As a follow-up project to "Heavy Metal City-Zen", we are once again inviting Viennese community gardens, garden projects or similar garden initiatives to take part in this project and conduct research together with us.
The aim of this project is to scientifically assess the potential risk of heavy metal contamination of crops in Viennese city gardens and to investigate the extent of soil contamination with microplastics.
We will make the results of the study and additional information on soil health available on our City-Zen soil research platform, which we are developing as part of the project.
Urban gardening has become increasingly popular over the last two decades. However, gardeners are often concerned about their crops being contaminated by pollutants such as heavy metals.
Plant availability of heavy metals is strongly influenced by the soil properties and the plants being cultivated. Through appropriate soil management, it is possible to reduce the potential transfer of heavy metals to plants.
We want to test whether the heavy metal content in plants grown in one variant (e.g. a mix with compost) differs from those plants grown in a control variant (untreated urban soil).
We need you for this! Become a Citizen Scientist by conducting a "pot experiment" with radishes in your urban garden. Plant and soil samples will be collected from these tests and an analysis for heavy metals will then be carried out in our laboratory.
Participation in the project will benefit the entire community of the garden. Together we can generate the following information about the garden's location:
Further information on the project can be found on the website.
Simply write to us by e-mail if you are interested in taking part: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
The project is funded by the Vienna Business Agency. A fund of the city of Vienna.
The results of the "Heavy Metal City Zen" project can be found in our blogpost (in German) and on our project website.
Fermented foods are present both in our daily diet and in various food cultures: from sourdough bread to beer, wine, pickles, sauerkraut, miso, kombucha, and much more. The art of fermentation is (again) on the rise, and many people are making their own fermented foods at home. Can fermentation help us transition to a more plant-based diet? The European research project HealthFerm aims to investigate the connections between the microorganisms involved in food fermentation, the fermented foods resulting from these processes, and their effects on human health.
Project participants are asked to provide information about their fermentation practices and their attitude towards fermented foods using two questionnaires. Based on this feedback, the researchers will select 1,000 participants who can submit their fermented foods for analysis, with an initial focus on sourdough. The results from the lab will then be made available. For example, you can learn how many cultures are thriving in your sourdough and how common they are!
Simply visit this website, available in 7 languages.
The data on microorganisms, genomes, and metabolites discovered in the fermented foods of participating citizens will be available in an openly accessible online atlas of the food microbiome. There, participants can evaluate and compare the microorganisms from their fermented foods.
The microorganisms obtained from the submitted foods will also be used to develop innovative fermentations of legumes and grain-based foods. One focus is on developing fermented foods as alternatives to dairy- and meat-based foods.
Furthermore, the health effects and consumer perception of novel fermented foods will be investigated. This is intended to promote the incorporation of these foods into commonly practiced dietary habits in Europe. Building and nurturing an ecosystem with various interest groups and researchers will help achieve a lasting impact beyond the project.
For those who want to stay updated without participating, regular reading of the HealthFerm blog is recommended.
Market garden centres work according to so-called bio-intensive methods. This means utilising the maximum possible natural yield potential on the land. This yield potential results from the respective location, the climatic conditions (temperature, precipitation, wind, etc.), the production methods and, to a large extent, the soil itself. Beside the type of soil and texture, the thickness of the individual soil layers, the condition of the soil in terms of soil fertility and soil health is of enormous importance for market gardeners. While the term soil fertility refers more to the function of productivity (mineral, physical and biological aspects), the term soil health is defined more systemically and expanded to include other soil functions. In addition to the productivity function, the water storage function, the habitat function for plants and soil organisms and their diversity, the nutrient management function and the climate function as a carbon store are relevant for market garden centres. In order to run a market garden successfully and sustainably, the soil condition in terms of its fertility and health must not only be maintained, but even improved in the course of cultivation. The goal in every market garden is therefore not only sustainable soil management, but also regenerative soil management. In this project, soil data such as aggregate stability, soil structure, temperature, moisture, infiltration, degree of mulch cover and compaction data are collected according to scientific principles. Data such as the degree of mulch coverage is collected directly from the gardeners, as we collect the data at 14-day intervals. The respective test facilities and test questions were customised together with the respective farm, as we attach great importance to practical questions.
