On the SPOTTERON Platform, project teams and researchers can reach out to all participants via an integrated communication tool, called "Project Messages". The tool enables projects to disseminate news and updates, inform all participants, send links to everyone to new blog posts or pages, and tell stories. Communication is an important part of eve...

Horizon Europe is the scientific successor to the Horizon 2020 research framework programme of the European Union, under the leadership of the European Commission. Enhancing research in the fields of climate change, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the UN, and EU competitiveness are the main goals of Horizon Europe. Furthermore, Horizon ...

In many Citizen Science projects, there are geographical location-related events or activities to interact with as a participant. Such activities can, for example, be simply a workshop taking place or something more permanent like an exhibition, a nature trail, or a project-related area that needs highlighting. With the integrated system called "Pr...

The year 2024 is coming to a close, and soon we are off for the winter holidays! It was an exciting year, new technologies have been developed and integrated, new Horizon Europe projects rolling on, new team members joining SPOTTERON and so many new Citizen Science Apps and projects starting on the platform. As it is tradition, we design ...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a useful tool for analyzing data and supporting research. While the currently more popular forms of generative AI is impacting our daily lives and society and carries a considerable amount of risks, the intergration of predictive AI in interactive Apps can be highly beneficial for data analysis an...

While we made our preparations for the European Citizen Science Association ECSA conference in Vienna, we had another task on our to-do list: let's make a game for the public day in the museum! But it is not any kind of game, it is the (probably) the largest computer game in Austria! In the Natural History Museum in Vienna, there is the "Deck ...

In many Citizen Science projects, there are distinct data categories which have a sensitive nature. From endangered species to details about personal lives in social science programmes, working with such data elements requires an additional level of protection and security. An integrated feature for better data safety in Citizen Science Together wi...

The year 2023 is slowly coming to an end, but before everyone goes into the well-deserved holidays, here is a quick update about SPOTTERON, new upcoming features, and also a nice season card handcrafted for you. But to start off with the most important thing: thank you very much for bringing so many interesting projects and features to SPOTTERON th...

Sensitive topics like invasive alien species can lead to challenges when utilizing Citizen Science and public involvement. Observations can be time-sensitive, like disaster reports, or topic-sensitive, like controlled pests in agricultural monitoring. Some data categories even include legal requirements, like in the latter example, where new sighti...

In the course of our submission to the current "EU Prize for Citizen Science", we have produced a new video as an introduction to the SPOTTERON Citizen Science platform. The clip showcases the core aspects of what the platform brings to Citizen Science projects across Europe and beyond. As an interactive toolkit, every Citizen Science App not only ...

The MAKENYA Mammal Atlas App is a Kenyan citizen science mobile-based application that allows users to monitor and track rare and common mammals. It allows users to use their map location or GPS coordinates of the area they spotted a particular mammal, share pictures, and identify the species. The project has been the first Citizen S...

As the year comes to a close, we wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for all the partnerships and support in 2022. A wide range of new exciting projects has helped to expand the platform for improving the impact and quality of Citizen Science Apps. Our collaborations with stakeholders, institutions, and project partners from ...

In many Citizen Science Apps, participants are younger than 16 or 18 years of age. From educational school-based projects to including the youth in workshops, feedback, or data collection: the engagement of younger people is often at the core of Citizen Science projects. To invite underaged children to be active in a digital tool like Citizen ...

User-to-user communication and project-to-user communication are essential parts of modern interactive Citizen Science. In the new platform update, we extend the already present features in all Apps on the SPOTTERON platform with another significant upgrade: User Message Boards. Exchanging messages, enabling discussion Being able to contact each ot...

As you may know, the ownership of Twitter has changed. Since then, the dynamic has spun increasingly out of control on that social platform. The new owner first changes core moderation policies to allow "free speech" (which means more radicalism in a social network) while censoring everything he dislikes. Secondly, there is chaos. The new owner ins...

From the 5th to the 8th of October, the ECSA Citizen Science Conference 2022 took place in Berlin under the motto "Citizen Science for Planetary Health."We have been attending this fantastic bi-annual event (for sure) and spent four days in Germany's capital to learn more about citizen science and various approaches, definitions, and projects while...

 The ECSA European Citizen Science Conference is Europe's major meeting point every two years for actors and stakeholders in Citizen Science. In 2022, it takes place in Berlin, Germany, and we look forward to traveling to the North of Europe for Citizen Science! This year's conference motto, "Citizen Science for Planetary Health" reflects the ...

In Citizen Science Apps, the map often plays a central role. On SPOTTERON, different map types stand ready for every participant to use as a personal choice and for supporting correct locations when submitting data in the App.  We are always at some place - and the map in a Citizen Science App reflects this connection. In Citizen Science,...

One of the often very time-intensive tasks when running a Citizen Science project is the validation of the gathered data. Is the user-provided information correct? Does the species classification work out? Is the location correct? The complexity of this task grows with the success of a Citizen Science project. When hundreds of new contribution...

The new "Community Data Validation" Feature on the SPOTTERON Platform allows Citizen Scientists to be more deeply involved in the scientific process. The feature update in the ClimateWatch App by Earthwatch Australia allows users not only to submit observations but also to assess the accuracy and support the observations of...