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Short Abstract

The paper presents insights on academia-business-society collaboration against water scarcity resulting from the implementation of citizen science initiatives and climate services in four EU countries, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece and Slovenia, within the EU-funded Acting4Water project.

Abstract

In the Anthropocene era, in which human-induced environmental degradation and climate emergency are causing unprecedented repercussions to natural and human habitats (Zalasiewicz et al., 2024), calls for immediate action taking bring to the fore the need for collective, cross-sectoral and multistakeholder collaboration (Rudebeck, 2022). It is within this context that we explore citizen science initiatives addressing water scarcity, a pressing climate-related challenge, with a focus on how these initiatives can contribute to more inclusive climate services, especially in underrepresented communities (e.g. inhabitants of Limnos island in Greece).

This contribution presents findings from a series of citizen science actions against water scarcity implemented in four EU countries, the Netherlands, Greece, Spain, and Slovenia, from March to August 2025. By focusing on multistakeholder (academia-business-society) collaboration dynamics of these initiatives, the presentation will analyse:

a) Citizen participation levels, based on the Shirk et al. (2012) typology, and

b) Multistakeholder collaboration models and technologies used, and

c) Their role in society-oriented and demand-driven climate services.

By emphasizing co-production with citizens, these initiatives demonstrate how local needs, lived experiences, and diverse knowledge systems can shape climate responses. The presentation argues for embedding citizen science within the design of climate services, enabling more cross-sectoral, context-sensitive, and community-responsive approaches to climate adaptation, especially in regions such as the Mediterranean, where water scarcity intersects with social vulnerability.

The citizen science initiatives presented in this contribution are part of the EU-funded project “Acting4Water” (Tackling water scarcity by using advanced technologies in business-academia-society cooperation, 2023-2026, Project number: 2023-1-NL01-KA220-HED-000157009).