For this project, participation is closed.
Society uses a variety of services that natural ecosystems provide, such as clean water, an attractive landscape for recreational purposes, food, or renewable energy sources. Many of these so-called ecosystem services (ESS) are influenced by humans. These include, for example, agricultural activities or the construction of roads. As a consequence, society regulates human actions and thus indirectly the availability of ESS. Examples of such policies are agri-environmental programs or local land use planning.
The Citizen Science project ServeToPe develops methods to better quantify the demand for ESS and their availability in a landscape. ServeToPe thus aims to contribute to more sustainable management of ESS and more targeted policies that focus on people's needs. ServeToPe is thereby based in the biosphere reserve Wienerwald as a case study region.
ServeToPe mainly aims to answer the following research questions.
ServeToPe will reveal mismatches between the demand for ESS and their supply and will propose countermeasures. An example of this could be regional conservation efforts specifically planned for the landscape.
ServeToPe uses a variety of methods to answer the research questions and to involve as many and as diverse citizens as possible. For example, workshops were held in schools or with citizens from the region. All citizens can participate online via a survey (see below). On the project website you can find more information about the methods and the roles of citizens (in German).
Citizens are important research partners in ServeToPe. In particular, they support the visualization and quantification of the demand for ESS and of conflicting goals and trade-offs of between different ESS. A trade-off exists, for example, when several citizens want to use the same area for different purposes resulting in conflicts (e.g. recreational use and food production). You as citizen can therefore make an important contribution to the research project by participating in the following anonymous surveys.
In the main survey you can (1) enter your own activities and uses of ESS in the Wienerwald, (2) enter and locate frequently observed activities and ESS uses, and (3) identify trade-offs and opportunities for improvement. You can also upload pictures for this purpose. The main survey can be filled in only once.
However, you can also participate more regularly and thereby support ServeToPe even more intensively. This is possible via a second short survey, where you can enter and locate observed activities and ESS uses, as well as trade-offs. A picture upload is also possible here. In this short second survey, you can participate repeatedly over the entire duration of the project - i.e. continuously enter your observations. This gives us an even more accurate representation of uses and activities. You as a citizen scientist gain the opportunity to locate multiple uses and activities in areas and therefore identify multiple and more accurate trade-offs and improvements.
The results from the surveys of activities, uses, and trade-offs in the Wienerwald are compiled by the BOKU Vienna and University of Vienna research team and compared with other data on the supply of ESS (see methodology). These results are then published on the ServeToPe website. You can also sign up in our contact form to receive the results via email.
Afterwards, the results are presented to stakeholders from the region (e.g.: Employees of the administration, representatives from agriculture, nature conservation, recreational use, education and regional management) in a workshop. In this workshop, solutions and countermeasures will be developed based on the identified trade-offs and conflicts due to differences in ESS supply and demand.
If you have any questions, please contact Katrin Karner (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) without hesitation.
ServeToPe is led by Martin Schönhart (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Katrin Karner (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.), from the Institute for Sustainable Economic Development at BOKU University. Furthermore, the project team includes Thomas Wrbka (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) and Florian Danzinger (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) from the Department of Botany and Biodiversity Research at the University of Vienna. In addition, the students of the course " Conservation Related Methodologies of Social, Cultural and Economic Sciences" of the University of Vienna are involved in the project. If you have any questions, please contact Katrin Karner (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.) without hesitation.
Breaking the blame game:
Our society faces grand challenges, such as mitigating climate change and adapting to its consequences, ensuring a healthy diet and maintaining cultural landscapes with high biodiversity. A sustainable agri-food industry addresses these challenges.
