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This study from Ghana piloted citizen data to monitor SDG indicator 16.6.2 citizen satisfaction with public services. Results show that citizen data can complement official statistics and capture marginalized voices often missing from traditional surveys.

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a pilot study conducted in Ghana that utilized citizen data approaches for monitoring a governance indicator within the SDG framework, focusing on indicator 16.6.2 citizen satisfaction with public services. This indicator is a crucial measure of governance quality, as emphasized by the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through target 16.6 Develop effective, accountable, and transparent institutions at all levels. Indicator 16.6.2 specifically measures satisfaction with key public services, including health, education, and other government services, such as government-issued identification documents through a survey. However, with only 5 years remaining to achieve the SDGs, the lack of data continues to pose a significant challenge in monitoring progress toward this target, particularly regarding the experiences of marginalized populations. Our findings suggest that well-designed citizen data initiatives can effectively capture the experiences of marginalized individuals and communities. Additionally, they can serve as valuable supplements to official statistics, providing crucial data on population groups typically underrepresented in traditional surveys.

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The work highlights diverse kinds of community-based monitoring and citizen science initiatives from western Canada (2019-2024). What can we learn about the influence participatory monitoring for policy making? What are the opportunities and challenges of this work moving forward?

Abstract

Understanding and enhancing the policy influence of citizen science remains a critical frontier. We have examined how the Community-Based Monitoring and Knowledge (CBM&K) Unit in western Canada has shaped environmental governance. During 2019-2024, the Unit supported Indigenous Peoples and local communities in Alberta in documenting environmental change and its implications for health and well-being. Guided by a Steering Committee of Indigenous Peoples, government representatives and other experts, our study involved a document and literature reviews, an inventory of CBM&K activities, 17 semi-structured interviews, and two participatory workshops. The research revealed diverse examples of community-based monitoring work across Alberta, and insights about the opportunities and challenges of producing and sharing out holistic insights about the complex environmental impacts observed and experienced (physically, emotionally, and spiritually) from petroleum development, agricultural expansion, forestry and climate change. With the aim of informing and advancing discussions on the value of participatory forms of monitoring, the work points to the need to: i) address equities in capacity and engagement, ii) improve the opportunities for knowledge-sharing between Indigenous Peoples, scientists and government, iv) coordinate inter-agency coordination; and v) catalyze institutional learning and engagement with communities, and stronger links to policy and decision-making.

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The case study reports how a university‑based CS seminar mobilised locally anchored knowledge from older adults through a particapatory World Café and translated it into an authority‑ready report. It details influence pathways, enabling conditions, main obstacles, and practical lessons.

Abstract

The case study, "Co-Evaluating Hamburg’s Age-Friendly City Action Plan with Older Citizens," demonstrates how a regular university B.A. course, "Introduction to Citizen Science," transformed a World Café with older citizens into a policy-ready brief that informed the evaluation of Hamburg’s Age-Friendly City public health action plan for public administrators. The study traces how proximate, experiential evidence was transformed into administratively legible recommendations through three processes: co-defined questions with civil servants, synthesis in formats used by authorities, and a facilitated handover via a university transfer unit. Key enablers included place-based participation, simple inclusive methods, early scoping of timelines and responsibilities, and clear roles for students, citizens, experts, and civil servants, which helped sustain trust and follow-through. Constraints included mismatched academic and bureaucratic calendars, a tight turnaround time for processing data, and balancing ambitious evidence-informed goals with the realities of available resources for implementation. Practical lessons include keeping analyses and evaluations concise for timely adoption, making responsibilities transparent to all stakeholders, and maintaining feedback channels to support ongoing (policy) learning. The case study also demonstrates that shifting evidence work from central offices to citizenship-based participation can incorporate lived experience into public health policies. (The submission aligns with the panel’s remit and can be developed into a manuscript for the linked special collection in Citizen Science: Theory and Practice.)

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Waag Futurelab empowers citizens to shape their environment through collaborative research. We present Hollandse Luchten and Thermostaat to show how citizen science, through shared data, dialogue, and action perspectives, can influence policy to improve local living conditions.

