Citizen science design and implementationprimary
5 projects
Core theme across COS4CLOUD, NEWSERA, TRANSFORM, ENJOI, and STEP CHANGE — they build the citizen engagement components.
Organization
SCIENCE FOR CHANGE, SL
Barcelona SME delivering citizen science, public engagement, and co-design services for EU research projects across environment, bioeconomy, and science communication.
Technology SMEsocietyESSME
H2020 projects
6
As coordinator
1
Total EC funding
€1.6M
Unique partners
75
What they do
Their core work
Science for Change is a Barcelona-based SME specializing in citizen science methodologies — designing and implementing processes that bring ordinary citizens into scientific research and policy-making. They develop tools and frameworks for public engagement, co-design workshops, and participatory research, helping EU projects genuinely involve communities rather than treating public engagement as a checkbox. Their work spans environmental monitoring, science communication, and circular bioeconomy, always with the common thread of making research accessible and participatory.
Core expertise
What they specialise in
Science communication and open scienceprimary
3 projects
NEWSERA (which they coordinated), ENJOI, and COS4CLOUD all focus on making science open and communicable to broader audiences.
Co-design and participatory methodsprimary
3 projects
TRANSFORM, NEWSERA, and STEP CHANGE all feature co-design, co-creation, and deliberative engagement as key methods.
2 projects
NEWSERA and STEP CHANGE explicitly address RRI, ethics, and inclusiveness in research processes.
Urban circular bioeconomyemerging
1 project
HOOP project applies their participatory expertise to biowaste valorisation and circular economy investment planning.
Evolution & trajectory
How they've shifted over time
Early focus
Citizen science and biodiversity monitoring
Recent focus
Circular bioeconomy and RRI frameworks
Science for Change entered H2020 in 2019 focused on environmental citizen science — biodiversity monitoring, citizen observatories, and cloud-based data platforms (COS4CLOUD). By 2020-2021, they shifted toward science communication, public deliberation, and responsible innovation frameworks (NEWSERA, ENJOI, STEP CHANGE). Their most recent projects also show a move into applied domains like circular bioeconomy (HOOP), suggesting they are branching out from pure engagement methodology into sector-specific participatory consulting.
They are evolving from a citizen science methodology provider into a participatory process consultancy that can embed public engagement into sector-specific challenges like waste management and energy transitions.
Collaboration profile
How they like to work
Role: specialist_contributorReach: European19 countries collaborated
Primarily a consortium partner (5 of 6 projects), with one coordination role in NEWSERA — their flagship citizen science communication project. With 75 unique partners across 19 countries, they operate as a connector within large European consortia rather than leading small focused teams. This makes them a reliable, experienced partner who knows how to deliver their engagement work package within complex multi-partner setups.
Broad European network of 75 unique partners across 19 countries, indicating they are well-connected across the citizen science and public engagement community. Their Barcelona base and project portfolio suggest particularly strong ties to Southern and Western European research institutions.
Why partner with them
What sets them apart
Unlike academic groups that study participation theoretically, Science for Change is a private company that delivers citizen engagement as a professional service — they design, run, and evaluate participatory processes for EU projects. Their combination of citizen science expertise with data journalism (NEWSERA) and circular economy (HOOP) means they can bridge the gap between technical research and public acceptance in sectors where community buy-in is critical. For consortium builders, they bring a rare skill: turning the mandatory public engagement requirement into genuine, measurable impact.
Notable projects
Highlights from their portfolio
- NEWSERATheir only coordinator role (EUR 368K) — a project linking citizen science with data journalism, defining their core identity as a science-public bridge builder.
- HOOPLargest budget share (EUR 289K) and a strategic pivot — applying their citizen engagement skills to circular bioeconomy and urban waste investment planning.
- COS4CLOUDTheir earliest H2020 project, connecting citizen science with EOSC cloud infrastructure and biodiversity monitoring at European scale.
Cross-sector capabilities
Environment — citizen-driven biodiversity and environmental monitoringFood & Agriculture — participatory approaches to urban bioeconomy and food wasteEnergy — public engagement for energy transition acceptanceDigital — citizen observatory platforms and open data systems
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