In Austria, with its high share of meadows and pastures, cattle husbandry is particularly important. Several aspects of dairy and beef supply are perceived as unsustainable. This is for instance its impact on climate change because during their digestion cattle release the climate-damaging greenhouse gas methane. Moreover, both animals and humans often face welfare problems because of difficult living and working conditions on farms and abattoirs. Many animals are kept in small spaces for the production of cheap products in a competitive market. Cattle are then prone to illness and their treatment with antibiotics may result in antibiotic resistance. In addition, our high consumption of meat causes health risks.
These and other problems in our beef and dairy supply are broadly discussed but many questions remain unanswered:
The project COwLEARNING combines scientific knowledge from the universities with the knowledge of practitioners in farming, processing, retail, gastronomy and consumption*. Together, we search for possible ways of change and thereby consider different innovative practices. This may include, for instance, pasture-based feeding, cow-calf contact systems (the calf stays with the cow for longer time after birth), mobile abattoirs, cow-sharing (animals are slaughtered only when all their parts are sold), milk and beef substitutes.
With a farm-to-fork assessment, we compare these innovations from the farmer to the consumer. Together with practitioners, we develop scenarios, this means pictures of the future showing alternative developments. In addition, we develop serious games to convey the topic in a playful way. With these approaches we want to stimulate learning and provide spaces to experiment with more sustainable beef and dairy supply.
*Participation is limited to these stakeholder groups and therefore closed.
In January 2024, poject coordinator Marianne Penker held a lecture about the project (in German) as part of the lecture series "Citizen Science Seminar" at BOKU University. You can watch the video recording of the lecture down below.
The Austrian start-up Livin Farms develops innovative technologies for the sustainable breeding of insects. Food and other organic residues can be recycled with the help of insects and converted back into valuable proteins. In this way, cycles can be closed and food systems can be made more sustainable.
Education is another central aspect at Livin Farms. As part of the Explorer Challenge school project Livin Farms brings sustainability, circular economy and insects to schools. The project is for public secondary schools in Vienna and runs in cooperation with the Vienna Business Agency. Participation in the project is free.
School classes receive up to 3 Hive Explorer (mini mealworm farms) per school for up to one semester. Participating school classes develop their own research questions on insects and insect breeding and implement experiments to find answers. The results are documented and presented.
Through the participation of the students as Citizen Scientists, new research questions are developed. Thereby new knowledge and new insights are generated and research on the subject of insects as an alternative source of protein is supported.
Other schools are also invited to participate. To receive a Hive Explorer, these schools can check the website www.thehiveexplorer.com or send an to email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Until a few decades ago, knowledge of wild edible and poisonous mushrooms was widespread. Especially the older population knew about the seasonal occurrence of the mushrooms. Finding mushrooms is a popular hobby for young and old, which is accompanied by great experience. In order to preserve and extend this knowledge and above all to bring it closer to the younger generation, the Mushroom Finder is now available. Due to the global warming of the last few years, the occurrence of mushrooms and the species spectrum is increasingly shifting. The consequences of global warming affect especially higher altitudes. Many fungal species have dispersal and adaptation strategies to respond to climate change, but there is a direct threat to arctic-alpine fungal species. Distribution records from different European countries show that the mushroom season is prolonged as a result of global warming, i.e. fungal fruit bodies today appear over a longer period of the year. The time of appearance is also often shifted further back in the course of the year. With the active assistance of the Mushroom Finder, these changes in the fungal world can now be recorded and incorporated into scientific evaluations, because mushrooms react immediately to the changing temperature development.
Within the framework of this project, Citizen Scientists collect fungal and phenological data. Via Pilzfinder the scientifically founded data are transferred to the "Database of Fungi of Austria" of the "Austrian Mycological Society" with the next update. The project Pilzfinder aims to comprehensively document the occurrence and distribution of fungi in Austria and beyond and to present and evaluate the available data. By comparing the distribution data, correlations between the temperature profile and the occurrence of the fungal species can be researched and thus the effects of climate change can be analysed.
