Isala: Citizen-science map of the vaginal microbiome, Photo: Isala Team

European Union Prize for Citizen Science Exhibition

IMPETUS (EU) / POSTCITY, First Floor

For the first time ever, Ars Electronica is awarding the European Union Prize for Citizen Science on behalf of the European Commission. The exhibition reveals the diversity and extraordinary creativity demonstrated by European Citizen Science initiatives.

The Grand Prize Winner Isala: Citizen-science map of the vaginal microbiome and the winners of the Category Awards for Diversity & Collaboration: Urban Belonging Project and for Digital Communities: The Restart Project: The Right to Repair and Reuse your Electronics illustrate the broad spectrum of challenges Citizen Science approaches successfully address. Twenty-seven Honorary Mentions combine empirical and scientific as well as humanistic and artistic research methodologies with citizen involvement.

  • #SOPHYGRAY

    #SOPHYGRAY

    Nadja Verena Marcin (DE)

    #SOPHYGRAY from German artist Nadja Verena Marcin, is a feminist audio bot that responds to questions from the community with philosophical and humorous answers informed by intersectional feminist theory.

  • AquaGranda: A Digital Community Memory

    AquaGranda: A Digital Community Memory

    Distretto Veneziano Ricerca e Innovazione (IT), Venice Ca’ Foscari University (IT)

    AquaGranda brought Venetian citizens together to build a digital community memory of recent floods and question how we can cope with the devastating effects of climate change to build a new future.

  • ARTigo: Social Image Tagging

    ARTigo: Social Image Tagging

    Stefanie Schneider (DE)

    ARTigo: Social Image Tagging from German researcher Stefanie Schneider democratizes the traditionally elitist field of art history by harnessing the collective intelligence of participants.

  • Catch the Water Monsters

    Catch the Water Monsters

    Rosan van Halsema (NE), Marita Voogt (NE), Conny Groot (NE), Rutger Westerhof (NE), Frank Rigters (NE), Lena Arndt (NE), Sven Teurlincx (NE), Freek Uittenbogaart (NE)

    Catch the Water Monsters from the Netherlands trains and educates citizens to measure the quality of small water bodies in their environment.

  • CitieS-Health: Citizen Science for Urban Environment and Health

    CitieS-Health: Citizen Science for Urban Environment and Health

    Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ES), Ideas for Change (ES), Utrecht University (NL), Jožef Stefan Institute (SI), Epidemiologia & Prevenzione (IT), Vytautas Magnus University (LT)

    CitieS-Health is a European project that actively engages communities in cities with research on public health and the urban environment.

  • CurieuzeNeuzen

    CurieuzeNeuzen

    Filip Meysman (BE) and the CurieuzeNeuzen Consortium (BE)

    CurieuzeNeuzen from Belgium showcases how citizen science can directly contribute to societal challenges and informed policy decisions about air quality, mobility, spatial planning and climate change.

  • Dark Sky Meter

    Dark Sky Meter

    Norbert Schmidt (NL)

    Dark Sky Meter from Norbert Schmidt in the Netherlands, is an innovative app and digital community that allows citizens to measure light pollution in their local areas.

  • Digi-ID PLUS

    Digi-ID PLUS

    Dublin (IE), University of Zagreb (HR), Karolinska Institute (SE), MADoPA Living Lab (FR), Andalucian Ministry of Public Health (ES), University of Alicante (ES), Microsoft (US), WaytoB (IE), Access Earth (IE)

    Digi-ID PLUS led by Esther Murphy from Trinity College Dublin, is a transdisciplinary project co-designing accessible digital skills training with and for citizens with disabilities.

  • Digital Violence: How the NSO Group Enables State Terror

    Digital Violence: How the NSO Group Enables State Terror

    Forensic Architecture (GB)

    Digital Violence from Forensic Architecture in the UK is an initiative that maps the use of the malware Pegasus against activists, journalists and human rights defenders across the world.

  • DRYRivERS

    DRYRivERS

    Amélie Truchy (FR), Zoltán Csabai (HU), Bálint Pernecker (HU), Thibault Datry (FR)

    DRYRivERS is a European project and citizen science app that advances the science and management of intermittent rivers and ephemeral streams.

  • European Bird Census Council

    European Bird Census Council

    Mark Eaton (GB), Petr Voříšek (CZ)

    European Bird Census Council is a community of citizen scientists undertaking projects to monitor birds for policy, research and society in Europe.

  • Europeana Transcribe on Transcribathon.eu

    Europeana Transcribe on Transcribathon.eu

    Frank Drauschke (DE), Facts & Files (DE), Europeana Foundation (NL), Austrian Institute of Technology (AT), Consortia of the EnrichEuropeana projects (INT)

    Europeana Transcribe on Transcribathon.eu is an online citizen science initiative for the transcription and enrichment of digitised historical materials from European cultural heritage.

