Current projects
Connecting People, Biodiversity and Cities UrbanBEE is an international study of wild bees in cities. Two hundred volunteers in Vienna will host bee hotels and send weekly photos of the occupation, helping the project unravel the dynamics of wild bees in urban ecosystems. What are the aims of the project? UrbanBEE is an international research project that aims to find out more about wild bees and...
Surveying and experiencing biodiversity togetherOn the site of the future "Am Heidjöchl" district, the City of Vienna is working with experts and citizens to survey biodiversity over the course of a whole year. These findings will be incorporated into the design of the new district.What are the aims of the project?The fundamental planning objective of the project is to ensure that biodiversity in the new “Am Heidjöchl” district is higher than it is today in the area. In order to...
(INCO)In this project, young people work closely with researchers to develop ideas for social media campaigns for health promotion. They share their experiences and design first concepts. Selected campaigns are tested in experimental studies, evaluated, and thoroughly discussed with the participants.What are the aims of the project?The project aims to develop new ideas for health promotion on social media together with young people. Students are not only asked for their opinions...
The Tree-Quest project aims at developing an Austrian citizen science (CS) data component to bridge the in-situ data gap for more reliable forest mapping with Copernicus satellite data.What are the aims of the project?We’re inviting everyone to join our new citizen science campaign through the free Geo-Quest app. Using the Tree-Quest module, you can head outside and measure trees in your neighborhood — and discover how much carbon they store! You’ll learn how trees help fight...
Identifying trustworthy health information on social mediaIn the HealthCheckR project, we are working with citizens to create a simple tool that helps people find trustworthy health information on social media. This will help stop false information and support better health decisions.What are the goals of the project?The goal of the project is to develop an easy-to-understand and tested tool together with citizens that helps identify whether health information on social media is...
The project “Environmental distribution of bisphenol A” investigates the possible spread of bisphenol A (BPA) in our environment. To this end, citizen scientists collect samples (soil, sludge, water, etc.) and send them to our laboratory, where the BPA concentration in the samples is determined.What are the aims of the project?Via a public sampling approach, any kind of sample that possibly contains BPA is sent to the lab and BPA concentrations are determined. The team of the...
Discrimination is often difficult to grasp, both in everyday life and in research. By involving citizen scientists, we aim to broaden knowledge about discrimination.What are the aims of the project?Racist discrimination and stigmatization are difficult to grasp both in everyday life and in research, as they are often hidden behind naturalizations or justified with different rationales and intersectional categories. By involving people with different horizons of knowledge and...
Smart Movement Analysis for Knee Osteoarthritis
ACCESS investigates how knee osteoarthritis affects movement — directly in physiotherapy practices using modern 3D movement-analysis technology. Patients and physiotherapists collaborate with researchers to gain new insights for better treatment.
In the PolliDiversity project, students explore flowering areas and observe pollinating insects like wild bees. Using digital tools, they collect scientific data and learn how to protect and experience biodiversity.What are the aims of the project?In the PolliDiversity project, students investigate the development of flowering areas using the ReNatura® BW3 Gumpenstein wildflower mixture, observe wild bees and other pollinators, and collect scientific data using digital tools. The goal is to...
In the City-Tree-Soil project, the Federal Research Centre for Forestry (BFW), the Federal Environment Agency (UBA), the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) and the University of Innsbruck are investigating the growth conditions of urban trees in Vienna and Innsbruck. Citizen scientists (schools and the general public) are responsible for recording the growth in thickness. In addition, soil carbon is being measured in both cities.What are the aims of the project?The...
What role can you play in the biodiversity and climate crisis - in the familiar surroundings of your own garden? Citizen scientists implement biodiversity-enhancing measures in their garden, observe animals and plants and are analyzed how their attitudes and behaviors change.What are the aims of the project?BIODIVERCITI pursues two core research questions to analyze the impact of its intervention on Citizen Scientists and their gardens: 1. What improvements can be achieved in indicator...
Do you love diving or snorkeling? Then become part of marine research! Octopus Intelligence invites you to observe wild octopuses in the Northern Adriatic Sea and document your sightings. Every observation helps to learn more about these fascinating animals and their habitat. What are the aims of the project?The citizen science project Octopus Intelligence studies octopuses in the Northern Adriatic. The goal: to find out where octopuses occur, at what depths they live, how...
