Celebrating the transformative spirit of the 6th European Citizen Science Association Conference

The 6th European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) Conference exceeded expectations, becoming far more than a scientific conference – a true gestalt moment for the international citizen science community when collectively reimagining what engaged research can achieve transcended beyond individual outputs. The University of Oulu hosted 665 international delegates from universities, NGOs, museums, libraries, and community organizations, embodying the theme, bridging centre and periphery. The synergy of international collaboration with local culture paired with accessibility and community engagement was seen in public facing events outside the university and including children’s voices in research.

The unique strengths of ECSA2026 included a highly praised arts-science collaboration, reflecting the commitment to innovative plurality of knowledge-making. Keynotes echoed the importance of resilience amidst adversity and art-science-activism collaboration with indigenous communities. Whether crocheting a piece into the rhizome web, tasting salty toffee with dried mushrooms, discussing citizen science films, or listening to the sounds of ice breaking on a mixtape, the Rhizome Salon space set up on campus was a unique segway from traditional academic experiences. Live performances from local and international artists criticized loss of ecosystem resilience and presented embodied reflections on the power of collective knowledge making.

A visiting delegation of eight child researchers from the Welbeck School (Nottingham, UK) co-facilitated a workshop with YouCount (Norway), and children from Koli, Finland on citizen science guided by the curiosity of young people. Together they expanded the boundaries of who can meaningfully contribute to knowledge making and asked probing questions such as, “How much nature do children need?”, “Can children be civic leaders?”, and “What happens when childrens’ research findings are placed at the heart of community decision making?”. After a powerful closing statement by the childrens’ delegation, the Lisboa hosts of ECSA2028 set a priority to host even more children as researchers during the 7th ECSA conference.

The conference closed with two widely attended public events, the first-ever international Citizen Science Festival, and an expert panel discussion on “What is your North?”. The Citizen Science festival was held at the Valkea mall and hosted over 20 Finnish and international projects offering hands-on engaging activities. The local newspaper Kaleva, wrote that the festival taught the public that engaging with science can be as easy as, “collecting poop, photographing destruction, or reporting on junk”. The final event of the week was a lively public roundtable at Restaurant Tuba, where a panel of authors, researchers, and cultural leaders explored the question “What is your North?” in an accessible, bilingual format. North was discussed as an ever-changing compass that represents an exceptional example, a site of social political challenges, a landscape on the periphery, and a home-base that many return to.

Several research programmes at the University of Oulu were vital in making this transformative event possible. Biodiverse Anthropocenes (ANTS), Safeguarding Biodiversity Through Interdisciplinary Research on Habitat Restoration (SAFIRE), and Innovative Community Engagement for Building Effective Resilience and Arctic-Ocean Pollution-Control Governance in the Context of Climate Change (ICEBERG) played key roles in establishing the interdisciplinary foundations of the conference through workshops, panel discussions, the Rhizome Salon, and project presentations at the Citizen Science Festival. The public panel discussion was made possible by Eudaimonia Institute for Human Sciences.

Together, these elements made the event not just a conference but a scientific and cultural milestone for Oulu and beyond. In strong support of University of Oulu’s “Northern Handprint is Global” strategy, ECSA2026 challenged and expanded the boundaries of what science is and whom it should belong and how we can become more innovative and resilient together.