Listen to the new podcast episode of "Wissen macht Leute": A report from the Austrian Citizen Science Conference in Dornbirn.

We are very pleased to welcome the Medical University of Innsbruck as a partner in the Citizen Science Network Austria.

Check out the new project Camaliot and help for example to improve the prediction of extreme weather events

The CAMALIOT (Application of Machine Learning Technology for GNSS IoT Data Fusion) project

The CAMALIOT project integrates data from the Internet of Things (IoT), including smartphones, and traditional Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) data sources to leverage Big Data, Data Fusion and Machine Learning technologies to to demonstrate how these data can be used in different scientific applications. 

Taking advantage of dual frequency chipsets now available in some Android mobile phones, the CAMALIOT Android app logs data from all available satellites. The purpose of the mobile app is to collect as much raw GNSS data as possible from as many locations around the world using crowdsourcing. The data are being ingested into machine learning algorithms for determination of tropospheric parameters that support weather forecasts on Earth and for the monitoring of space weather, important for satellite operations and communication. More information about the scientific results can be found on the www.camaliot.org website. A paper describing the app and the data collection campaigns can be found here in the International Journal of Digital Earth.

Although the CAMALIOT project funding is now finished, we are still collecting data through the CAMALIOT mobile app for the acquisition of raw, crowdsourced GNSS data to support ongoing scientific research.

The project has three main partners: (i) the European Space Agency, who funded the project and provided scientific support; (ii) ETH Zurich, who led the project and have developed the machine learning models for weather prediction; and (iii) the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), who developed the CAMALIOT crowdsourcing app and have led the data collection as outlined on the project's website. 

Listen to the new podcast episode now: https://www.citizen-science.at/blog/radio-von-gottesanbeterin-baumschlaefer-und-fruehjahrsbluehern

We at Österreich forscht value good cooperation and enjoy working as a team, as we complement each other well. Here, all our staff members introduce themselves, their interests and hobbies, and describe what they particularly appreciate about Citizen Science and their work at Österreich forscht. We hope you enjoy getting to know our team members.

Daniel Dörler

Founder and coordinator of Österreich forscht

Daniel is a zoologist and already planned to study zoology as a child. He realised his career aspiration and graduated from the University of Vienna in zoology with a focus on evolutionary biology. After a short break in the private sector, he completed his doctorate in ecology at BOKU University, where he first came into contact with Citizen Science.

At Österreich forscht, he is responsible for updating platform content, (re)designing texts and platform areas, and posts regularly on Facebook. Daniel writes on the blog and organises and coordinates the events of Österreich forscht. He also gives lectures and presentations on citizen science, conducts courses and training sessions on citizen science and is also very well networked internationally in the field of citizen science through his role as head of a European working group on Citizen Science Networks.

What excites me about citizen science .... the opportunity of working together with a group of committed people to discover things that could not be discovered without citizen science. For me, citizen science is a group experience that is fun, sometimes challenging and opens up new perspectives.

What I like about my work is ... the variety. In my role as coordinator of Österreich forscht and researcher at BOKU, I am always at the interface between science and society, and I also have insights into many different research areas and organisations, which allows me to constantly gain new experiences.

I recharge my batteries ... on the one hand through direct (and hopefully positive) feedback during presentations and lectures, and on the other hand through regular time off.

The best balance to work for me is ... sports, quality time with friends and travelling.

I find inspiration ... mostly while running, when I let my thoughts run freely and don't think about anything in particular.

Florian Heigl

Founder and coordinator of Österreich forscht

Florian is an agroecologist, specialising in road ecology and citizen science during his PhD at BOKU University. During his doctorate, he founded the platform Österreich forscht together with Daniel and has been developing it ever since.

At Österreich forscht, Florian is primarily responsible for strategic development and coordination. He takes care of platform content, writes on the blog and manages the Österreich forscht LinkedIn account. He also conducts research in the Roadkill project, teaches several courses and training sessions on citizen science at BOKU and leads working groups in the Citizen Science Network Austria.

When Florian is not working on citizen science, he can be found in the Waldviertel with his family, either playing with his children, in the garden or on the water with his kayak.

What excites me about citizen science is ... the combination of scientific theory and practice as well as the exchange with wider society. Through this exchange, I hope that we can solve problems in our environment together and with scientific methods.

What I like about my work is ... the diverse fields of activity and the constant change of perspectives.

I recharge my batteries ... in the garden or on the water.

The best balance to work for me is ... playing with the children and doing sports in nature.

I find inspiration ... in nature.

