Citizen Science at European level: EPICUR summer school at SDU
On 24-25 June, SDU hosted the Expanding Citizen Science Summer School – an interdisciplinary event under the EU alliance EPICUR, bringing together researchers, students and staff from nine universities in seven European countries.
The summer school is the culmination of an EPICUR digital competence programme in citizen science, which has been introducing participants to key concepts and methods since March. The aim is to strengthen competences in citizen science research and expand the network around citizen science across institutions and national borders.
The programme consisted of presentations, cases, workshops and exercises where participants worked on their own projects and received feedback from experienced researchers.
Concrete experiences and methods
The cases presented (ClimateBlue, Lakes in Spare Time and Our History) gave examples of how research can collaborate with civil society, schools and NGOs. Participants also worked with citizen portraits and co-design methods and learnt about EU funding opportunities for citizen science projects.
The summer school was organised by SDU's Citizen Science Knowledge Center with support from EPICUR and was held at Campus House at SDU Odense. The summer school reflects the university's focus on internationalisation, interdisciplinarity and community engagement – and emphasises SDU's role in the European development of citizen science.
Citizen science as a common European agenda
– Since 2023, we have been working with citizen science in EPICUR, where the partners from Poland, Germany and Denmark have joined forces on a joint pilot project Climate Generation, while other partners in Austria, France and Denmark have established or consolidated so-called hubs or services for citizen science, explains Thomas Kaarsted, Head of SDU Citizen Science Knowledge Center.
These efforts go hand in hand with EPICUR's ambition for a more open, inclusive and socially engaged European university sector. When SDU hosts EPICUR summer schools on citizen science, it reflects not only a local strength – but also the university's active role in the common European development.
Citizen science at SDU
At SDU, citizen science is about creating dialogue between researchers and citizens and promoting societal debates based on knowledge and facts. It covers research projects where volunteer citizens collaborate with researchers to answer real-life and socially relevant questions.
Read more about citizen science at SDU .
The image above: Thomas Kaarsted, Head of SDU Citizen Science Knowledge Center, leads the group through a dialogue round based on the participants' poster presentations on citizen science projects.