Abstract

Waag Futurelab is a research organisation dedicated to fostering a sustainable and just society. Using public research methods, we collaborate with citizens, governments, designers, artists, and scientists to empower communities to sense, monitor, and improve their environments.

We wish to highlight two flagship citizen science initiatives that have, and are, shaping policy and action: Hollandse Luchten and Thermostaat.

Hollandse Luchten is a long-term collaboration among citizens, governments, and knowledge institutes aimed at enhancing local living environments. We emphasise reciprocal public-civic collaboration through shared measurement plans, active involvement of municipalities, and co-created action plans. These strategies not only strengthen citizens’ sense of ownership and accountability but also enhance the policy relevance of collected data. Tools for shared data interpretation enable citizens and policymakers to build mutual understanding, bridge perspectives, and foster trust.

Thermostaat brought together citizens, journalists, and researchers to address indoor heat stress during heatwaves, an emerging risk in well-insulated Dutch housing. Citizens used low-cost sensors to monitor temperature and humidity, comparing data via an online platform. Insights from these combined measurements and lived experiences informed dialogue with housing organisations and municipalities, leading to policy changes in some cases.

Through these case studies, we demonstrate how early and equitable collaboration, clear action perspectives, and shared ownership can strengthen the role of citizen science in shaping policy, bridging gaps between communities and decision-makers, and improving local living environments.

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dPaP is a citizen science initiative mapping Brazil's beef supply chain and empowering consumers. Active partnership with government has supported data uptake and created new opportunities for impact.

Abstract

The "Do Pasto ao Prato" (dPaP) initiative addresses the lack of transparency in Brazil's cattle sector, a leading driver of deforestation and forced labor in the country. dPaP uses data intelligence to inform consumers through an app about a slaughter company's socio-environmental impacts, sustainability commitments, and sanitary compliance. Each product scan by a user reveals the commercial link between a specific slaughterhouse and a retail store. Today, dPaP has more than 32k scans by 6.6k users in all 27 Brazilian states. We actively support investigative NGOs, journalists, and governments to make sense of these data, holding retailers accountable for the hidden socio-environmental impacts in their supply chains for the first time. For example, our data informs the Brazilian Federal Prosecution Office’s ‘Carne Legal’ program, an initiative that enforces legal compliance across the beef supply chain. To ensure our data was suitable for legal action with retail companies, we co-created a quality assessment framework with prosecutors. This framework tracks general indicators, such as data volume and coverage, and specific indicators for each slaughterhouse-to-retail link. The trust built through active engagement has in turn allowed us to transform data challenges into opportunities: app users identified meat sold without sanitary labels, preventing the input of data in the app. We documented it so the Prosecution Office and civil society were able to pursue legal actions to improve the regulatory framework. Such actions show citizen science empowering the systematic increase of transparency in the retail sector.

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This contribution offers an evidence-based and first-hand experienced review of how Socientize's White Paper influenced policies in Europe across macro/meso/micro levels. It reviews how its recommendations turned into developments and it adds a forward-looking into RIECS-Concept.

Abstract

Between 2012 and 2014, SOCIENTIZE catalysed a shared language and roadmap for citizen science in Europe through its Green Paper and White Paper, opening sustained dialogue between communities while framing actionable recommendations across domains such as governance, funding, quality, and impact assessment. In this contribution we revisit that journey, combining documented evidence with first-hand anecdotes that illustrate how policies were shaped and how communities mobilised. This dual perspective aims to make the policy context more tangible and accessible.

We examine the current status (as of 2026) of the original recommendations across three levels: (i) macro, at the scale of EU programmes and frameworks; (ii) meso, in national strategies and legal frameworks; and (iii) micro, within institutions and municipalities. We highlight both achievements and areas where progress has stalled, showing how community engagement and participatory approaches have been central drivers of the advances achieved.

We conclude with lessons for the future: the need for durable infrastructures, recognition systems, and funding lines that keep citizen science close to society while embedded in research policy. These reflections link directly to the RIECS-Concept, currently shaping the pan-European research infrastructure for excellence in citizen science. By weaving together data, personal experiences, and community stories, our contribution underscores how participation and focus on communities have transformed citizen science in Europe—and how they must continue to do so for the benefit of all.

