Convincing exemplary projects have demonstrated how citizen engagement appeals and digital participation are essential in crisis situations such as climate change and pandemics. Yet neither the potential nor the scope of community involvement in scientific research have been fully explored so far.

CitizenHeritage took the citizen science approach to the world of cultural heritage, where the digital realm creates new opportunities to reach out to broader audiences and facilitate community building. The project encouraged citizen science in cultural heritage through the application of crowdsourcing and co-creation tools to some of Europe’s largest open digital collections. The project contributed to the notion of European citizenship by enabling stakeholder communities to advocate for a European community spirit surmounting national differences.

Key project outcomes

●Review of practices of higher education engagement in citizen-enhanced open science in the area of cultural heritage.
●Development and testing of participatory approaches.
●Drawing lessons from the use of digital technologies in crowd science in cultural heritage and education.

●Assessment of the economic and social sustainability of citizen-enhanced open heritage projects.