more4nature aims to trigger transformative change in conservation efforts regarding zero pollution, biodiversity protection and deforestation prevention by including citizens and communities as key actors in collaborative environmental compliance assurance.

Despite environmental policies, it is not going well with the environment in many places in the world. more4nature is looking for possibilities for citizen science to fill gaps in data, raise awareness, and come into action to promote compliance assurance efforts. Citizen science communities may for example help by monitoring plastics in natural water or by measuring air quality or by spotting bees or illegal logging. In this way they do not only gather valuable data for policy makers, they also help bringing the problem to the attention of other people and create support for measures to preserve the environment. More4nature will run from 2024 until 2027. 

Goals

more4nature adopts a socio-technical approach, overcoming challenges faced by citizens and communities, empowering them to play a pivotal role in safeguarding the environment.

Consortium

The project, led by IHE Delft, unites 21 partner organisations spanning Europe, Latin America, Africa, and Asia to drive transformative change in zero pollution, biodiversity protection, and deforestation prevention. Countries partners where the partners are based include the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Bolivia, Denmark, Norway, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Ukraine, Portugal and Poland. 

RIVM role

RIVM participates as a ‘pioneer case’ in the zero pollution (air quality) part of the project and brings expertise on air quality measurements using sensors. Through our citizen science programme 'Measure Together' (Samen Meten in Dutch), we have strong ties to a large community of citizen science initiatives. To illustrate this, RIVM hosts real time citizen science data from over 2000 particulate matter sensors. Citizen Generated Data (CGD) is already included in official air quality reporting by RIVM but difficult to use for reporting to the EU European Union (European Union ) and not commonly used by local authorities. Including CGD in official reporting could improve better spatial coverage and increase citizen engagement. As a pioneer case RIVM will explore how the use of CGD for official reporting can be expanded. We will do that by including citizen generated data in air quality modelling, and by talking to stakeholders and policymakers on the national and EU level. Hester Volten is project leader at RIVM.

Funding

This project has received co-funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101133983. UK participants in Horizon Europe Project more4nature are supported by UKRI grant numbers: 10108638 UNEP-WCMC and 10110989  Earthwatch Europe.