  • EVE Online’s Project Discovery

    EVE Online’s Project Discovery

    CCP (IS), MMOS (CH), McGill University (CA), BC Cancer Foundation (CA), ISAC (USA), Cytobank (USA), Dotmatics (USA), BD (USA), University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (IT), University of Geneva (CH) , Human Protein Atlas (SE)

    EVE Online’s Project Discovery is an international collaboration that pioneers the implementation of the Massively Multiplayer Online Science concept integrating citizen science with video games.

  • GEOVACUI-2

    GEOVACUI-2

    Carmen Mínguez – Complutense University of Madrid (ES), Marta Martínez-Arnáiz – University of Burgos (ES), Javier Martín-Vide – University of Barcelona (ES), José Damián Ruiz Sinoga – University of Málaga (ES), José Ojeda Zújar – University of Sevilla (ES), Elena Bárcena-Martín – University of Málaga (ES)

    GEOVACUI-2 from Spain investigated with communities depopulation in rural areas, opening debate that allows deeper understanding, in a collaborative way.

  • HARNESSTOM Citizen Science Platform

    HARNESSTOM Citizen Science Platform

    Joan Casals (ES), Ivanka Tringovska (BG), Andrea Mazzucato (IT), Salvador Soler (ES), Gancho Pasev (BG), Maria José Díez Niclós (ES), Antonio Granell Richart (ES)

    HARNESSTOM Citizen Science Platform from a consortium of partners across Europe works with communities to unlock tomato genetic resources to benefit farmers, citizens and chefs.

  • Isala: Citizen-science map of the vaginal microbiome

    Isala: Citizen-science map of the vaginal microbiome

    Sarah Lebeer (BE), Sarah Ahannach (BE), Thies Gehrmann (BE), Stijn Wittouck (BE), Tom Eilers (BE), Sandra Condori (BE), Jelle Dillen (BE), Irina Spacova (BE), Leonore Vander Donck (BE), Caroline Masquillier (BE), Camille Allonsius (BE), Isabel Erreygers (BE), Inas Rahou (BE), Caroline Dricot (BE), Charlotte De Backer (BE), Gilbert Donders (BE), Veronique Verhoeven (BE)

    Grand Prize: Awarded for outstanding achievements in the advancement of knowledge through the empowerment of civil society and citizens in the development of the future. isala.be Isala is the world’s largest citizen science project on women’s health studying the female microbiome and its influence on our health and wellbeing. Isala has both scientific and societal…

  • Mosquito Alert

    Mosquito Alert

    CEAB-CSIC (ES), UPF (ES), CREAF (ES), ICREA (ES), Xatrac (ES). Coordination Team: Frederic Bartumeus (ES), John Palmer (ES/US), Alex Richter-Boix (ES), Aitana Oltra (ES), Agustí Escobar (ES), Joan Garriga (ES), Živko Južnič-Zonta (ES/SI), Monika Falk (ES/PL), Enric Pou (ES), Elisa Mora (ES), Roger Eritja (ES), Isis Sanpera (ES), Simone Mariani (ES/IT), Santi Escartín (ES), Ariadna Peña (ES)

    Mosquito Alert is a global initiative based in Spain that advances the knowledge of mosquitoes as disease vectors through innovative citizen science methodologies.

  • Ocean Routes

    Ocean Routes

    Rio Neiva – Environmental NGO (PT), António Rodrigues Sampaio School Group (PT)

    Ocean Routes from Portugal explores the maritime culture of Esposende through an ocean literacy and citizen science approach,

  • Paleo-energy: How forgotten patents can shake the future

    Paleo-energy: How forgotten patents can shake the future

    Cédric Carles (FR)

    Paleo-energy: How forgotten patents can shake the future from France focuses on exploring alternative energy sources inspired by Technical Heritage.

  • Phénoclim

    Phénoclim

    Anne Delestrade (FR)

    Phénoclim from Anne Delestrade in France is a participatory science programme on phenology and climatology in mountain areas.

  • Project Roadkill

    Project Roadkill

    Florian Heigl (AT), Daniel Dörler (AT)

    Project Roadkill from Florian Heigl and Daniel Dörler in Austria, works with citizens to create an overview of where animals are killed on the roads and investigate what could be the cause.

  • Projecte Rius

    Projecte Rius

    Associació Hàbitats (ES)

    Projecte Rius from Associació Hàbitats in Spain, is a long-term ecological quality monitoring project focused on freshwater ecosystems in Catalonia.

  • SensJus: Sensing for Justice

    SensJus: Sensing for Justice

    Anna Berti Suman (IT), Sven Schade (DE), European Commission – Joint Research Centre – Ispra (IT)

    SensJus is an intiative led by Anna Berti Suman in Italy that explores how civic environmental monitoring can turn people into ‘sentinels’ for their environment.

  • Surfing for Science

    Surfing for Science

    Anna Sanchez-Vidal (ES), William P. de Haan (ES), Oriol Uviedo (ES), Surfrider Foundation (Spanish delegation) (ES), Asensio Comunicació Visual S.L. (ES)

    Surfing for Science from Spain brings communities of surfers together to collect scientific samples of microplastics floating in the sea surface.

