- Convenors:
-
Michael Pocock
(UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
Abigail Lowe (UK Centre for Ecology Hydrology)
Gerid Hager (International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA))
Alba Peiro (Ibercivis)
Petra Benyei (Instituto de Economía, Geografía y Demografía (CSIC))
Marco Barzman (INRAE Science in Society)
Send message to Convenors
- Chair:
-
Michael Pocock
(UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)
- Format:
- Panel
Short Abstract
This session explores how citizen science can connect stakeholders of the agri-food to transform food systems, from soil health to food waste. We highlight approaches that build bridges across communities of practice, fostering stewardship, inclusion, and co-created knowledge in food and agriculture
Description
Citizen science provides a distinctive opportunity to support agri-food systems transformation by generating knowledge through collaboration and co-creation. Agriculture—spanning nearly half of Europe’s land—holds enormous potential to support biodiversity, soil health, climate resilience, and food justice. Yet citizen science remains underutilized in this space.
This session highlights the emerging field of agri-food citizen science, where farmers, food producers, and consumers along the food-value-chain are not just data providers but co-researchers, decision-makers, and innovators. As engaged citizens, and through collaboration with scientists and technologists, the wide range of agri-food stakeholders can help generate knowledge that supports more sustainable and inclusive food systems. For example, as land stewards, farmers bring critical insight into local ecosystems, production practices, and socio-economic realities. Also, as main drivers of food demand, consumers bring important knowledge about food consumption and waste patterns.
We invite contributions exploring citizen science agri-food research across themes including farmland biodiversity, soil health, seed systems, food supply chains, dietary practices, and food waste. We welcome examples from Europe and beyond, including partnerships in the Global South. Particular focus will be given to co-design with farmers and other agri-food stakeholders, tools that enhance accessibility and data quality (including digital innovation), and frameworks that support community empowerment and policy impact.
Co-organized by the ECSA Agri-food Working Group and partners, this session will serve as a platform to share methods, case studies, and lessons learned, and highlight how citizen science can build bridges across agri-food systems.
Accepted papers
Short Abstract
This presentation shares results from a co-creation workshop in Indonesia that brought together fish farmers, academics, and the government to design IoT-based water monitoring systems. This initiative highlights how co-design can empower farmers and strengthen sustainable agri-food systems.
Abstract
Fish cultivation is an important agri-food and economic sector in Indonesia, but its sustainability is hampered by water quality monitoring practices that are often manual, inconsistent, and expensive. This abstract presents experiences from a co-creation workshop focused on developing a citizen science project for water quality monitoring in aquaculture. In December 2024, a co-creation workshop was held in West Java, involving ornamental fish farmers, aquaculture scientists, computer science lecturers, and government representatives. The goal was to explore shared needs for the design of a participatory, context-appropriate IoT-based water quality monitoring system. The participants were divided into cross-professional groups. Three main activities were conducted. First, participants mapped current monitoring practices, showing continued reliance on manual tools with only limited experimentation using sensor boxes. Second, a SWOT analysis highlighted both opportunities for digital innovations and challenges of cost, durability, and usability. Third, participants prioritized key water quality parameters, identifying a small set as essential while others were considered optional. The discussion also featured critical perspectives from the participants. The results of this workshop underscore the importance of integrating multiple perspectives into co-creation. These findings provide a strong foundation for developing an IoT-based sensor system that is relevant, practical, and sustainable for supporting fish farming in Indonesia.
Short Abstract
Citizen science can play a crucial role in improving soil literacy and monitoring soil health. In this presentation we report on participatory soil testing activities in the Netherlands, Austria and the Czech Republic, comparing methods, participant engagement and preliminary findings.
Abstract
Citizen science raises awareness about environmental important topics such as soil health. The BENCHMARKS project is an EU funded project on soil health in different types of landscapes such as urban, agricultural and forest. Maintaining and restoring soil health is a significant process that requires changes across all types of land uses. BENCHMARKS supports the co-development within 29 European case studies of a monitoring framework on different scales and for a wide range of users. This will accommodate the diverse needs of users guiding them throughout the soil health monitoring process.
