CROPS aspires to inform and evolve the EU Research & Innovation system so that it can adequately support the transition of citizen science from small-scale to a Europe-wide level, moving it towards a modern, open-science approach. It will identify the most suitable citizen science initiatives for upscaling to the Europe-wide level, and in doing so will develop protocols, resources and examples of best practice for the upscaling of citizen science activities, helping practitioners to fully realise the potential impact of their activities towards the Horizon Europe EU Missions. This support will be tailored to all different types of citizen science, and the different stakeholders that are involved and participation taken. CROPS will also help citizen science practitioners consider inclusivity, public trust and societal impact, whilst being fully aware of data interoperability requirements, sustainability issues and funding approaches when upscaling their activities. 

Through becoming a part of the CROPS family you can:

• Become a founding member of the CROPS Transnational Communities for each EU Mission
• Become a member of the CROPS Special Interest Group (SIG) and get a chance to influence the European Commission’s work on upscaling citizen science
  
• Access CROPS resources and guidance for upscaling citizen science projects
  
• Contribute to and be credited in the CROPS outputs, e.g., scientific papers, policy papers, MOOC, etc.
  
• Get a chance to be featured in the CROPS outputs, e.g., the MOOC, training resources, interviews, citizen science champions work, live events such as webinars
  
• Extend your networks and learn from others’ experiences on upscaling citizen science

Join us! Please click here to show your interest and join the CROPS family!    

Cities play a pivotal role in achieving climate neutrality by 2050, the goal of the European Green Deal. They take up only 4% of the EU’s land area, but they are home to 75% of EU citizens. Furthermore, cities consume over 65% of the world’s energy and account for more than 70% of global CO2 emissions.

Since climate mitigation is heavily dependent on urban action, we need to support cities in accelerating their green and digital transformation. In particular, European cities can substantially contribute to the Green Deal target of reducing emissions by 55% by 2030 and, in more practical terms, to offer cleaner air, safer transport and less congestion and noise to their citizens.

The Cities Mission will involve local authorities, citizens, businesses, investors as well as regional and national authorities to

1. Deliver 100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030 
2. Ensure that these cities act as experimentation and innovation hubs to enable all European cities to follow suit by 2050 

The main goal of the Mission 'A Soil Deal for Europe' is to establish 100 living labs and lighthouses to lead the transition towards healthy soils by 2030.

Life on Earth depends on healthy soils. Soil is the foundation of our food systems. It provides clean water and habitats for biodiversity while contributing to climate resilience. It supports our cultural heritage and landscapes and is the basis of our economy and prosperity.

However, it is estimated that between 60 and 70% of EU soils are unhealthy. Soil is a fragile resource that needs to be carefully managed and safeguarded for future generations. One centimetre of soil can take hundreds of years to form, but can be lost in just a single rainstorm or industrial incident.

The Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change focuses on supporting EU regions, cities and local authorities in their efforts to build resilience against the impacts of climate change.

The Mission contributes to putting the EU’s adaptation strategy in practice by helping the regions to

• better understand the climate risks they are and will be confronted with in the future
• develop their pathways to be better prepared and cope with the changing climate
• test and deploy on the ground innovative solutions needed to build resilience

The Mission’s objective is to accompany by 2030 at least 150 European regions and communities towards climate resilience.