Great news for citizen science in Italy! On February 17th, 2023, a national network of initiatives, experts and museum founded Citizen Science Italia ETS, the Italian citizen science association.  The ten founding members met at the Rome Botanical Gardens, a wonderful space dedicated to biodiversity in the heart of Italy’s capital. In the upcoming days, the group will also meet with representatives of the University and Research Ministry of Italy, to explore new opportunities and relationships between citizen science and policy makers in the country.

We are especially proud to announce the foundation of this new groups, as three of the founding members participated in the NEWSERA activities in Italy, with two founding members being among the NEWSERA Pilots.

 

More about Citizen Science Italia ETS

In many European countries networks of citizen science initiatives are already active, increasing the level of operability and visibility of projects and making citizen science an increasingly important reality. In recent years, also in Italy numerous citizen science projects have been set up and a growing interest in this way of working has developed a growing interest in this way of doing science. For some time now, a group of scientists and supporters of citizen science has been working on the dissemination and development of projects and coordination initiatives on a local, national and European level. As of 2017, two national conferences have been organised and the “Guidelines for the development of a national citizen science strategy’.

The association Citizen Science Italia ETS was born from these experiences, and with two ambitious objectives:

  • to promote the full development of citizen science in Italy, creating a community that through the exchange of experiences and networking can give unambiguous answers to policy makers;
  • represent the Italian community at national and international level, facilitating the communication and dissemination of projects, networking and the exchange of experiences.

Citizen Science Italia ETS is the result of a national network of initiatives, experts, universities research centres, science museums, associations and Italian public bodies. President Andrea Sforzi (Director of the Natural History Museum of Maremma), Vice-President Gaia Agnello (Director of the Sicily Environment Fund and ARPA Sicily consultant), the Secretary Chiara Vitillo (PhD student at the University of Siena) and the seven members of the first board will work to build inclusive and collaborative tools and solutions, in an open science perspective, in close contact with other international experiences in this rapidly expanding sector.

The full list of members of the directive council includes also:

  • Alessandro Campanaro, Researcher at CREA (Defence and Certification Research Centre, Florence)
  • Stefano Martellos, Associate Professor at the University of Trieste
  • Bruna Gumiero, Adjunct professor at the University of Bologna
  • Cristina Castracani, Technician (TA staff) at the University of Parma
  • Caterina Bergami, Researcher at CNR – ISMAR (Institute of Marine Sciences, Milan)
  • Alessandro Oggioni, Researcher at CNR – IREA (Institute for the Electromagnetic Survey of the Environment, Milan)
  • Domenico D’Alelio, Researcher at the Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples

For more info about the association, contact citizenscienceitalia@gmail.com

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