Citizen Science Scan
The Citizen Science Scan provides an overview of the current state, nature and developments of citizen science in Belgium and includes recommendations for policymakers and citizen science organisers. The report offers insights into questions such as:
- Which topics are commonly addressed, and which themes are on the rise?
- Who are the initiators and their funders?
- How many partners does a project have, and what expertise do they bring?
- How many citizens participate, and how do they contribute to the research?
Citizen science scan 2025
Following the success of the first edition in 2023, Scivil is launching the second edition of its Citizen Science Scan on 2 April 2026. During the 2025 survey year, Scivil, in collaboration with UCLouvain, mapped the Belgian citizen science landscape. This resulted in an inventory of no fewer than 242 citizen science projects that were active in 2025. 116 of these projects also completed our survey to provide us with more detailed information about their project.
This second Citizen Science Scan reveals a citizen science landscape that continues to grow. Citizen participation is becoming broader and more in-depth: in addition to data collection, citizens are becoming more closely involved in other research phases. New domains such as healthcare, biomedical sciences and human sciences are clearly on the rise, whilst the traditional strongholds of biodiversity, heritage and the environment continue to perform well.
These developments show that consistent policy choices and regional support are having an impact, but that further reinforcement is needed to embed growth sustainably. We recommend providing both flexible and structural funding, embedding citizen science more firmly in policy and organisations, and encouraging collaboration between disciplines and sectors. By involving citizens from the outset and lowering barriers to entry, citizen science can yield more and better data, and also contribute to broader public trust in science.
Get started yourself
The underlying data from the Citizen Science Scan is publicly available to anyone who wishes to conduct further analysis or in-depth research. Whether you are interested in specific research topics, partnerships, or trends in citizen engagement, the dataset can help you carry out targeted analyses that align with your own projects or ideas. Would you like to get started? You can find the full dataset here.
Let us know about your project
Was your project not included in the Citizen Science Scan? Or are you planning to launch a new initiative soon? Leave your contact details, and we’ll get in touch when we carry out our next round of data collection for the Citizen Science Scan. That way, you’ll be sure to be included in the next Citizen Science Scan. Please fill in this form.
Number of projects per topic cluster (n=242) - Visual Koen Van den Eeckhout
Sources of funding for citizen science projects (n=116) - Visualisation by Koen Van den Eeckhout
Initiators of citizen science projects (n=242) - Visual Koen Van den Eeckhout
Highlights from the Citizen Science Scan 2025
In 2025, there were at least 242 different projects available to participate in across Belgium. Four in ten projects (40.9%) focused on biology and biodiversity, the second-largest group (18.6%) dealt with climate and the environment, and human behaviour and well-being came in third (18.2%). Within this last category, ‘Healthcare and biomedical sciences’ is a notable riser compared to the previous Citizen Science Scan in 2023.
Most projects are run by public institutions (such as archives, museums, libraries and research institutes), non-profit organisations and universities. Around one in three projects collaborates with schools, involving pupils in research taking place in their own environment, such as measuring air quality in the classroom or analysing their cycle route to school.
Citizens have already taken part in a Belgian citizen science project at least a million times. In eight out of ten projects, citizens can participate in Dutch. This makes Flanders a leading region for citizen science in Europe.
Previous editions of the Citizen Science Scan
You can find all the information about the 2023 Citizen Science Scan here.