020 Citizen Social Science App

In Europe and globally, substantial numbers of young people are at risk of social exclusion. Therefore, there is a pressing need to develop more knowledge and innovation to create inclusive and youth-friendly societies. The Horizon 2020 R&I Project YouCount contributes to these needs by developing 'actionable' knowledge for social inclusion of disadvantaged youths in the European Union and creating better means for social inclusion through citizen social science.

Learn more about
YouCount | Youth Citizen Science
App Icon
Horizon 2020 Citizen Science App

The impact of plastic pollution on soil health is largely unknown. However, the amounts of plastic entering soils are equal to or possibly even more significant than those entering our rivers, seas, and oceans. MINAGRIS, an EU Horizon 2020 funded project, will investigate how plastic affects soil biodiversity, soil functions, associated ecosystem services, and agricultural productivity.
Learn more about
MINAGRIS | Micro and Nanoplastics in Agricultural Soils
App Icon
Health Citizen Science App
University Medical Center Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel University Institute of Medical Psychology and Medical Sociology

StreetMind contributes to a better understanding how environmental factors like urbanicity or climate change influence how individuals across Europe and the world feel, act, and behave. Participants make up their minds with fellow citizens and scientists and share their daily experiences of their surroundings and the environment where they live, work, and interact.

Learn more about
StreetMind

Short News

  • New study from BiciZen project: "BiciZen: Lessons in the Development of a Crowdsourcing Mobile App to Make Cities More Bikeable" published in Journal of Participatory Research Methods. More studies available under the publication page here.

    in Shortnews
  • Roadkill project has made wonderful short videos for the citizen scientists! The videos include the Roadkill App functions regarding how to confirm & comment on the spots and how to best take the photos for the project. The videos (in German) are available in the "Österreich forscht" blog here. 

    in Shortnews

Newsletter

Please enable the javascript to submit this form