Citizen Observatories bring citizens, researchers and public authorities together to produce knowledge about local environmental conditions and support community action. The CitiObs project engages with 87 Citizen Observatories, where communities monitor issues such as air and water quality as well as heat, noise, and biodiversity, while also contributing lived experience and local knowledge that may not be captured through conventional monitoring systems. As such, Citizen Observatories provide a promising approach for engaging citizens and strengthening trust in environmental policymaking.
Citizen Observatories’ potential depends not only on the quantity and quality of the data they produce, but also on their design and governance. Particular attention is needed to reach communities that are more exposed to environmental risks but may face barriers to participation. If participation is narrow or begins only after the main priorities and methods have already been decided, a Citizen Observatory may reproduce existing inequalities rather than strengthen trust. Additionally, questions such as who is invited to participate from the beginning, whose concerns determine what is monitored, and whose knowledge is recognised all influence the relevance, legitimacy and fairness of the process. Answering these questions is part of understanding how Citizen Observatories can help to strengthen trust in environmental policymaking.
Producing more data does not automatically lead to more trust or policy influence. Trust depends on whether monitoring priorities are defined together, whether methods and limitations are transparent, how citizen-generated evidence is assessed alongside official information, and whether institutions respond to the concerns and knowledge that communities bring forward. It also depends on whether participants understand how decisions are made and receive clear feedback when their evidence cannot - or does not - lead to the outcome they expected.
This CitiObs Policy Roundtable will examine the social, technical and institutional conditions under which Citizen Observatories can contribute to more inclusive, transparent and trusted environmental policymaking. Participants will review the draft recommendations of the CitiObs Policy Brief, identify gaps and trade-offs, and consider how the recommendations should be adapted for local, national and EU-level institutions.
The roundtable will bring together approximately 40 representatives of Citizen Observatories, public authorities, EU level policy stakeholders, and research organisations and discuss the role of Citizen Observatories in building stronger democratic societies.
Drawing on practical experiences from different cities and levels of governance, participants will discuss:
- What creates or undermines trust between citizens, researchers and public institutions?
- What makes citizen-generated evidence credible, relevant and usable in policymaking?
- How can Citizen Observatories play a wider role in environmental governance and building community resilience?
Objectives:
-
Hear from leading EU, national and local level policy stakeholders on their priorities and experiences with citizen engagement and public trust in policymaking;
-
Learn about real trust building processes directly from Citizen Observatories;
-
Examine how inclusion, representativeness, data quality, institutional responsiveness and conflicting interpretations of evidence influence trust in Citizen Observatories and environmental policymaking;
-
Foster active perspective-taking to encourage mutual understanding and trust among citizens, researchers and policymakers working towards shared long-term goals.
-
Prioritise practical and feasible recommendations for the final CitiObs Policy Brief.
When: 5 November 2026, 10:00–13:00 CET (welcome coffee from 09:30, networking lunch at 13:00)
Where: REC Impact, "The Floor", J/K building, Roeterseiland Campus. Nieuwe Achtergracht 184, 1018 WV Amsterdam, Netherlands
CitiObs is an EU-funded Horizon Europe project developing practice-based knowledge and tools for local actors to co-create data and drive action through Citizen Observatories.
CitiObs is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.