INCENTIVE aims to demonstrate the potential of citizen science through the co-creation, establishment and assessment of citizen science Hubs (CSH) in four European Universities. The project aims to accelerate the transition of these institutions to more inclusive, open and democratic innovation and scientific governance. Furthermore, delivering a legacy to European and international research institutes on how to democratically and collaboratively create and operate their own CSH. To this end, we have started by establishing such citizen science Hubs in 4 world-class European Research Performing and Funding Organisations (RPFOs). Covering all 4 MoRRI Country Clusters, including University of Twente, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Vilnius Gediminas Technical University.
ECSA tailors the governance and operating models of the hubs to their unique institutional specificities and regional ecosystems of R&I stakeholders. They will then be put to the test to drive institutional change through a series of RRI-grounding actions. The citizen science Hubs, besides being a sustainable institutional change themselves, will serve as a vehicle for introducing substantial institutional changes in the RPFOs and their communities. ECSA will closely monitor, evaluate and report the performance and outcomes of the citizen science Hubs and their actions, providing evidence of societal, democratic, economic and scientific impacts. Along the way, we will foster mutual learning and networking opportunities among RPFOs across Europe to share experiences and develop practical tools to enable RPFOs to drive similar institutional changes in other contexts.
ECSA activities and milestones
The success of INCENTIVE relies on the formative relationships with stakeholders and synergies beyond the 4 core RPFOs. ECSA’s main task in INCENTIVE aims to address this by creating opportunities, and through connecting the cross-SWAFS working group and other projects.
Next steps
The success of INCENTIVE relies on the formative relationships with stakeholders and synergies beyond the 4 core RPFOs. ECSA’s main task in INCENTIVE aims to address this by creating opportunities, and through connecting the cross-SWAFS working group and other projects.
