About
Us

About Us

What ECSA is

The European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) is a membership organisation set up in 2014. Our main goals are to increase the democratisation of science, encourage the growth of citizen science in Europe, and support the participation of the general public in research processes ⎯ across the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, and the arts.

Our vision

A world where people are empowered to make a positive change through science.

Our mission

We make science and research open, accessible and valuable for everyone.

To realise our vision, ECSA aims to:

  • become the central hub for new and existing citizen science initiatives and networks, in Europe and beyond
  • contribute to building a strong and engaged citizen science community
  • provide high-quality tools and training materials to increase the number of well-trained citizen science practitioners
  • set standards for good practice in citizen science and share them among the community
  • strengthen the links between citizen science practice and policy
  • support the dissemination and use of quality-assured data, in science and by decision-makers
  • enhance the validation of citizen-generated datasets and support technological advancements
  • advocate for citizen science as an approach for tracking progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
  • provide a legal framework that gives our members the support they need to carry out citizen science projects without legal objection.

ECSA sees citizen science as an open, inclusive approach. We support the exploration of how citizen science should be understood and practised, and help to shape different aspects of the citizen science movement, in Europe and around the world. Ultimately, we believe that this will lead to a better understanding of citizen science, and support the use of its outcomes in decision-making processes.

ECSA members have contributed to many significant documents in the field of citizen science, especially the 10 Principles of Citizen Science, and the Characteristics of Citizen Science.

What science is

ECSA refers to science as a collective human enterprise that encompasses a wide range of activities. We recognise the definition given by the Science Council:

“Science is the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.”

In this definition, science is not only concerned with knowledge of nature and the universe but also with the social world, and refers to the pursuit of knowledge rather than knowledge itself.

Executive board

The executive board is responsible for the formal representation of ECSA and its business conduct. It is elected at each ECSA General Assembly for a period of three years and instructs the ECSA headquarters. The current executive board was elected at the ECSA General Assembly in November 2020.

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President: Prof. Dr. Johannes Vogel

Director general of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

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Chair: Dr. Susanne Hecker

Leader, Bürger schaffen Wissen at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin

Board of directors

ECSA’s board of directors advises the executive board and sets the scientific guidelines for ECSA’s work. Each ECSA General Assembly appoints up to seven ECSA members to the board of directors for a period of three years. The board of directors meets at least once a year and makes decisions by a simple majority. The current board of directors was elected at the ECSA General Assembly in November 2020.

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ECSA treasurer: Svetlana Klessova

Director, Research and Innovation Partnerships, GAC Group

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Dr. Barbara Kieslinger

Zentrum für Soziale Innovation

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Dr. Gitte Kragh

Citizen Science Netværket / ScienceAtHome, Aarhus University

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Dr. Jaume Piera

ICM-CSIC

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Martin Brocklehurst

KempleyGREEN Consultants

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Rosa Arias

Science for Change

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Dr. Susanne Tönsmann

University of St. Gallen, Switzerland

ECSA Headquarters Team

The ECSA Headquarters is currently housed in the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. From here, the association is led by the management, in consultation with the Executive Board. It supports the activities of the working groups, manages ECSA’s external and internal communication and organises ECSA’s events. It advises ECSA members on how to link their activities to ECSA’s objectives. ECSA headquarters also works on citizen science projects.

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Dorte Riemenschneider

managing director

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Claudia Fabó Cartas

project officer

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Dr. Carolina Doran

project officer

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Dr. François Jost

project officer

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Simona Cerrato

communications and community officer

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Dr. Nikita Sharma

project officer

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Marcos Pereira

accountant

Enrico Maria Balli

Enrico Maria Balli

project officer

Chrystanthi Bairaktari

Chrysanthi Bairaktari

communications and community officer

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Paul Sorrell

communications and community officer

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Franziska Žibert

project officer

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Dr. Franziska Stressmann

project officer

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Joe Barker-Jubb

communications and community officer

Anna Verones

Anna Verones

project officer

Magdalena Koblowska

Magdalena Koblowska

operations manager

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Leo Mensel

project officer

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Nefertari Nachtigall

student assistant

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Kai-Ti Wu

project officer

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Leonardo Veronesi

project support

Advisory board

The advisory board guides ECSA on strategic and policy matters, and reviews annual reports and ECSA accounts. The members meet regularly and report to the general assembly. The advisory board consists of up to 12 people, who are not ECSA members. Advisory board members are elected for three years at ECSA general assemblies, and any ECSA member can nominate someone. Advisory board members can be academics, political actors or people interested in citizen science. Our current advisory board members represent research councils, regulatory organisations and government agencies, as well as members of the public.

Former members

Former team members: Alicia Moreno Muñoz, André Mascarenhas, Andrea Troncoso, Barbara Carneiro, Ciara Davies, Claire Murray, Claudia Göbel, Franziska Sattler, Gaia Agnello, Gerhard Schleenstein, Gina Maskell, Giulia Melilli, Helen Feord, Holly Woodward, Margaret Gold, Mariana Vidal Merino, Marzia Mazzonetto, Simone Rüfenacht, Soledad Luna, Tim Woods, Veronika French

Former board members: Aletta Bonn, Andrea Sforzi, Enrico Balli, Katrin Vohland, Lucy Robinson, Luigi Ceccaroni, Margaret Gold, Muki Haklay, Soledad Luna, Uta Wehn, Zen Makuch

Former advisory board members: Alan Irwin, Eileen Scanlon, Ferdinando Boero, Heiner Benking, Ines Mehu-Blantar, Jan Riise, Michael Sogaard Jorgensen, Roger Owen

Partners

To promote and advance citizen science, in Europe and globally, ECSA partners with organisations, networks, institutions and projects whose work is connected to citizen science.
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Logo)
Australian Citizen Science Association (Logo)
Citizen Science Association (Logo)
Citizen Science Global Partnership (Logo)
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EU-Citizen Science (Logo)

The following organisations have supported ECSA by hosting our conferences and general assemblies.

Open Systems, Universitat de Barcelona
Institut de Cultura de Barcelona de l’Ajuntament de Barcelona
BOKU
Schweiz Forscht
Universite de Geneve
Science Cité
RBINS
StickyDot
Sissa MediaLab
University of Trieste
Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (Logo)

If you would like to work with ECSA, please get in touch with ECSA headquarters and let us know what you would like to do − we’re happy to hear about what you have in mind and open to new ideas!

Copyright by European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).
All rights reserved.

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Copyright by European Citizen Science Association (ECSA). All rights reserved.

Webdesign by Goldweiss