The European Commission brings together different EU countries in the Mutual Learning Exercise on "Citizen Science Initiatives - Policy and Practice" (see news article) to strengthen the know-how around Citizen Science in Europe and to exchange experiences.
The exchange in Vienna
The third meeting was held on the topic of "Enabling Environments for Supporting and Sustaining Citizen Science" from June 7-8, 2022 in Vienna. It was hosted by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science and Research. During these two days the MLE members participated in an exciting program with interesting inputs, impressions and discussions.
On the first day, the OeAD Center for Citizen Science, the Austrian Science Fund FWF, the OIS center of the Ludwig Boltzmann Gesellschaft and the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences with its Citizen Science Network Austria presented an overview of citizen science in Austria. Afterwards, MLE members discussed their experiences and inputs on enabling conditions for the establishment of citizen science. In the evening, a fishbowl with representatives of different Austrian institutions from foundations to funding agencies and research institutions awaited the MLE members.
The second day started with a visit to the Natural History Museum Vienna, which has been increasingly active in the field of citizen science for many years and presented its activities on deck 50. In order to be able to immerse themselves in a citizen science project, MLE members were then invited to take part in a citizen science scavenger hunt through Vienna's city center. Afterwards, the exchange on "Enabling Environments for Supporting and Sustaining Citizen Science" continued.
You can find the outcomes of the two days in a report (see news article). The OeAD Center for Citizen Science was very excited to be part of this MLE meeting! Thanks to everyone for amazing two days full of ideas and discussions.