A network-of-networks, built by the citizen science community itself.
The Global Citizen Science Partnership (GCSP) exists to help existing citizen science networks find, connect with, and support one another — and to give governments, NGOs, and research institutions a single, coordinated point of entry into that community.
What the Partnership set out to do
A common point of entry
Give governments, businesses, and scientific organizations one place to turn to when they want to understand or work with the global citizen science community.
Interoperability
Provide shared tools, data standards, and metadata schemas so citizen science projects and platforms can work together rather than in isolation.
Strengthen existing networks
Support the citizen science associations already established across Europe, the United States, and Australia, and help new regional networks form.
Leave no one behind
Keep the UN 2030 Agenda's Goal 17 principle at the center of every project the network takes on, from data access to who gets a seat at the table.
How the Partnership came together
A founding conversation
Representatives from the global citizen science community met at the Science-Policy-Business Forum preceding the 3rd UN Environment Assembly, and outlined the first goals for a new network-of-networks with encouragement from UNEP.
An open call to co-design the network
The community invited expressions of interest from citizen science networks and volunteers willing to help lead small, pilot-scale projects that could demonstrate the value of the Partnership.
Hosted by IIASA, introduced at the UN World Data Forum
The International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) took on hosting the GCSP secretariat, and the Partnership was formally introduced during the UN World Data Forum in Bern, Switzerland.
Formation welcomed by the global community
Citizen science networks and practitioners around the world welcomed the formation of the Partnership as a step toward promoting and advancing citizen science for a sustainable world.
Secretariat, steering committee, and advisory boards
Day-to-day coordination runs through a secretariat hosted at IIASA in Laxenburg, Austria, working alongside an interim board and steering committee with representation from policy, business, and community-based perspectives. Submissions and project proposals are reviewed jointly by the secretariat, steering committee, and advisory boards to keep the Partnership's work aligned with its founding goals.