With the Mushroom Finder you can actively contribute to the survey of the occurrence and distribution of the fungi by observing and photographing. Since the Mushroom Finder was launched, 14,595 finds have already been reported and 43,381 photos uploaded (as of October 2022)!
On request, we are happy to provide reports for non-commercial purposes, of course also for the reporters themselves. All scientific results are published in open access/and peer-reviewed journals. There will also be an annual report on the reports in the "Mitteilungen der Österr. Mykolog. Ges.".
If you would like to learn more, you can listen to the Wissen macht Leute podcast episode about the project (in German). More information can be found here.
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The project Pilzdaten-Austria.eu aims at a comprehensive documentation of the occurrence and distribution of fungi in Austria, and to present and evaluate the available data. It is an Austria-wide cooperation of numerous mycologists, citizen scientists and institutions, which collect distribution data of fungi or hold collections of fungal specimens, coordinated by the Austrian Mycological Society.
The freely accessible online database Pilzdaten-Austria.eu continues the previous Bio-Office database of Austria's mushrooms and allows to view dynamic maps of more than 16,095 fungal species from almost 61,836 localities and to download the more than 748,186 records as tables according to various selection criteria and sorting. In addition to location and collection date, many reports contain notes on habitats and substrates, on the identification and documentation of the mushroom as well as the sourceof the stored data. Hints on further data sources, constructive comments as well as suggestions for further improvents of the Mushroom Data Austria are welcome. New reports of finds are checked before they are fed into the system.
Cooperation, especially the communication of mushroom findings, is explicitly desired. Everyone can contribute to the expansion by uploading their own finds (individual records or excel lists) and photos.
The web pages also contain Latin and German names of the mushrooms recorded in the database as well as an indication of the degree of endangerment. Many species of fungi are also presented with pictures A considerable number of observations on the occurrence of fungal species are reported by amateur mycologists. Citizen scientists throughout Austria are thus making a significant contribution to the project's success with their fungal data.
Participation in the database project, especially the communication of fungal findings, is welcome. Please do not hesitate to contact us.
On request the raw data will be made available to interested persons. Please contact us via our contact form.
If you would like to learn more, you can listen to the Wissen macht Leute podcast episode about the project (in German). More information can be found here.
With their variety of plant species and the experience of the gardeners, rural home gardens constitute an integral component of the cultivated landscape in the Lienz district, East Tyrol. Together with pupils of the BG/BRG Lienz school (and biology, math/physics and English teachers), scientists are investigating rural home gardens, including stocks of plant species and the use of plants. These results will be compared with those taken 20 years ago from the same gardens and will help to identify changes in gardens and their cultivation. These diachronic perspectives allow a precise and empirically established overview of changes in rural home gardens in the countryside of an industrial and services-focused state, in the context of demographic and economic changes and the search for a new identity.
To gain a better understanding of the local perception of the significance of rural home gardens, observations from gardeners and their neighbours concerning ecosystem services in gardens and their significance will also be recorded.
The project will also investigate cultivation techniques that adapt to extreme weather or ensure sustainable growth. It will also find out why people grow gardens and which values and approaches guide their behaviour or actions in gardens.
As part of an additional citizen science module, the local population in East Tyrol and Oberen Drautal will be combined. The module appeals to gardeners who are interested in taking surveys in their gardens, according to methodological direction and by monitoring their gardens, so as to demonstrate the material and immaterial ecosystem services in gardens. These gardeners and the cooperating young people will be trained in simple quantitative and qualitative survey methods for this purpose. This will take into account the opportunities that depend on the education and experience of each individual participant.
The starting point for developing analogue survey tools for the researching gardeners is a universal T-card office planner (49 x 47.3 cm, 7 panels, light grey) with 20 slots and 7 columns. The card slot system provides a weekday structure (Monday to Sunday), an hourly structure (6 a.m. to 10 p.m.) and six variables for recording ecosystem services.