Alina Hauke

Student assistant

Alina is a geographer with a soft spot for ecology, soils and science communication. Besides her studies, she produces radio shows on Radio Orange since 2019. Alina is always up for a walk in nature, good food and pseudo-philosophical conversations.

At Österreich forscht, she makes sure that all content on the website is up to date and meets the criteria for accessibility and gender equality. She also supports Florian and Daniel with other administrative tasks, on social media and on the blog. Since 2022, she produces our monthly Podcast "Wissen macht Leute" together with Lisa.

What excites me about citizen science is ... the participation of many different people, the open and inclusive approach and the effort to make science more tangible.

What I like about my work is ... the communicative aspect, my independence and the creative freedom I am given.

I recharge my batteries ... by spending time with people I love, in nature and being active.

The best balance to work for me is ... going out, bouldering, realising creative projects.

Barbara Heinisch

Project assistant

Barbara does her research and teachings in the field of specialised translation and also works as a translator and terminologist at the University of Vienna. She is enthusiastic about Citizen Science from different perspectives (both in theory and practice as well as on a strategic level). During her doctorate, she already gained her first experience with citizen science as a project coordinator and dealt extensively with the "translation" aspect of science, which also led her to BOKU University.

At Österreich forscht, she is implementing the Citizen Science strategy of Österreich forscht together with Daniel and Florian. To this end, she will work with the partners to implement activities that increase cooperation between projects and the visibility of Österreich forscht.

What excites me about Citizen Science is ... developing science further, being able to provide an insight into research and, ideally, using research to achieve an impact outside of science.

What I like about my work is ... not just looking at Citizen Science in Austria from the perspective of theory and practice, but being able to develop and drive it forward myself.

I recharge my batteries ... in the countryside.

The best balance to work for me is ... not thinking about work ?.

I find inspiration ... through new and unknown things, as well as different perspectives.

Lisa Recnik

Volunteer

Lisa is a chemist with a passion for science communication. Since October 2019, she has been pursuing this passion in her position as director of the science festival Pint of Science Austria. After completing her PhD in England and postdoctoral stays in France and Vienna, her academic research journey came to an end and Lisa now looks for other ways to use science within our society. Off the job, she is always up for new ideas in science communication, whether it's a pub quiz or a radio show.

Lisa is currently a volunteer at Österreich forscht and supports Alina with the monthly podcast "Wissen macht Leute".

What excites me about Citizen Science is ... that people with different experiences are actively involved in the research process and that this makes science something that concerns everyone again.

What I like about my work is ... being able to bring the fascination of science closer to others.

I recharge my batteries ... from conversations with inspiring personalities.

The best balance to work for me is ... going to the mountains, travelling or meeting friends.

I find inspiration ... through exchanges with others or during a quiet moment on my sofa.

Photos: Kenneth Kuba

Every observation counts!

The City Nature Challenge (short: CNC) is an annual nature competition between regions that takes place in spring (usually at the end of April, beginning of May) and is held simultaneously in various cities and regions worldwide. On four consecutive days, people around the world document the diversity of wild animal, plant and fungi species in their region using photos and sound recordings and share them on iNaturalist. Together with others the observations are then identified to species level on iNaturalist.

The CNC was invented by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences in 2016 and is organized by them since then annually. 2018 the CNC went globally, and hundreds of cities and regions are participating since then in this friendly challenge every year: Which region makes the most observations? Which region has the most species? Which region can motivate the most participants?

All observation of wild organisms in the participating regions count!

Since 2020, several Austrian cities and region are also participating in this international event. The CNC is organized by each of the participating cities or regions on their own. The “City Nature Challenges in Austria” project acts as an umbrella project for these participating cities and regions in Austria.

The aim of the CNC is to reacquaint people with their local biodiversity, to arouse curiosity and to discover nature on their doorstep. You can use the observation platform iNaturalist to exchange ideas with other nature lovers and learn and improve your knowledge of the species by identifying species together with others. This data helps research, administration, and nature conservation: it contributes to a better understanding of the status of species and their distribution in Austria. Due to the large number of observations, robust data on phenology can be obtained, area expansions of invasive species or of rare/sensitive species can be detected, and rediscoveries and new finds are also possible.

When?

The next City Nature Challenge takes place from April 26^th to 29^th 2024. Planning for the 2025 CNC event already starts in October 2024. 

Participate

Everyone can participate in the City Nature Challenge by making observations or help identifying observations to species level! No registration to the project is necessary. All you need is a camera (smartphone or digicam) and a free iNaturalist account for uploading the photos. In Salzburg and Vorarlberg, Observation.org and the ObsIdentify app are used to collect data. The use of both platforms is free of charge.