Earthwatch is working within the BENCHMARKS project with different case studies to provide participatory community soil testing also called a “Soil Blitz”. During these events participants measure soil quality using our soil health toolkit, to measure different types of soil components. The kit consists of a physical test kit and a smartphone survey app to collect the data. They will measure soil components to learn more about soil health. Raising awareness around soil health will impact on soil literacy and builds knowledge of how to support healthy soils.
This proposal will present different soil blitzes with farmers in the Netherlands, schoolchildren in Austria and allotment holders in the Czech Republic that have taken place over the last years in BENCHMARKS including results and outputs such as infocards. We will present methods used to measure soil health with citizens, different approaches of soil health in different landscapes and specific feedback using infocards to communicate findings and next steps to participants.
Short Abstract
The study offers insights from the arts-based citizen science project 'Farming Sugar, Cultivating Salt' in the Dutch coastal area. It explores how human actions of cultivation have altered relationships between land, water, and food consumers through sensory encounters around sugar beets.
Abstract
Soil salinization is an accelerating environmental challenge in Europe’s low-lying and coastal regions, undermining soil structure, microbial diversity, and crop yield. In the Netherlands, historical land reclamation and intensive agriculture have altered hydrological balances to the point where rising salinity now affects both crop viability and landscape identity. Yet beyond its biophysical impact, salinization is also a socio-cultural phenomenon—one that reshapes human–nature relationships and the meanings attached to land, water, and food.
This study presents insights from 'Farming Sugar, Cultivating Salt'- an arts-based public engagement research project that explores how individuals in the Dutch coastal zone engage with processes of salinization through participatory and sensory forms of inquiry. To explore complex relationship between humans and their coastal environment, the case study follows the encounter between two plants that have become each other's extremes through human actions of cultivation- the sea beet and the sugar beet. The study engages artists, farmers and consumers in a co-creative inquiry linking scientific research on regenerative agriculture with artistic practices. In this way ecological and cultural tensions between salinization processes, sweet waters, land and sea are questioned. The findings highlight how engaging with art and one’s senses in such public engagement encounters can deepen one’s understanding of and connection to a local landscape and its biodiversity, leading to more reflective and environmentally friendly agri-food futures.
Short Abstract
ECHO is a citizen science project engaging participants in soil science. Results from 9 initiatives, focusing on engagement, activities and feedback will be presented. The project aims to enhance soil knowledge, empower citizens with a toolkit for sampling and enable decision-making on soil issues.
Abstract
ECHO is a citizen science (CS) project engaging a broad network of citizen groups across 8 EU Member States and Scotland, expanding to 19 more countries by 2027. It aims to enhance soil knowledge and empowers participants with a toolkit for soil sampling and assessing soil health, allowing them to contribute to data collection and monitoring through the ECHO App and ECHOREPO platform, the project's long-term open-access data repository.
A review of similar projects and an assessment framework were conducted to leverage existing knowledge. Based on these findings, the ECHO CS method was refined and co-created with ECHO Ambassadors and citizen scientists, featuring the sampling protocols and co-defining the activities. The first 9 CS initiatives were launched, considering various regions, land-uses and soil types. ECHO Ambassadors, alongside the team, facilitate local activities and distribute the toolkits.
Results from the 9 CS initiatives cover citizen engagement strategies, ambassador and citizen scientists activities, participation rates, sociodemographics, as well as feedback on the sampling methodology and details of the ECHO app and the ECHOREPO, ensuring their possible replicability.
ECHO aims to assess a total of 16,500 sites, contributing valuable citizen generated data to the ECHOREPO and integrating them with the European Soil Observatory. The project has also evaluated its usefulness for different end-users, also identifying and engaging them to take an active and informed role in decision-making on soil issues.
Project ECHO is funded by the European Union, GA No. 101112869–ECHO, and co-funded by UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), GA No. 10068004.
Short Abstract
This study introduces an approach for profiling the contributors of agri-food citizen science projects. The methodology relied only on the contributions’ characteristics. 766 contributors from a crowdsourcing application in viticulture were analyzed.
Abstract
To monitor the dynamics of grapevine water stress at the regional level, Apex-Vigne, a free smartphone application, has been offered to wine and viticulture professionals for over five years. This application has enabled the collection of 28,546 observations, with over 766 contributors for nearly 11,320 farm plots monitored in France. It constitutes a unique crowdsourced dataset in agriculture and confirms the value of citizen science for monitoring complex phenomena at large-scale (e.g., drought, pests).
