Doing more4nature with citizen science

more4nature is a Horizon Europe project that started in January 2024, ending in December 2027, formed by a consortium of 21 partners and led by Uta Wehn from IHE Delft.

The main goal of more4nature is to trigger transformative change in conservation efforts regarding zero pollution, biodiversity protection and deforestation prevention by strengthening the role of citizens and communities in environmental compliance assurance.

more4nature goals

We are defining an overarching conceptual framework for collaborative environmental compliance assurance building on systemic behavioural models that detect obstacles and opportunities for involvement of civil society actors in compliance promotion, monitoring and enforcement. Action research in 40 cases will explore and test a set of behavioural best practices and technical tools and promote their adoption.

more4nature explores how citizen science can help promote and monitor compliance with policies that protect species and ecosystem diversity and monitoring policy effectiveness.

We work to include citizen generated data in the methodologies for elaborating policy indicators to monitor environmental compliance assurance. There is a need to examine the indicators and compare them with legal thresholds while determining temporal tendencies and future projections in an integrated way for the benefit of local/regional/nations authorities.

We are going beyond the collection of high-quality data, looking for ways to include citizen generated data in environmental compliance assurance. Recognizing that this could not be sufficient to achieve real impact, other actions will be co-designed between creative and imaginative communities (LivingLabs) and local authorities. This will configure citizen & community-led actions that can be reused by similar communities following the same guidance and tooling.

Citizen science is becoming accepted for biodiversity (e.g., species occurrence quantification and forest monitoring) and air quality (e.g., by the deployment of low-cost sensors) but a deeper transformation is needed in the way authorities collaborate with citizens to integrate citizen generated data in the monitoring frameworks for zero pollution, biodiversity protection, and deforestation prevention.

Work Packages

Social dimensions: Empowering citizens in collaborative environmental compliance assurance.

Led by EarthWatch

WP1 provides and advances relevant social science approaches and guidance that will help to integrate Citizen Generated Data and citizen & community-led actions in environmental compliance assurance, triggering transformative change and empowering citizens.

Technical dimensions: Geospatial modelling with FAIR Citizen Generated Data.

Led by CREAF

WP2 takes existing Citizens Generated Data and applies geospatial standards to make it FAIR. By increasing the level of data quality, it generates trust to the end-users. Tools are created to automatically derive environmental indicators to monitor progress towards and to generate (near) real-time infringement alerts for compliance enforcement.

Case studies on collaborative environmental compliance assurance for zero pollution, biodiversity protection and deforestation prevention.

Led by IHE

WP3 runs 40 case studies to research the transition towards collaborative environmental compliance assurance, empowering citizens, communities and Citizen Science Initiatives in environmental protection through the integration of their data, knowledge and actions.

Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation.

Led by IAAC

WP4 creates impact via the communication, dissemination and exploitation of project results to specific target audiences

more4nature partners

The multidisciplinary more4nature consortium brings together a unique combination of collaborations, with scientific experts from the social sciences, data science and technology, and natural sciences, most of whom also have substantial experience with hands-on Citizen Science. The consortium also consists of institutional actors, environmental NGOs practicing Citizen Science, as well as a network of Fab Labs and designers and the private sector. This enables the more4nature consortium to implement its ambitious and truly innovative approach.