Now, simply take photos of wild animal, plant or fungi species between April 26^th and 29^th 2024 in the participating regions and post them on iNaturalist. That is all it takes for your observation to count in the City Nature Challenge! 

You can also help identify species on iNaturalist submitted during the CNC. Or simply tell your family, friends or colleagues that the CNC is happening in their region. 

iNaturalist is a citizen science platform where everyone can post images or sound recordings of their species observations and identify it together with other users. It is run by the California Academy of Sciences and the National Geographic Society. Beside the documentation of biodiversity users can also get in exchange with each other over the platform. 

What’s with the data?

The observations reported to iNaturalist during the course of the CNC can be viewed and used by any user of the observation platform. So they are freely available. In addition, verified observations (which have the status of "research grade") are shared with GBIF "Global Biodiversity Information Facility" – an international biodiversity database – used by scientists worldwide for their research. In addition, the observations are also available in the Austrian Biodiversity Atlas with a slight delay.

Through your iNaturalist account, you can control how your observations and photos may be used (by providing a Creative Commons license) and you can also remove your observations at any time by deleting your account.

Podcast episode

In April 2023, coordinator of the region Krems-Wachau-Melk, Tanja Lumetsberger, presented futher insights and details about the City Nature Challenge in our podcast Wissen macht Leute. You can listen to the episode here (in German). 

Further information

Further information on the City Nature Challenges in Austria and how you can be part of it can be found on our project website.

Information on the official international project can be found at www.citynaturechallenge.org (in English).

Implementing organisations 2023

• Haus der Natur Salzburg
• Haus für Natur, Museum Niederösterreich
• inatura Vorarlberg
• Institut für Biologie, Universität Graz
• Nationalpark Gesäuse
• Nationalpark Neusiedler See – Seewinkel
• Naturhistorisches Museum Wien
• Naturwissenschaftlicher Verein für Kärnten
• Paris-Lodron Universität Salzburg
• Tiroler Landesmuseen
• Universalmuseum Joanneum
• Universität für Weiterbildung Krems 

The City Nature Challenge is organized on a global scale by the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and the California Academy of Sciences.

Democratic Citizenship

"Memories and Imaginaries" critically explores with students in Austria what it means to be a citizen. Who can or is allowed to actively participate in the political community? Who can or is not allowed to? We address these questions with the aim of finding collective strategies to confront the state of exclusion and marginalization.

The aim of the research is for researchers to explore the importance of remembering, retelling and re-imagining the past and the future plays in living and participating in a political community. 

In every community there are different stories of belonging and exclusion. The particular focus will be on migrant, queer and Jewish memories and imaginaries. In their own ways, they all represent stories of exclusion from Austrian society.

We explore how democratic citizenship works by practicing it on a small scale: Students, artists and researchers come together to learn, share and listen about migrant, queer and Jewish memories and ideas. The Citizen Scientists themselves may also bring and share their own experiences of exclusion. 

The project sets new impulses in the field of Citizen Science, as it combines Citizen Science with art-based research. Memories and imaginaries are collective and relational forms of knowledge that are experiential, multi-layered in space and time. Citizen science and art-based research are innovative ways to gain insights into such imaginaries and their potential for democratic citizenship. 

© Felix Deiters

How to participate?

During the co-research period from May to June 2022, a total of three "Remembrance Labs" (May) and one General Assembly (June) took place. The citizen scientists each took part in one of the three labs, which had the same content. 

The interim results of all three labs, in the form of graphic recordings and stenographic minutes, were reflected on together in a joint general assembly at the end of June and the collected output was jointly verified.

The Labs artistically took us through the past and present of the three selected communities and enabled collective reflection on how we share situations of exclusion and how we can imagine them if we have not experienced them ourselves or if we do not remember them ourselves (for example because we are too young).

Eating together was as much a part of the collective experience as the mental and physical-affective participation in three group-dynamic, artistically guided exercises.

Artistic inputs were given in each memory lab, in which the Citizen Scientists were also invited to actively participate: 

• Rap-poetry with Esra Özmen aka EsRap on the topic of migration, 
• Building community by performative story-telling with artist Ndidi Iroh,
• Researching biographies: multi-marginalisations from a jewish perspective. 

An expert was invited to each Remembrance Lab to present a short input for the discussion. They came from important civil society organisations:

• Dokumentationsarchiv des österreichischen Widerstandes (DÖW),
• Wiener Wiesenthal-Institut für Holocaust-Studien,
• PH Upper Austria.