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Citizen scientists collected data on urban stressors while cycling. We created a robust, policy-ready evidence base revealing where exposures are highest. While these results inform public debate on green corridors and low-traffic streets, formal policy uptake remains limited despite clear insights.

Abstract

Citizen science can generate highly relevant environmental evidence, yet its translation into policy remains uneven. In the Urban Cycling Lab Ljubljana, part of the Horizon Europe URBANOME project, 206 daily cyclists monitored particulate matter (PM₂.₅) and noise (Leq) with personal sensors while contributing socio-demographic and health-perception data. We developed a transparent, reproducible analysis stream to harmonise various inputs (minute-level sensors, GPS routes, questionnaires), ensure data quality, and produce (policy-ready) exposure indicators.

Cycling routes were classified into high-traffic (HIT) and low-traffic (LIT) corridors. Analyses consistently showed higher PM₂.₅ and noise exposures on HIT routes compared to LIT corridors across participant groups. These findings were distilled into accessible, actionable visuals and summary tables, designed to support evidence-based planning of greener, quieter cycling infrastructure.

The project succeeded in raising public and professional awareness of air quality and noise in urban cycling and sparked discussions around low-traffic streets and green corridors. However, formal uptake by city policymakers has so far been limited. This gap appears linked less to data quality or clarity than to institutional inertia and the absence of mechanisms to integrate citizen-generated evidence into planning. Early engagement with municipal stakeholders created awareness but did not translate into sustained commitment or action.

This case demonstrates both the potential and the persistent barriers in transforming citizen science–driven exposure data into policy change, highlighting the need for stronger institutional pathways for adoption.

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This contribution outlines D-NOSES’ policy impact at global to local levels, including input to the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the UNE 77270:2023 standard on citizen odour mapping in Spain, and national policy influence in Portugal, Chile, Colombia, and Uganda.

Abstract

Odour pollution is underrepresented in environmental regulations globally, despite being the second environmental concern after noise in number of citizens’ complaints, impacting health and well-being (SDG3). Due to the lack of regulations, situated technical studies are rarely conducted, data on odour pollution are scarce or unaccessible. When existing, emission limits and acceptability criteria for odour impacts differ significantly among jurisdictions.

D-NOSES (Distributed Network for Odour Sensing, Empowerment and Sustainability) was an H2020 citizen science project that aimed to put odour pollution in the map and in the policy agendas at local, national, regional, European and global levels. Based on a multi-level engagement and governance model and a bottom-up approach, D-NOSES contributed to Principle 10 of Rio declaration in local communities increasing transparency, promoting policy-societal dialogues and collaboration between 4H stakeholders to reduce the impact of odour pollution.

The project produced a Green Paper and a Strategic Governance roadmap targeting 10 countries in Europe, LATAM and Uganda, presented at the event “Revisiting odour pollution in Europe” in the European Parliament. As a result, odour pollution and its monitoring through citizen science was introduced in an amendment to the Zero Pollution Action Plan proposed by the Committee of the Regions. At national level, policies were informed in Portugal, Chile, Colombia and Uganda, where odour pollution was included in Air Quality Regulations. In Spain, a working group created in 2019 produced the standard UNE 77270:2023 Building collaborative odour maps through citizen science, to be adopted in other countries and at European level.

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Co-Creating Our City engaged youth, local politicians, and municipal staff as citizen scientists in Düsseldorf and Charlotte to address gaps in local participation policy. Findings highlight safe spaces and schools as key for democratic engagement, with lessons on enabling policy influence.

Abstract

The Citizen Science project Co-Creating Our City (Düsseldorf, Germany and Charlotte, USA, May 2024 – October 2025) explored how youth and local decision-makers can collaboratively address gaps in municipal participation structures—transforming local governance through participatory knowledge production. Responding to the broader issue of limited direct dialogue between young people and policy actors, the project focused on a concrete municipal policy challenge in each city: the mismatch between existing engagement opportunities and the actual needs of youth at the local level.