Monitoring of Amphibians and Reptiles in Austrian GardensThe BIOM-Garten project invites people of all ages to look out for amphibians and reptiles in their gardens and report their observations. This will help to fill gaps in existing monitoring and implement better conservation measures for these endangered animals.What are the aims of the project?Amphibians and reptiles are among the most endangered animals in the world. In Austria, more than half of the 21 amphibian and 15 reptile...
A snapshot of soil healthWith the SoilBlitz, Citizen Scientists independently carry out tests to determine local soil health, collect important data and become aware of the importance of healthy soils.What are the aims of the project?In a so-called ‘SoilBlitz’, five uncomplicated and fast tests are carried out to determine soil indicators such as soil texture and colour, water infiltration rate, earthworm occurrence and vegetation cover. The measurement results for these...
Since 1851, we have been researching the changes in weather, climate and nature and what this means for us humans by observing plants and animals. These phenological observations help, for example, in climate research, agriculture and pollen forecasting in order to better deal with climate change.What are the aims of the project?Plants act as an integrating measuring instrument for a variety of environmental factors such as weather conditions in the past and current vegetation year. If one...
Many people in Austria feel that colorful butterflies are becoming increasingly rare. Unfortunately, this is also reflected in the European Grassland Butterfly Index, compiled by Butterfly Conservation Europe from datasets across the continent. Since 1990, typical grassland butterflies have declined by 36%.Since butterfly populations naturally fluctuate from year to year, only long-term standardized monitoring can determine whether numbers are increasing or decreasing. To enable this, the...
Mental Health around ChildbirthThis project focuses on the mental health of parents around childbirth, aiming to detect issues early and provide better support. The goal is to promote the emotional well-being of parents and infants and improve access to support services in Tyrol.What are the aims of the project?The Healthy Minds project aims to promote parents' mental health during pregnancy and early parenthood and close existing gaps in care. The focus is on improving the early detection...
For our national tick monitoring programme, we invite you to provide us with ticks. Your samples will help us analyse which tick species appear when and where in Austria. Moreover, ticks will also be investigated for the presence of pathogens.What are the aims of the project?The goal of our national tick monitoring programme is to obtain data regarding tick species in Austria, their occurrence, and the pathogens they may carry. The objective is to sample ticks from a wide variety...
How to raise the village to raise the childThe Village Project supports children and adolescents of parents with mental health issues by strengthening their formal and informal support networks. The aim is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Village approach and integrate it sustainably into existing structures.What are the aims of the project?The "Village" project aims to improve support for children of parents with mental health issues in Tyrol. It investigates how affected families can...
Monitoring of Soilbiota by Citizen ScienceSoilRise is a research project on earthworm biodiversity in Europe. Earthworms play a crucial role in soil fertility and are considered important ecosystem engineers. With your help we like to collect data on the distribution and diversity of earthworms in Europe.But SoilRise is more than scientific research. We aim to build an interactive network between researches, citizen scientists (you) and stakeholders to raise awareness of the importance of...
The TRA:WELL project focuses on the relationship between active mobility (walking, cycling, scooters) and the well-being of young people. The entire physical activity behaviour is considered in order to assess the contribution of active forms of mobility to the fulfilment of physical activity recommendations.What are the aims of the project?The project has three main objectives:TRA:WELL investigates the relationships between children's mobility behaviour and subjective well-being. The focus...
A couple of Instagram stories here a TikTok video there: The pervasiveness of our everyday lives with more and more media content consumed in a short period of time has completely changed the way we access and deal with information: Due to their everyday use of and the strong fusion of their lives with social media, it is young people who are most affected by this development. The project “Young Citizen Scientists against Disinformation” aims to explore the topic of disinformation from...
DANUBE4all is an EU project with the main task of developing a comprehensive action plan for the renaturation of river stretches in the Danube River Basin (DRB). To this end, a collaborative stakeholder process is being developed that actively incorporates the interests of citizens. The action plan is intended to contribute to the improvement of the ecological status, biodiversity and river connectivity of the Danube ecosystems and thus supports the EU mission OCEAN ‘Mission Healthy Oceans...
Spring habitats in the Großes Walsertal Biosphere ReserveIn view of increasing extreme weather events, including periods of drought and consequent water shortages, the protection and knowledge of springs in the Großes Walsertal Biosphere Reserve is becoming increasingly important. In addition to their essential role in water supply, springs are often small but very important habitats for endangered organisms. The pressure to utilise and develop existing springs has increased significantly due...