Citizen Science Strategies in Europe - preliminary findings from the pan-European Survey of Citizen Science Strategies and initiatives in Europe as part of a joint initiative of the COST ACTION 15212 and the JRC discussed in Cēsis, Latvia, 4th June 2019

On the occasion of the Management Committee (MC) and Working Group Meeting of the COST Action 15212 Citizen Science to promote creativity, scientific literacy, and innovation throughout Europe, preliminary results of a survey on Citizen Science (CS) strategies in Europe were discussed. The online survey was mainly developed by the Joint Research Institute (JRC) of the European Commission (EC) and the Policy Working Group of the COST Action. It aimed to develop an overall idea of Citizen Science strategies in Europe, i.e. to which degree national, regional, and local entities support Citizen Science, and what is the understanding of the added value of Citizen Science in the different regions of Europe. It turned out that the understanding, i.e. terms and concepts, widely differs between regions and countries. There are few countries where strategic support is documented. Albeit we already have 43 answers from 31 countries across Europe, mainly from COST Action MC members, the survey does not provide representative results due to the high heterogeneity. What it does offer is a valuable starting point to and a rich collection of practical suggestions for exploring options and functions of Citizen Science for science, policy, economy, and the broader society in more detail in future studies.