The evaluation process of the five Citizen Science Initiatives implemented as part of the Step Change project has been completed.
Between mid-December, 2023 and February, 2024, the last three CSI final evaluation workshops were held at the University of Tor Vergata, Rome (with the participation of
Luciano d’Andrea and Claudia Colonnello, K&I), the University of Primorska in Koper, and the NIHR Oxford BRC in Oxford (both led by Luciano d’Andrea, K&I, and Evanthia Kalpazidou Schmidt, Aarhus University). The results of the workshops were then summarised in the final evaluation report, which was reviewed by each team and submitted to the European Commission at the end of February. The report includes an introductory chapter and five chapters, each dedicated to one of the citizen science initiatives.
Overall, the report highlights the excellent results achieved by the five initiatives and their potential future impact. At the same time, it identifies some of the recurring obstacles that seem to characterise citizen science projects in general, as well as the often creative ways in which they have been overcome in the context of the CSIs.