ScienceUs Citizen Science call – Upscaling and interconnecting ongoing citizen science projects relevant to the EU mission “Adaptation to climate change”.

ScienceUs Citizen Science call – Upscaling and interconnecting ongoing citizen science projects relevant to the EU mission “Adaptation to climate change”.

Type of grant: Cascade funding

Opening date: 31 October 2024

Deadline model: single-stage

Deadline date: 06 January 2025 17:00 (Brussels time)

Status: Open for submission

Expected duration of participation: ● Winners of the First Phase (SEED PHASE) – February 1st, 2025 to April 30th, 2025. - 25 projects selected ● Winners of the Second Phase (FLOURISH PHASE) – May 31st, 2025, to November 30th, 2025. 5 projects selected ● Winners of the Third Phase (HARVEST PHASE) – 31st December 2025 – 15th October 2026. - 5 projects selected

Total funding available: €220,000.00

Project acronym: ScienceUs

Full name of the EU funded project: Integration of citizen SCIENCE best practices to Upscale and maximise projects impact related to Green Deal and EU missions

Grant agreement number: 101132113

Topic: HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01-08 - Laying the groundwork towards Europe-wide citizen science campaigns

Submission & evaluation process

Submission process:

Any legal entity (including consortia) from EU Member States or third-European countries associated with Horizon Europe, with an ongoing citizen science initiative related to adaptation to climate change, can apply for the first phase (SEED phase) of the open call organized into the ScienceUs project. For consortia, all applicants must be eligible. They must choose a lead who will submit the application and engage with ScienceUs on their behalf.

The legal entity (including consortia) must belong to an EU Member State or third-European country associated with Horizon Europe.

Applications will be made in English and online via the following link: https://scienceus-project.eu/open-call-original-page-new/.

Applications for the first phase (SEED) will consist of a proposal including a description of the ongoing citizen science projects, with details about the quality and relevance of existing results for climate change adaptation, demand for the project in other regions, potential for scalability and replicability, applicant's resources and expected impact on European, national, regional, or local policies. The short proposal should follow the template available in the ScienceUs ‘guide for applicants’ and must not exceed five pages.

For the second (FLOURISH) and third (HARVEST) stages, the evaluation will be realized considering the deliverables submitted by the selected applicants.

Evaluation process:

The evaluation will be divided into the following stages:

1. Eligibility check: The funding is available for ongoing projects relevant to the EU mission “Adaptation to climate change.” All legal entities established in a country or territory eligible for Horizon Europe grants are eligible to apply for this call.

2. Proposal evaluation:

✔ For the first phase (SEED), each proposal will be assessed against five criteria: (1) quality and relevance of existing results for climate change adaptation, (2) demand for the project in other regions, (3) potential for scalability and replicability, (4) applicant's resources and (5) expected impact on European, national, regional, or local policies.

All applications will be assessed by a review panel composed of experts in research assessment, set up by the Stakeholder Advisory Board and members of the ScienceUs project. The review panels will assess applications submitted to the type of project that fall within their policy and/or research expertise. Each submission will be reviewed by one Lead Reviewer and one Secondary Reviewer who will provide awritten consensus report of each application and will present during the panel meeting.

Further information

All details are available at https://scienceus-project.eu/.

Additional information can be obtained at: opencall@ScienceUs.eu

Guide for applicants: https://scienceus-project.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Guidelines-Final-New.pdf

Task description

The ScienceUs project aims to establish an EU-wide network of interconnected citizen science initiatives across various research and technological fields aligned with the EU mission "Adaptation to Climate Change." To further this goal, the ScienceUs project is launching an open call to identify, scale up, and connect exceptional citizen science projects in these key areas, fostering collaboration and innovation in addressing climate adaptation challenges.

In the Open Call, climate change adaptation represents the ability of natural and human systems to respond to climate change's effects, including climate variability, extreme weather events, sea level rise, and food insecurity, to reduce potential damage, take advantage of opportunities, and cope with its consequences.

Citizen science projects can address topics related to the economy (agriculture, forestry, fishery, industry, tourism, trade, transport), nature conservation and protection, green and blue infrastructure, also considering its innovative components as nature-based solutions, built infrastructure (including residential and non-residential buildings); public services (e.g., water supply, sanitation, sewage, heating) and other infrastructure (e.g., emergency, health, education); natural and human risk prevention and management; energy management; water management; transport management; health system; environmental education; environmental government and governance; outdoor and indoor climate monitoring.

Challenges and topics addressed by the ScienceUs citizen sciences call are:

✔Challenge 1: Enhancing Education and Awareness Regarding Climate Change Adaptation

o Topic 1.1 – Increasing Reach and Engagement

o Topic 1.2. – Addressing Resource Constraints for Long-term Campaigns

oTopic 1.3 – Overcoming the Perception of Climate Change as a Distant Threat

oTopic 1.4 – Fighting Misinformation and Fake News

✔Challenge 2: Increasing Engagement, Participation, and Collaboration for research in climate change adaptation within and among the Quadruple Helix (citizens, academia, industry, and institutions)

oTopic 2.1. – Building Trust in Science and Science Institutions

oTopic 2.2. - Increasing Institutional Capacity and Interest

oTopic 2.3. – Closing Coordination and Communication Gaps

oTopic 2.4. - Creating Incentives for Citizen Participation

oTopic 2.5. – Addressing Institutional and Policy Barriers

✔Challenge 3: Increasing Inclusion in Citizen Science Initiatives

oTopic 3.1. – Bridging the Technology Gaps

oTopic 3.2. – Overcoming Language and Communication Barriers

oTopic 3.3. – Increasing Diversity in Leadership Roles

oTopic 3.4. -Overcoming Perceived Lack of Relevance

The citizen science project must address at least one of these challenges.

ScienceUs will provide a 3-phase combined support program of direct funding and support services to the selected projects/initiatives. A robust set of communication, dissemination, and knowledge transfer activities will be implemented to help them scale up their activities and engage all relevant actors in the quadruple helix.

ScienceUs will assist the citizen science projects in:

1) Defining a transnational citizen science campaign and upscaling plan,

2) Implementing the transnational campaign plan by facilitating the matchmaking between EU citizen science initiatives and the involvement of quadruple helix actors in the projects,

3) Helping the selected Citizen Science projects transfer the best practices and lessons learned to other initiatives and projects and quadruple helix actors (mainly policymakers), generating a knowledge spillover effect.

The Open Call proposes a three-phase approach (SEED-FLOURISH-HARVEST).

●The First Phase (SEED PHASE) will select 25 projects by an open call. Fundidng available - €1000

●The Second Phase (FLOURISH PHASE) - the selection will include only the 25 applications selected for the SEED PHASE. Fundidng available - €25000

●The Third Phase (HARVEST PHASE) - the selection will include only the 5 applications selected for the FLOURISH PHASE. Fundidng available - €14000

All details, including the application form and guide for applicants, is available at https://scienceus-project.eu/.