The main challenge in this type of project is to identify, within the large volume of collected data, the observations that accurately describe the phenomenon of interest. One classical approach is to assign a confidence score to each observation based on the profile of the contributor. In the Apex-Vigne project, contributors are supposed to be farmers, seasonal workers, advisors, or researchers with different motivations and expertise. However, the exact profiles of these contributors and their respective proportions remain unknown. The objective of this paper is to propose an automatic approach to profile contributors, considering only the characteristics of their contributions.
Contributor profiling was performed using hierarchical clustering based on 6 descriptors, like the number of contributions, the number of plots, and years of app use. Cluster characteristics were validated through a user survey.
Four profiles were identified, aligning with a priori knowledge and survey results. This foundation could support future work on assigning confidence scores to contributions, thereby facilitating the characterisation of data quality in agri-food citizen science projects.
Short Abstract
This talk showcases the results of the Osijek-Baranja Citizen Science Hub in Croatia, which invites citizen scientists from diverse backgrounds to contribute to tri-lateral research, including water quality testing, biodiversity monitoring, and sustainable food production and soil health practices.
Abstract
The Osijek-Baranja Citizen Science Hub was set up in 2025 with the goal of involving citizens in ecosystem research in two protected areas within the Croatian Osijek-Baranja County, Kopački rit Nature Park and Mura-Drava Regional Park. To this end, citizen scientists are invited to participate in three interconnected activities within the region as “Pannonian Rangers”, contributing to: 1) water quality testing of the Drava and Danube; 2) biodiversity monitoring of local flora and fauna; and 3) sustainable food production and soil health practices such as permaculture and conservation agriculture. Beyond local citizens and students from schools and universities, farmers and landowners as well as conservation organisations are involved in co-creation efforts within the Citizen Science Hub.
Building on the results of this project funded by IMPETUS and supported by DANUBE4all (both Horizon Europe), our presentation will showcase achievements, best practice examples, and learning opportunities from the implementation of this initiative. To this end, we will outline the methodological innovation of this tri-lateral approach to environmental stewardship in protected areas while exploring both the environmental effects of the citizen science interventions and their impact on participants and their communities.
By addressing the actual ecological challenges that matter to the community, and building on existing networks of local, national, and international organisations and initiatives, including the Ospera Association, DANUBEPARKS, and ROOTS – Center for Sustainable Family Life, we show how an integrated and co-creative approach to environmental stewardship is not only possible, but essential for long-term ecosystem restoration.
Short Abstract
A multi-actor foresight methodology is being implemented in nine European living labs to explore future food and plant breeding priorities. It highlights how the voice of citizens on agrobiodiversity can bridge the social, technical and cultural gaps between the center and the peripheries.
Abstract
In the European project DIVINFOOD, a multi-actor consultation is being implemented to explore how stakeholders participating in local Living-Labs (LL) envision the future of plant breeding to boost healthy and diverse diets in Europe. The process seeks to reach the peripheries—both social, technical and scientific- by involving people rarely connected to research and with limited awareness of agri-food issues. We focus on cultivated diversity and especially on niche crops (Neglected and Underutilised Crops ). Participants are encouraged to discuss low-tech food processing techniques, local food networks, alternative models of plant breeding and their trade-offs compared to industrial paradigms.
Implemented in nine European living-lab, the methodology combines online information and capacity-building sessions with participatory workshops, where citizens, farmers, researchers and the others stakeholders collectively imagine their “plate of the future”. They are invited to explore the relationships between food choices, plant breeding priorities, seed systems, and the broader socio-technical systems shaping agriculture and a diversity of food landscape.
By experimenting with this inclusive foresight methodology, DIVINFOOD contributes to an emerging field of citizen science in agri-food systems. It demonstrates how participatory approaches can act as democratic tools not only for influencing future plant breeding strategies but also for reorienting research and political agendas toward societal needs. This contribution will discuss the method, key insights, and lessons learned from engaging citizens as co-thinkers in envisioning the future of seeds, crops, and food systems—bridging science, culture, and community through collaboration.
