CONSERVATION EDUCATION AND RESEARCH TRUST

Their core work

Earthwatch is an Oxford-based research trust that specializes in citizen science — designing, deploying, and measuring the impact of programs where non-scientists collect environmental data. They build citizen observatories for water quality, biodiversity, and coastal monitoring, combining sensor networks with community-based data collection. Their core contribution to EU projects is bridging the gap between professional environmental monitoring and public participation, bringing methodology for measuring how citizen science actually affects environmental outcomes and society.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Earthwatch's early H2020 work (2016-2018) was grounded in building citizen observatories with physical sensor networks — water quality sensors, UAVs, buoys, and ships — combined with socio-technical approaches to community engagement. From 2019 onward, the focus shifted decisively toward the science-of-citizen-science itself: measuring impacts (MICS), building European platforms (EU-Citizen.Science), and connecting citizen observatories to cloud infrastructure like EOSC. Their most recent project (ILIAD, 2022) signals a further pivot into digital ocean services and data integration at scale.

Earthwatch is moving from collecting environmental data with citizens toward measuring, standardizing, and scaling citizen science across European digital infrastructure — expect them to bring impact assessment expertise to future consortia.

How they like to work

Earthwatch predominantly joins projects as a participant (5 of 6 projects), contributing specialized citizen science expertise rather than leading large consortia. Their one coordinated project (MICS) was specifically about measuring citizen science impacts — their core competency. With 116 unique partners across 28 countries, they are a well-connected node in the European citizen science network, working comfortably in mid-to-large consortia rather than small bilateral setups.

Earthwatch has built a broad European network of 116 unique partners across 28 countries, reflecting their role as a go-to citizen science partner that different consortia invite for their specialized expertise. Their network spans environmental research institutes, universities, and technology providers across virtually all EU member states.

What sets them apart

Earthwatch occupies a rare niche: they don't just run citizen science programs, they measure whether citizen science actually works. Their MICS coordination — developing metrics and instruments to evaluate citizen science impacts — is something few organizations in Europe can claim. For any consortium that needs a credible citizen engagement component with built-in impact assessment, Earthwatch brings both the practical experience of running observatories and the academic rigor of evaluating their outcomes.

Highlights from their portfolio

• MICS
  Their only coordinated project and largest budget (EUR 582,720) — focused on the meta-question of how to measure citizen science impacts, positioning them as thought leaders in the field.
• COS4CLOUD
  Connected citizen observatories to European Open Science Cloud infrastructure with EUR 448K budget, bridging grassroots environmental monitoring with large-scale data platforms.
• MONOCLE
  Their most technically diverse project combining UAVs, ships, buoys, and citizen sensors for coastal water monitoring — demonstrates ability to work across sensor technologies.