On the universal T-card planner, the gardeners use the provided weekday and time scales with differently coloured slots to record the following specific information in writing about the individual ecosystem services during the recording period:
The time spent in the garden will be recorded with a simple stopwatch. Some plant materials will be weighed out with simple, easily available kitchen scales. The card slots will be placed somewhere protected from weather or positioned where they are in the gardener’s view. This location will be decided on site with the gardener.
The duration of collections using the card slot system will be calculated at at least a week and will then be passed on to another gardener. Seven card slot systems will be prepared. The recordings ran from 1 August to 31 August 2018.
Through the participation of citizen scientists, a continuous observation and record of local perception (emic viewpoint) of the ecosystem services of home gardens is guaranteed. The methods were proposed by a gardener from the region being researched and were discussed/considered together with other gardeners from the area. The citizen scientists were actively involved in data acquisition and collection, data analysis and interpretation and the publication of results in the project report, scientific journals and conferences and in local media (dolomitenstadt.at). The collected data was continuously documented and stored by scientific guardians. Interim and final results were returned to the participating gardeners as part of the “give back” culture in the citizen science final event (“Gartenfest”).
Heidemarie Pirker
Brigitte Vogl-Lukasser
BG/BRG Lienz (Renate Hölzl, Arno Oberegger, Hansjörg Schönfelder and the pupils of class 6b (from academic year 2018/2019: 7b).
Marie-Luise Wohlmuth (workshops on soil biology)
Ramona Walder (photography)
Peter Werlberger (video)
Gerhard Pirkner (dolomitenstadt.at)
Germain Weber & Team (Faculty of Psychology, University of Vienna)
Christian Ragger (REVITAL - Integrative Naturraumplanung GmbH)
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Which are the most common bee viruses in Austria and are these viruses related to winter losses of local bee colonies? To answer these questions, 200 beekeepers from all over Austria are working as Citizen Scientists in the "virus monitoring" for three years (2018-2020). Each year in September they collect bees from five of their colonies and send them to AGES, Department of Apiculture and Bee Protection. In addition, they report the winter losses of their colonies. The samples are analysed for eight important bee viruses and checked whether the occurrence and severity of the virus infections are related to winter losses. The beekeepers are provided with the virus analyses of their colonies and thus learn more about the health status of their bee colonies.
According to current scientific knowledge, bee viruses, such as the deformed wing virus and the acute bee paralysis virus, are partly responsible for high winter losses. However, other viruses, such as the sacbrood virus or the chronic bee paralysis virus, also cause problems for bee colonies. Unfortunately, we currently only have selective knowledge about the occurrence and frequency of these bee viruses in Austria. Up to now, viruses have usually only been tested, when damage to bee colonies has already occurred. Research results from the USA and neighbouring European countries have shown, that many viruses occur just as frequently in inconspicuously appearing colonies as in clearly damaged ones. In order to make a statement about the frequency of bee viruses, both conspicuous and inconspicuous colonies must therefore be examined (= a representative selection).
"Virus monitoring" is a module of the project "Zukunft Biene 2", which is investigating Austria's bee health from 2017-2021 under the lead of Dr. Robert Brodschneider of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz. Research partners in the project are the University of Graz, AGES and University of Veterinary Medicine Vienna. The project is financed by the Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism (BMNT), the Austrian Federal Provinces, the beekeepers' umbrella organisation "Biene Österreich" as well as in kind contributions of the Karl-Franzens-University Graz, Vetmeduni Vienna and AGES.
In 2020, poject coordinator Linde Morawetz held a lecture about "Virus Monitoring" as part of the lecture series "Citizen Science Seminar" at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU): "Beekeepers as Citizen Scientists: on the trail of bee viruses" (in German). At the end of this page you can watch the video recording of the lecture.