Citizen Science Connected

About the project

‘Citizen Science Connected’ is a project by Citizen Science Zurich in cooperation with the University of Geneva. The immediate goal of the project is to establish a national network of Citizen Science Contact Points at universities and universities of applied sciences. At the end of the project, these Contact Points should be able to promote Citizen Science research in the field of sustainability and be visible and approachable locally for people from research and civil society who are interested in Citizen Science.

Project aims and activities

Within the framework of the project, we are pursuing two parallel objectives: 

1. the joint development (co-creation) of a roadmap for a future national network of CS Contact Points and 
2. the joint development (co-development) of a Swiss-wide Citizen Science initiative in the field of sustainability. 

Objective 1: We will analyse the current Citizen Science landscape at Swiss higher education institutions, identify potential partners and approach them as co-creators and future CS Contact Points. Together with the potential Contact Points, we will co-design a concept for the future national network, addressing the need for training and further education as well as knowledge repositories and taking into account geographical and institutional gaps. In addition, funding requirements and opportunities for the sustainability of the network will also be explored.

Objective 2: we are developing a concept for a Switzerland-wide competition for citizen science projects by students that address issues of sustainability. To this end, we are organising a series of national and local events: 

• 13 October 2025: Event for the joint development of a national competition for citizen science projects by students.  

• February 2026 (tbd): event as an example and a training opportunity for the network (“blueprint”) 

• spring - summer 2026: Teaching formats and events at various Universities and Universities of Applied Sciences to generate student projects and student teams 

• 7 September 2026: National final of the student competition (see more information below)

Intended outcomes

All activities are intended to promote networking and capacity building among the CS Contact Points and provide them with practical experience in developing and promoting Citizen Science projects. At the same time, the national initiative aims to increase visibility within the respective institutions.

In the long term, the aim is to create a network that supports cooperation between researchers, local communities and policymakers and promotes citizen science for sustainability.

On 7 September 2026, CS-Connected is organising a national student competition focused on tackling sustainability challenges through citizen science and participatory research. Student project ideas will be nominated by participating institutions. The winning Swiss team will go on to represent Switzerland at the Sustainability Olympiad 2026 later this year.

The competition will take place at the IdeenLabor at the University of Bern.

The programme will begin with student pitches, followed by feedback, deliberation, and the nomination of the winning team. We are also delighted to welcome Nora Wilhelm, systems change advocate and social entrepreneur, UNESCO Young Leader, Dalai Lama Fellow, and Forbes 30 Under 30 honouree,  who will speak with students about her journey towards changemaking 

The day will conclude with a co-creative session with network members to shape the next edition of the competition. The event is open to all CS-Connected members as well as other stakeholders in Switzerland interested in citizen science.