Scivil at the ECSA Conference in Oulu
From 3 to 6 March, the Scivil-team went to the ECSA (European Citizen Science Association). The sixth edition of this conference, which focuses entirely on citizen science, was hosted this year in Oulu, in the north of Finland!
On the evening before the conference, we organised a Belgian-Dutch gathering with CS-NL. This get‑together, which has now become a tradition, took place during the Ice-breaker drink. It was great to see familiar faces again and catch up. A warm and successful start to the conference.
From Tuesday to Thursday, the programme was packed with panel discussions, workshops and roundtables on a wide range of topics within citizen science. We were inspired by the diversity of citizen science projects across Europe.
We also had the opportunity to share our own experiences and projects with the network. We presented:
- Citizens4Water, a global online repository of citizen science projects related to freshwater, managed by Scivil and UNESCO IHP;
- The Citizen Science Scan, the report that maps and analyses the citizen‑science landscape in Belgium. The first Citizen Science Scan was published in 2023 and soon we will launch a new edition. Discover the Citizen Science Scan 2025 during the launch webinar on 2 April;
- Maarallee, a playful app that allows citizens to record their own voice in Flemish, helping AI better understand Flemish;
- Amai!, a project that informs citizens in Flanders about AI and involves them in the development of AI solutions.
Curious about the atmosphere at the conference? Have a look at our recap video!
In Oulu, we saw the northern lights and walked through snow that came up to our knees. The next ECSA conference will be much less cold. In 2028, it will take place in Lisbon, Portugal.
We are already looking forward to it!
