Examine how citizen science can contribute to EU climate adaptation goals, identify the barriers currently limiting citizen science in this context, and highlight areas where it can add the most value. In order to achieve this objective, we followed a triangulated approach, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative data collected through multiple channels.

As a first step, the MfN team reached out to active Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe projects in the field of climate change adaptation that are not yet using citizen science and invited them to participate in a short survey (Survey I) on the potential application and added value of CS in their projects. Relevant projects were identified by searching the CORDIS database, using the following filters:

• Programme: “Horizon Europe framework programme”, “Horizon 2020 framework programme”
• Keywords: “climate change adaptation” and “climate resilience”, excluding the keyword “citizen science”
• Project end date: after 1 September 2024

In total, 212 projects were directly contacted via email. To broaden outreach, the first survey was also promoted through the ScienceUs project website and social media channels. In compliance with the GDPR principle of data minimisation, it was conducted anonymously, without collecting any personal data, via the German survey tool “SoSciSurvey” (https://www.soscisurvey.de/). Ultimately, the survey, which was online from late May until early September 2024, received 52 complete and valid responses. Due to the broader dissemination via social media, 8 of these responses relate to projects that are already working with citizen science. These responses were excluded from the analysis.

The survey was designed to explore the interest, potential, and perceived challenges related to integrating citizen science into projects focused on climate change adaptation. Respondents were first asked to identify their project and indicate whether they were interested in incorporating citizen science, with options including “yes,” “no,” or “not sure yet.” For those open to the idea, the survey invited further reflection on how citizen science could be applied in their specific context, including relevant topics or research questions, and the ways in which citizen involvement might contribute to achieving project goals. Multiple-choice options covered a wide range of possible contributions—from data collection and analysis to co-creation, testing solutions, raising awareness, and fostering behavioural change. To better understand potential barriers, respondents were asked to describe obstacles they foresee in implementing citizen science activities. The survey also gathered insights on key criteria for successful collaboration with citizen science initiatives and concluded with a question on what types of support—such as guidance on volunteer recruitment, data management, legal aspects, or policy engagement—would be most useful to facilitate the integration of citizen science into their work.

To complement this first dataset and add a second perspective, the MfN team then contacted EU-funded projects that already have a citizen science component and invited them to participate in a similar online survey between late March and mid-April 2025 (Survey II).

All in all we contacted 29 Horizon Europe projects, which were selected via a search in the Cordis Database, filtering for the keywords “climate change adaptation” and “citizen science”. We chose these search criteria to ensure that these projects were clearly associated with the EU Mission “Adaptation to Climate Change” and were involving citizen science – to ensure that they would be able to provide information on the opportunities and challenges for citizen science in this context based on their own experiences.

Out of the 29 Horizon Europe projects contacted, 11 completed the survey: Adaptation Agora, NATALIE, AD4GD, NATURE-DEMO, GreenInCities, DRYAD, PYRENEAN CLIMATE CHANGE OBSERVATORY, IDAlert, Med-IREN, Regions4Climate and MountResilience, Precilience and CLIMAS project. Some of the projects we invited to participate apparently forwarded our email. As a result, the project Pyrenees Climate Change Observatory (OPCC) also completed the survey.

For the purpose of comparing and contrasting the two survey datasets with each other, we have sorted the survey questions into the following thematic categories in Table 1.