The results of the research phase are currently being evaluated and will be published in the form of an artistic book in 2023.

What happens to the contributions of the Citizen Scientists?

The activities during the labs will be documented visually and textually by means of graphic recording (artist Felix Deiters) and a stenographic protocol. 

The graphic and stenographic protocols will be included in the book publication "Memories and Imaginaries: Democratic Citizenship". The book will be produced in the last phase of the project (autumn 2022) and presented at a closing event in January 2023. 

Contact and research team of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marina Gržinić: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. 

Dr. Sophie Uitz: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dr. Jovita Pristovšek: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Offers active beyond the duration of Zeit.shift

The Zeit.shift project ended in June 2023. The central web offerings continue to be active beyond the project duration. Specifically, the results can be followed via the website. The newly generated web portal is accessible worldwide and the text material provided (several million newspaper pages) is searchable and downloadable. Geodata and content tags can be assigned via an external platform and the online game Ötzit! is freely available. However, an evaluation of the generated data, as formulated in the project description, no longer takes place after the end of the project.

What is the Zeit.shift project about? 

The aim of the Zeit.shift project is to establish a long-term, cross-border cooperation for the preservation, development and dissemination of the cultural text heritage of Tyrol and South Tyrol from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Using historical newspapers as a prototype, the text collections are to be preserved in the long term and made accessible to the general public in a web portal. This offers the opportunity to learn more about one's own cultural heritage and to learn to appreciate historical texts as a source for exciting discoveries. An important focus of the project is the active involvement of the population. Interested citizens are invited to participate and can contribute to the text indexing by annotating the text material online. Together with citizens, relevant key terms and the correct location of the text excerpts will be added in order to improve the usability and searchability of the historical text material.

How can one participate? 

Via the Historypin platform, interested citizens can participate in text indexing by describing the content of advertisements in historical daily newspapers and geolocating them via Google Maps in order to virtually reconstruct the shopping streets of 100 years ago. In this way, one can gain an insight into which products were traded and which events took place in yesterday’s world. One discovers professions and trades, some of which no longer exist, and has the opportunity to draw one's own comparisons of what can be found in the places mentioned today. This is only a small excerpt of the variety of topics offered by the advertisements in the press of that time - a voyage of discovery into the world of our ancestors. Participation is not tied to a specific time or place; all you need is internet access and a computer or smartphone. Tutorials will help with questions, and there is also the possibility of contacting the Zeit.shift project staff directly (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.). The citizen science activities are aimed at all citizens and no special knowledge is necessary to participate in the project.

Another citizen science approach in the Zeit.shift project was developed with the gamification application Ötzit!. The online game Ötzit! is about saving Ötzi from dangerous animals by correctly typing out falling words in Fraktur script. A game against time! Ötzit! is primarily aimed at German-speaking pupils aged 11-14, but is open to anyone interested. The aim of the game is to create an awareness of the digitised newspaper collections and to practise reading historical documents in Fraktur script. All data anonymously provided by the players (e.g. typed words) was analysed and used to explore automated OCR corrections via crowdsourcing and to improve the searchability of the digitised collections.

Why is it important and what happens to the data? 

The benefit for the citizens is to experience the newspapers as a historical source and to learn something about their own cultural heritage through them. Together with the project team, they discover hidden archival treasures, thus making an invaluable contribution to indexing. In the project, the Zeit.shift portal for archiving, managing, researching and presenting digitised historical daily newspapers of the Tyrolean region was implemented. Using search filters, such as place and family names, time period, etc., the search results can be narrowed down precisely and the search term appears in the full text highlighted in colour. The data generated by the Citizen Science activities serve as support for the computer-linguistic analysis (e.g. correction of recognition errors in digitised texts in Fraktur script).

