European project · Science communication
NEWSERA
Citizen science as a new paradigm for science communication
About the project
NEWSERA was a European project that studied how to integrate citizen science into science communication, as a tool for opening up science and innovation to society and improving scientific literacy.
The project worked with citizen science projects, with representatives of the so-called quadruple helix (citizens, the scientific community, public administrations and industry) and with science communication experts.
To do so, it ran co-creation labs aimed at five groups: citizens and society, academic scientists, the public sector and policymakers, industry and SMEs, and data and science journalists. They took place in Spain, Italy and Portugal.
The project ended on 31 March 2023. Its legacy lives on through the COALESCE project.
Project objectives
- Show that citizen science is an inclusive, far-reaching science communication mechanism.
- Increase trust in science communication and in science in general.
- Analyse and evaluate the digital and non-digital communication strategies of citizen science projects in Europe.
- Co-design new communication strategies for citizen science projects with journalists and science communicators.
- Encourage critical thinking and reduce the spread of fake news.
The role of Ibercivis
Ibercivis was a partner in the consortium, alongside Science for Change and FECYT as the Spanish representatives. Its main role was to oversee the project’s ethical requirements across all its work:
- Data protection in line with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
- Review of the procedures affecting the relationship with research participants.
- Attention to issues such as research bias, research quality and integrity, and conflicts of interest.
- Co-creating good ethical practice protocols for communication in citizen science projects.
In addition, using complex systems analysis tools from Kampal S.L. (a BIFI spin-off, University of Zaragoza), Ibercivis analysed the relationships between science communication and the different stakeholder groups.
Our activities
- Taking part in the project kick-off meeting, held at CosmoCaixa (Barcelona) from 4 to 6 February 2020.
- Facilitating the co-creation labs in Spain. The one for the academic community (January 2021) involved the GENIGMA, DENIS, MammalNet and Biodiversidad Virtual projects.
- Taking part in the first review meeting with the European Commission (1 June 2021).
- Promoting the project, for example in the citizen science section of Tercer Milenio (Heraldo de Aragón).
- Taking part in the final conference, held in Brussels on 29 March 2023.
The project’s results (good practice guides, reports and policy recommendations) are available on the NEWSERA website. Three of its pilot projects, GEOVACUI-2, RIUS and Mosquito Alert, received honourable mentions in the European Union Prize for Citizen Science.
Gallery
Project details
Type of project
European
Duration
February 2020 – March 2023
Funding
European Union’s Horizon 2020 programme (grant agreement No 873125)
Consortium
Science for Change (coordinator), Fundación Ibercivis, FECYT, Università degli Studi di Padova, FCiências.ID and Formicablu
Area
Science communication