Young people, local politicians, and municipal staff acted as citizen scientists alongside academic researchers, jointly designing and implementing interviews, observations, and online surveys. This collaborative process not only generated actionable knowledge but also fostered new forms of policy-relevant interaction between administrative staff, elected officials, and the young citizens they serve.

Findings in Düsseldorf revealed the critical role of “safe spaces” for youth participation—settings that enable open discourse and trust-building—and underscored schools as key arenas for democratic learning. Both have direct relevance for municipal policy, informing strategies for inclusive youth engagement and the institutional frameworks that support it.

In line with the panel’s focus, this contribution reflects on enabling conditions and barriers to policy influence from a citizen science approach, with particular attention to how decentralised, locally rooted collaboration can shift epistemic authority. It will also compare outcomes between the two cities, highlighting what facilitated—or hindered—the translation of citizen-generated insights into actionable municipal policy change.

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Urban ReLeaf offers a case-based reflection on how citizen science and citizen observations can help shape urban policy and planning. It contributes lessons on enabling conditions and institutional mechanisms for sustained citizen science-driven policy engagement and uptake.

Abstract

Urban ReLeaf explores new pathways for integrating citizen observations into urban policy and planning across six European cities. In over a dozen citizen science campaigns on heat stress, air pollution, and greenspace perceptions, the project demonstrates how citizen observations can inform practical interventions and longer-term policy change. Each pilot city develops tailored citizen science campaigns aligned with specific planning needs, from Utrecht’s integration of wearable sensor data into its Digital Twin for heat action planning, to Dundee’s greenspace perceptions campaigns reshaping urban greenspace strategy. Urban ReLeaf addresses known obstacles to policy uptake—including data validity and institutional trust and processes to ensure data-uptake—through iterative co-design, alignment with city priorities and governance pathways for data reuse. Critically, Urban ReLeaf collaborates across organisations, city departments and community actors, enabling environmental data to travel across institutional boundaries, turning isolated observations into shared evidence for multiple policy objectives. The evidence base is further strengthened by engaging socially vulnerable and underrepresented groups, ensuring their experiences inform policies that directly affect them. This presentation reflects on lessons learned from embedding citizen science into local policy processes and empowering public authorities as citizen science actors, highlighting enabling conditions such as alignment with city objectives regarding public participation principles, planning cycles, co-ownership of data flows, and strategic use of digital tools. It also considers remaining challenges around ethics, inclusivity, and cross-sector collaboration. Furthermore, Urban ReLeaf contributes replicable governance models and a toolkit, offering insights for scaling up citizen science as a transformative force in urban policy and planning.

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Updated mapping of CS contributions to SDG indicators (10 contributing, 79 potential) defines strategic pathways for Environmental Compliance Assurance. We show how this clarity counters vague policy language identified in compliance frameworks, enabling effective Citizen Generated Data uptake.

Abstract

This paper presents a systematic review and updated mapping of Citizen Science contributions to the 244 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) indicators. Building upon foundational work, this update systematically categorises contributions as "already contributing", "could contribute", or "no alignment present".

The analysis confirms the vital and expanding role of CS: the number of indicators already actively receiving CS contributions doubled from 5 to 10, and 79 indicators (31.6% of the framework) were identified as having the potential for Citizen Generated Data (CGD) contributions. Notably, the initial Tier III indicators, which previously lacked internationally agreed methodologies, have been eliminated in the latest assessment, demonstrating significant progress in methodological rigour and standardisation.

Crucially, this technical mapping is integrated with findings from More4nature’s policy analysis, which analysed EU and international compliance frameworks related to Zero pollution, Biodiversity protection, and Deforestation prevention (Z/B/D). This policy review revealed that although recent policies like the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) and the EU Deforestation-Free Product Regulation (DFPR) directly refer to citizen science, the overall language used is often vague or ambiguous. This ambiguity provides Member States with wide discretion, leading to inconsistent implementation and hindering the integration of CGD into Environmental Compliance Assurance (ECA).

We argue that the quantified potential and clear alignment provided by this updated SDG mapping serve as a necessary roadmap to strategically engage policymakers, providing the evidence base required to clarify policy language, strengthen partnerships between CS Initiatives (CSIs) and authorities, and realise transformative policy influence toward collaborative ECA.