MICS

Project Description:

MICS brings together a transdisciplinary team to address a scientific and policy priority area where citizen science has the potential to promote a paradigm shift. Nature-based solutions (NBSs) are actions to protect, sustainably manage and restore natural or modified ecosystems that address societal challenges and provide human well-being. Due to their systemic complexity and embedding in local context, NBSs offer a unique potential for citizen science to make a major contribution. The MICS project supports NBS research by developing strategies and tools to evaluate impacts on science and society resulting from the integration of citizen science. These tools foster citizen science approaches that increase both scientific knowledge, and how scientific evidence is taken up by communities and policy makers. MICS uses novel impact-assessment metrics and instruments that measure costs and benefits of citizen science in relation to the NBSs, with particular attention in the domains of society; democracy; the economy; NBS science, and citizen scientists. The MICS impact-assessment tools are tested in various regions with differing opportunities and constraints for NBSs, and with different levels of citizen science uptake.

 

Geonardo's Role:

In the project Geonardos' main task included managing one of the case study demostration sites in the Central and Eastern Europe region, in Hunagary. According to the projects' framework, the developed citizen science tools and methods were tested in local context, built upon extensive stakeholder involvement, including various types of activities, and reporting the findings and experiences.

 

Key Contributions:

• Management of the case study in Hungary: Executing tasks and engaging and working with local stakeholders
• Background research: Mapping and exploring reference projects that served as valuable input for developing MICS' framework.
• Scientific report: Geonardo also delivered a peer-reviewd scientific study about the potentials of NBSs in the projects context.