The CitiObs project brings together over 85 Citizen Observatories - participatory initiatives that engage citizens in community-based environmental monitoring activities – active in everything from monitoring local air or water quality and identifying heat islands, to promoting citizen science in schools and engaging in policymaking processes. Initiatives like these are important not only for the data and knowledge they can bring to decision-makers, but also for their wider role in society, providing platforms for dialogue and engagement with citizens. In times when climate and green transition policies – and at times democracy itself – are becoming targets of political polarisation, the need to strengthen trust in how policies are shaped is stronger than ever.
Citizen Observatories provide one promising approach for engaging citizens and strengthening trust in environmental policymaking, bringing together citizens, policymakers, and researchers to give all relevant stakeholders a voice. A successful CO creates a high-trust environment where different perspectives are taken into account and where established research methods help to make sure that knowledge produced is robust and can be trusted by decision-makers.
This roundtable brings together citizens, researchers, and policymakers to explore how Citizen Observatories can help build and restore public trust in environmental policymaking.
Join around 40 representatives from local, national, and EU levels, alongside practitioners from Citizen Observatories, for a half-day of case-based discussion and dialogue. Draft policy recommendations will be presented for feedback and refinement, ahead of finalisation.
Objectives:
- Present and discuss CitiObs' draft Policy Brief on trust in environmental policymaking;
- Hear from leading EU, national and local level policy stakeholders on their experiences with citizen engagement and public trust in policymaking;
- Explore common trust issues faced by different stakeholders in Citizen Observatories, and share tools to address them;
- Foster perspective-taking and mutual understanding between citizens, researchers, and policymakers working toward shared goals.
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.