DELIVERABLES
This page presents the key deliverables of RIECS-Concept, documenting the project’s progress and supporting the development of a sustainable European research infrastructure for citizen science.
Deliverable 2.1 Challenges Assessment provides a foundational analysis of the technical hurdles that must be overcome to build a world-class CS infrastructure. The deliverable identifies a set of major challenges hindering the development of a unified European CS infrastructure.
Deliverable 4.1 Engagement methodology protocol is a blueprint of the engagement of multiple stakeholder groups throughout the duration of RIECS-Concept. Ten stakeholder groups will be engaged in the co-designing and co-creating of the concept of the European Research Infrastructure for Excellence in Citizen Science (RIECS-Concept).
Deliverable D4.2 Citizens’ Requirements Report presents the results of the first phase of stakeholder needs analysis conducted within RIECS-Concept, focusing specifically on citizen scientists, citizen science (CS) practitioners and early career researchers. Stakeholder perspectives were gathered through 24 co-design engagement activities across 10 countries between October 2025 and May 2026. One of the key innovations of RIECS-Concept is the active inclusion of citizens not only as beneficiaries but as users of the research infrastructure in their own right.
The findings are based on 378 user stories, representing a substantial subset of the 823 user stories collected across the project, complemented by facilitator observations. Following a consortium-wide labelling process, 37 distinct needs were identified and grouped under eight thematic areas: Access and Discoverability, Data Quality and Trust, Data Governance and Compliance, Tools, Platforms and Infrastructure, Training and Capacity Building, Recognition and Engagement, Governance and Sustainability, and Policy and Impact.
Deliverable 6.1 Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication Plan aims to detail a comprehensive strategy for engaging various stakeholders, facilitating the widespread adoption of the project outcomes, ensuring the effective transfer of knowledge to relevant sectors and paving the way for a sustainable research infrastructure for participatory science. By systematically communicating and disseminating the strategic findings, the plan aims to enhance the visibility of the project’s contributions and encourage the practical application of its results.
Deliverable 6.2 RIECS-Concept Digital and Visual Identity. The objectives of the RIECS-Concept communication activities include raising awareness about the project to a broad audience, facilitating engagement of the stakeholders, disseminating project developments to key stakeholders, and finally implementing and updating an appropriate online presence (website, social media). The RIECS-Concept brand book, letterhead, roll-up, social media channels (LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Instagram and Bluesky), and website are tools developed to reach these objectives, and additional materials will be created during the project.
The Deliverable 6.3 (D6.3) Interim Report on Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation presents the communication and dissemination activities carried out during the first 18 months of the RIECS-Concept project (M1-M18), i.e., from January 2025 to June 2026. The communication, dissemination, and exploitation activities were planned, run, and monitored in accordance with the modalities outlined in the RIECS-Concept D6.1 Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation plan.
The document is structured as follows:
- Section 2 outlines the background of the plan, i.e., the expected impacts of RIECS-Concept, key audiences, objectives and strategic approach to communication and dissemination.
- Sections 4 and 5 focus on communication and dissemination channels and tactics to achieve the strategic goals of the RIECS-Concept.
- Section 6 focuses on exploitation. This section complements the Communication and Dissemination Plan by outlining strategies to ensure the long-term sustainability and utilisation of the project’s outcomes.
- Section 7 focuses on the monitoring process, including Key Performance Indicators, the activity timeline, and the governance structure for managing and tracking communication and dissemination.
Deliverable 6.4 1st Policy Briefing is the first of two policy briefings produced by RIECS-Concept, a Horizon Europe project (January 2025 to December 2027) conceptualising a pan-European Research Infrastructure for citizen science. Vilnius Gediminas Technical University leads it as part of Work Package 6 (Dissemination, Exploitation and Communication, phase I). It serves as the public policy-facing communication output of the project’s first 18 months.
The deliverable consists of two parts. The main document presented here briefly outlines the process by which the policy brief was prepared: its evidence base, coordination across the consortium, alignment with European Commission guidance for reaching policymakers, and the rationale for its format and structure. The annexes contain the policy briefing materials themselves: a universal edition addressed to European institutions and Member States (Annex 1) and country-specific national policy alignment text blocks for each of the eight consortium countries (Annex 2), to be inserted into the national editions distributed by consortium partners.
The policy brief sets out three actions for European policymakers: recognise citizen science as a horizontal research capacity within the European Research Area and the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures roadmap; sustain investment from design through to operational implementation; and federate existing platforms rather than replace them, building shared infrastructure on open standards and on the principles of findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable data.