How can citizens' environmental awareness and civic engagement be supported?
How can environmental data be converted into 'actionable knowledge'?
Which bottom-up and top-down approaches can promote societal and econlogical transformation?
These are just some of the questions researchers working on the Environmental monitoRIng through Civic engAgement (ERICA) will be investigating.
About the project
ERICA's objective is to support citizens’ environmental awareness and civic engagement. The development of a new educational methodology on citizen science for environmental monitoring will facilitate the initiation and management of citizen science initiatives, collection and the assessment of environmental information.
The focus of the project is to convert environmental data into 'actionable knowledge' that is perceived as useful and immediately applicable by citizens, local authorities, academic institutions and NGOs.
To reconcile environmental goals with fossil fuel supply and demand policies, both bottom-up and top-down approaches must be employed to promote societal and ecological transformation.
A key example of bottom-up approaches is citizen science initiatives of environmental monitoring, i.e., research activities launched and carried out by non-professional citizens to support scientific research in monitoring impacts on the environment through the collection and analysis of data.
Supporting adult citizens in environmetal monitoring activities
In this context, the ERICA project targets adult citizens to support them in citizen science for environmental monitoring activities and especially in acquiring new skills and capabilities necessary to initiate and manage citizen science actions at local and EU level, ultimately enhancing civic engagement and environmental awareness, specifically linking local environmental degradation with greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
Project aims
The project aims to train adult citizens on methodologies for collecting and analyzing environmental data and monitoring the polluting effects of the fossil fuel industry, which is the dominant cause of greenhouse emissions leading to climate change.
Citizen training can produce evidence for use by policy makers, regulatory authorities, and companies to aid in the fight against climate change and promote environmental protection.
Why is this research relevant?
The project will implement a new training methodology to engage citizens in environmental policy making through citizen science initiatives.
The methodology will offer flexible, high-quality and digital learning opportunities for citizens to take direct action in their local environment and greenhouse gas emissions. The methodology will cover new knowledge on the citizen science movement, the technological tools and methods for collecting environmental data and connecting issues related to the local impacts of the fossil fuel industry and climate change.
The pilot sites are:
- Basilicata (oil extraction, Italy)
- Tarragona (petrochemical centre, Spain)
- Konin (coal mining, Poland)
Research partners
Researchers from the International Institute of Social Studies are working together with:
Professor Lorenzo Pellegrini
- Email address
- pellegrini@iss.nl
Please contact Professor Lorenzo Pellegrini for more information about the ERICA project.