Photo gallery

• Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 6 Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 6
• Schwazer Lokal-Anzeiger, 16.04.1927, S. 4 Schwazer Lokal-Anzeiger, 16.04.1927, S. 4
• Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 6 Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 6
• Reuttener Nachrichten, 04.07.1930, S. 3 Reuttener Nachrichten, 04.07.1930, S. 3
• Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 8 Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 8
• Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 10 Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 10
• Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 7 Unterinntaler Bote, 03.01.1908, S. 7
• Reuttener Nachrichten, 27.06.1930, S. 4 Reuttener Nachrichten, 27.06.1930, S. 4
• Schwazer Lokal-Anzeiger, 16.04.1927, S. 4 Schwazer Lokal-Anzeiger, 16.04.1927, S. 4
• Reuttener Nachrichten, 01.02.1929, S. 4 Reuttener Nachrichten, 01.02.1929, S. 4
•  

“Wissen macht Leute” - the Citizen Science Podcast by Österreich forscht

Since March 2022, Österreich forscht has been producing a monthly radio programme for Radio Orange that revolves around the topic of Citizen Science: "Wissen macht Leute" (knowledge makes people). Each episode brings listeners closer to the topic through interviews with scientists, citizen scientists or decision-makers. Projects coming from a broad range of scientific disciplines and their relation to our society are discussed – this way, we want to reflect the diversity of projects and activities in the field of Citizen Science in the German-speaking countries. Through personal stories, we explore the path of scientists and citizen scientists into research in order to make science more tangible.

With "Wissen macht Leute" we want to make the topic of Citizen Science better known and attract the listeners’ interest in it. We want to present the diversity of Citizen Science and invite interested citizens to participate in the scientific projects listed on our platform. "Wissen macht Leute" thus wants to build a bridge between science and society and encourage listeners to get involved in research processes. 

The podcast is broadcast on Radio Orange every 3rd Monday of the month from 2 to 2:30 pm and can also be streamed afterwards at our Blog, the Cultural Broadcasting Archive, on Spotify or on Apple Podcasts. If you prefer to use another platform, you can also subscribe to our RSS feed.

We're also happy to announce that you can also listen zu "Wissen macht Leute" in other free radio stations in Austria: 

• on Radio Proton (Vorarlberg) every 3rd or 4th Wednesday Mittwoch of the month from 12:30 to 1 p.m.,
• on Radio Freirad (Innsbruck/Tyrol) every 3rd Friday of the month from 4:06 to 4:37 p.m.,
• in the Radiofabrik (Salzburg) every 4th Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m., 
• on Radio B138 (Upper Austria) every 4th Monday of the month at 1:15 p.m.,
• on Radio Fro (Linz, Upper Austria) every even Monday from 5 to 5:30 p.m.,
• and on the Campus & City Radio St. Pölten 94.4 every 3rd Monday of the month from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

Episodes (in German)

• 1st episode: Forschen Sie mit! 
• 2nd episode: Von Gottesanbeterin, Baumschläfer und Frühjahrsblühern 
• 3rd episode: Die inatura Erlebnis Naturschau und Citize Science
• 4th episode: Heute kann es regnen, stürmen oder schneien (Wettermelden.at)
• 5th episode: Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2022 (report)
• 6th episode: Wanted: Die Asiatische Mörtelbiene (BeeRadar)
• 7th episode: Citizen Science in urban development (Werkstatt Neu Leopoldau)
• 8th episode: Citizen Science in conservation areas
• 9th episode: Was flattert denn hier? (Schmetterlinge Österreichs)
• 10th episode: Welche Vögel sind jetzt da? (Stunde der Wintervögel)
• 11th episode: Prähistorische Webtechniken und Citizen Science (weaving techniques)
• 12th episode: Tiere unter Rädern (project Roadkill)
• 13th episode: Citzen Scientists am Wort (birthday special)
• 14th episode: Ein Wochenende für die Artenvielfalt - die City Nature Challenge
• 15th episode: In Linz beginnt's (Austrian Citizen Science Conference 2023)
• 16th episode: Brandaktuell - die Fire-Database 
• 17th episode: Geschichte schreiben - Briefe aus der Wienbibliothek
• 18th episode: Die Zukunft der Wissenschaft - über die Partizipationsinitiative "IdeenLauf"
• 19th episode: Die Pilze sind los! (Pilzfinder & Pilzdaten Austria)
• 20th episode: Moral im Alltag (Everyday Morality)
• 21st episode: Citizen Science in Europe 
• 22nd episode: My Tune - Citizen Science in Music Therapy
• 23rd episode: Fossilfinder - Citizen Science in the Earth Sciences
• 24th episode: On the trail of amphibians and reptiles (AmphiBiom & Herpetofauna)
• 25th episode: HPV: Humane PapilloWAS?
• 26th episode: The Citizen Science Award 2024 - behind the scenes 
• 27th episode: The Austrian/European Citizen Science Conference 2024
• 28th episode: Citizen Science at BOKU University
• 29th episode: Mosquito-Alert! 
• 30th episode: The history of Citizen Science in Austria

"Wissen macht Leute" is also listed on Wissenschaftspodcasts, a platform for podcasts about science and knowledge.