Short Abstract
Initially top-down, France’s Farmland Biodiversity Observatory engages farmers in biodiversity monitoring through local networks. Acting as a “frontier object,” it fosters dialogue between scientists and farmers, enabling collective action and collaboration across scales.
Abstract
The Farmland Biodiversity Observatory (FBO; Observatoire Agricole de la Biodiversité, France) is a citizen science programme designed to better understand links between agricultural practices and biodiversity at a local scale, and to engage farmers and agricultural professionals in biodiversity monitoring. Launched in 2011, the programme is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture. It was initially designed in a top-down way: objectives and protocols were defined at a national level to be deployed by local networks.
At the national level, the programme is coordinated by the National Museum of Natural History in collaboration with the National Agricultural Chambers (Chambres d’Agriculture France, CDA). The agricultural chambers are a network of public organisations administered by elected officials from the agricultural, rural and forestry sectors, with the CDA being the national entity.At the local level, implementation relies on a diverse range of facilitators - local agricultural chambers, cooperatives, associations, agricultural syndicates, etc. – who often integrate FBO in their own work and projects. Therefore, while the FBO is a national programme, each network may have their own dynamics and objectives.
As we observe a tension between knowledge production at the national scale and the participants’ operational expectations, direct engagement with farmers often appears limited. However, research on the programme shows that other dynamics must be considered. Indeed, the FBO operates as a “frontier object”: a shared framework that connects communities with different values, practices, and knowledge systems. Here, the naturalist observation fosters dialogue among the programme’s various stakeholders. With local networks and stakeholders interpreting the programme differently depending on contexts and perspectives, the FBO facilitates collective action and cooperation.
This contribution will discuss how a top-down farmland citizen science initiative evolved into a tool for dialogue and local scale collaboration.
Short Abstract
Citizen science biodiversity monitoring can gather long-term data and could help assess the effectiveness of actions to promote farmland biodiversity. Parings of farmers and citizen scientists were established to monitor biodiversity on UK farms. All partnerships reported positive outcomes.
Abstract
Citizen science schemes can gather biodiversity data that is useful to track large-scale biodiversity trends and could also be used to assess the effectiveness of actions aiming to promote farmland biodiversity. We wanted to explore the potential for farmers and citizen scientists to work in partnership to gather relevant biodiversity datasets of use to them both. As part of the Showcase project, parings of farmers and citizen science recorders were established to monitor butterflies on UK farms.
Biodiversity data from citizen science projects is valuable to farmers for various reasons. These data can provide baseline figures to help understand the health of the ecosystems on their farm. The data can provide information on which species are present to help to make better on-farm management decisions to help boost their populations by providing specific habitats or resources. Further, these data can help track changes over time to provide evidence of the effectiveness of specific interventions, such as the establishment of wildflower strips that can provide larval food plants and nectar resources.
We found that all partnerships reported positive outcomes therefore wider partnership working may be of value to both farmers and national recording schemes.
Short Abstract
We co-designed a moth monitoring activity with farmers using portable LED light traps and an AI-based identification app. The project contributed to biodiversity monitoring and supported farmer engagement, highlighting the value of farmer-led citizen science initiatives.
Abstract
Farmland is an underrepresented landscape in biodiversity monitoring, despite its crucial role in agri-food systems. In this project, we explored how co-designed citizen science can support biodiversity data collection and nature engagement. We co-designed a moth recording activity with farmers, informed by interviews on their needs and perspectives. In 2024, farmers recorded moths weekly using portable LED light traps and an AI (artificial intelligence)-based identification app. Following expert verification, 5209 moths were confirmed from images, representing 279 species/aggregates. AI identifications were correct for 82% of photos of macro moths; the remainder either incorrect (2% of identifications), unidentified (11%) or correct to higher taxonomic levels (4%). The project revealed that farmers were interested and curious about moths, a taxonomic group often overlooked, however, time availability was a key barrier to participation. This project demonstrates how co-designed, tech-enabled citizen science can empower farmers to monitor biodiversity and highlights the potential for farmer-led initiatives to build bridges between land stewardship, digital innovation, and ecological knowledge, supporting more sustainable and connected food systems.