  • Surfside Science 

    Surfside Science 

    Metabolic Foundation (AW)

    Surfside Science created replicable methods to monitor coastal and marine ecosystems, focusing on Surfside Bay in Aruba.

  • The Restart Project: The Right to Repair and Reuse your electronics

    The Restart Project: The Right to Repair and Reuse your electronics

    Frances Cresswell (GB), Holly Davies (GB), Fiona Dear (GB), Mario De Marco (IT/GB), Cristina Ganapini (IT/BE), Shelini Kotecha (GB), Neil Mather (GB), James Pickstone (GB/BE), Monique Szpak (AU/GB), Ugo Vallauri (IT)

    Digital Communities Award: Awarded for demonstrating excellence in creating and supporting communities, delivering social benefits, and fostering an open and inclusive civil society through the innovative or alternative use of digital technologies. therestartproject.org The Restart Project addresses the environmental costs of our linear, consumerist economy. It combines hands-on community repair engagement with the need for…

  • Urban Belonging Project

    Urban Belonging Project

    Urban Belonging Collective (INT): Sofie Burgos-Thorsen (DK), Drude Emilie Ehn (DK), Anders Koed Madsen (DK), Thorben Simonsen (DK), Sabine Niederer (NL), Maarten Groen (NL), Carlo De Gaetano (IT), Kathrine Norsk (DK), Federico Di Fresco (AR), Gehl Architects (DK), Techno-Anthropology Lab – Aalborg University (DK), Service Design Lab – Aalborg University (DK), Visual Methodologies Collective – Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (NL), Center for Digital Welfare – IT University Copenhagen (DK)

    Diversity & Collaboration Award: Awarded for excellence in explorative collaboration, cultural diversity, gender diversity, stakeholder engagement, and social inclusivity.  urbanbelonging.com The Urban Belonging Project innovates methods for citizen engagement that foreground diverse and marginalized experiences in planning. The project invited participants who identify as lgbt+, deaf, homeless, internationals, ethnic minorities, mentally vulnerable, and/or physically disabled…

  • Whale Track

    Whale Track

    Alison Lomax (GB), Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust (GB), Lauren Hartny-Mills (GB), Hebridean Whale & Dolphin Trust (GB)

    Whale Track from Scotland is an initiative for nature restoration that provides quick and easy ways for communites to record and submit sightings of marine mammals.

  • When gig workers regain control

    When gig workers regain control

    Brahim Ben Ali – Coopérative Maze (FR), David Décamps / Deydai – PersonalData.iO (FR), Jessica Pidoux – Sciences Po Centre for European Studies and Comparative Politics and PersonalData.iO (FR)

    When gig workers regain control is a French initiative investigating the working conditions of gig workers in Paris that aims to build a new data governance model for innovation.

  • YouCount

    YouCount

    Oslo Metropolitan University (NO), University of Vienna (AT), SPOTTERON (AT), Aalborg University (DK), ESSRG (HU), Univertsita Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II (IT), Kaunas University of Technology (LT), Orkestra-Basque Institute of Competitiveness/Deusto Foundation and Deusto University (ES), Sodertorn University (SE), VA – Public & Science (SE), University of Central Lancashire (GB)

    YouCount is a European project that brings together young people and relevant stakeholders to co-create new knowledge and innovations to address complex societal challenges.

They are divided into five sections reflecting on the nature and effect those approaches have:

A Shared Sense of Place

Catch the Water Monsters; CurieuzeNeuzen; Ocean Routes: Exploring and valuing the maritime culture of Esposende–An ocean literacy and citizen science approach; Phénoclim; Surfing for Science; Surfside Science

Breaking Black Boxes

#SOPHYGRAY; ARTigo: Social Image Tagging; Dark Sky Meter; Europeana Transcribe on Transcribathon.eu; EVE Online’s Project Discovery

Mapping the Human and Non-Human

DRYRivERS: A citizen science app for advancing the science and management of intermittent streams; European Bird Census Council: Citizen scientists monitoring birds for policy, research and society in Europe; Mosquito Alert: Community intelligence for mosquito-borne disease preparedness and response; Projecte Rius; Project Roadkill; Whale Track: Community marine mammal monitoring for nature restoration

Pushing for Change

SensJus: Sensing for Justice; Paleo-energy: How forgotten patents can shake the future; GEOVACUI-2: Citizen Science and cooperation initiatives against depopulation of rural areas; Digital Violence: How the NSO Group enables state terror; When gig workers regain control: Data governance model for a new French mobility service by gig workers

Co-creating a Future Together

Digi-ID PLUS; AquaGranda: A Digital Community Memory; YouCount: Empowering youth and cocreating social innovations and policy-making through youth-focused citizen social science; CitieS-Health: Citizen Science for Urban Environment and Health; HARNESSTOM Citizen Science Platform: Unlocking tomato genetic resources to benefit farmers, citizens and chefs

Credits

The European Union Prize for Citizen Science is awarded in the context of the IMPETUS project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 101058677 – HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01.