Tips for rich partnerships

(from our communication guide)

• Kies voor een samenwerking met bestaande netwerken en organisaties met doelstellingen complementair aan de jouwe. Meer kennis opbouwen bij de leden, bijvoorbeeld, of simpelweg een leuke ervaring aanbieden. De samenwerking moet het delen van informatie of het verzamelen van data ondersteunen. Sla je de handen in elkaar met een soortgelijk burgerwetenschapsproject, dan bespreek je het protocol voor dataverzameling.
• Find other organisations or societies active in your research field. Speak to the person in charge of communication about the possibility of raising your project’s profile in a systematic way. For example, you might get coverage from a monthly newsletter to members.
• Choose to partner existing networks and organisations whose objectives complement your own. Improving the knowledge of members, for example, or just offering a fun experience. The partnership must support information sharing and data collection. If you join forces on a similar citizen science project, discuss the data collection protocol in advance.
• Look for meetings with a bearing on your research topic and try to introduce your project there. If you are studying air quality, for example, it might be interesting to attend debates on climate change and mobility, and workshops on preventive healthcare, or follow specific activities organised by city labs or local and neighbourhood committees. Other initiatives you can follow include Volunteer Week, Science Day, Biotech Day, Child Universities, History Day, Teachers’ Day and Classroom Day. Introduce your project, try to swap details and try to stay in touch.
• Look beyond national borders. On the eu-citizen.science platform, you'll find an overview of tools, projects and partners in Europe. 
• Be sure to maintain good relations with your partners and keep them informed of your project’s progress. Give them a say in the management and communication of the project. Set up a meeting with between all the partners involved every three to six months. This creates a sense of community, not just among the project participants, but among its leaders too.