Cáritas Coimbra promotes Citizen Science activities in green and blue spaces
During the last half year, the city of Coimbra has hosted several Citizen Science sessions, where the community was invited to visit and explore the city’s green and blue spaces with the support of an app – Citizeen. This initiative is part of the European Pharaon project and integrates the activities of the pilot programme taking place in Portugal. All the sessions were organised in collaboration with three Portuguese organisations: Cáritas Coimbra, Marine and Environmental Science Centre – University of Coimbra Campus (MARE-UC), and OWLplaces.
The Citizen Science activities were enthusiastically supported by the whole community. In total, approximately 100 people took part in the sessions and tested the Citizeen app, including older adults, formal carers and volunteers. Synergies were also created with the support of #CoimbraCityLab, an initiative of the Municipality of Coimbra, in collaboration with CASPAE, APOJOVI and two classes from the Quinta das Flores Primary and Secondary School.
The next steps will be to evaluate and disseminate the results of this pilot. Cáritas Coimbra would like to thank everyone who gave their time and participated voluntarily in these activities, believing that together we can build a more connected and aware community!
🟢 WHAT IS CITIZEEN? 🟢
Citizeen is an application for use on mobile phones (smartphone), which aims to promote the involvement of citizens with the preservation of nature in cities, stimulate physical and mental activity and provide information so that people can enjoy the green and blue spaces near them to the fullest.
Through Citizeen, anyone can: share georeferenced photos of species and places of interest in the city; map, using spatial technology, places according to their thermal and vegetation index; and also suggestions for improving the places they visit.
For more information about the Pharaon project, see the project website at www.pharaon.eu (English) or the Cáritas Coimbra website at www.caritascoimbra.pt/project/pharaon (Portuguese).
This project received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme – Pharaon Project ‘Pilots for Healthy and Active Ageing’, under grant agreement no. 857188.
