A global Bioblitz competition
The Countdown to the City Nature Challenge 2024, from April 26 to April 29, has started!
The City Nature Challenge is an international Bioblitz-like friendly competition to identify and record plants and wildlife in cities across the globe, reporting the most possible observations of nature and species, and engage as many people as possible.
A ‘BioBlitz’ - Bio = life, Blitz = to do something quickly and intensively - is a concerted effort to identify and record as many living organisms as possible in a location over a limited time period (usually 24 to 36 hours).
A BioBlitz is a Citizen Science activity, i.e. active involvement of the public in scientific projects, through the collection, analysis and interpretation of data for scientific purposes and is an incredible opportunity to share expertise and enthusiasm for nature.
At international level, the first Citizen Science networks date back to 2013, when associations based in the United States (Csa), and Australia (Acsa) were established to promote the exchange of good practices and involvement in decision-making processes.
The European Citizen Science Association (ECSA) was established in 2014, with the main goals to increase the democratization of science, encourage the growth of Citizen Science in Europe, and support the participation of the general public in research processes - across natural sciences, social sciences, and art.
Several national associations have been created in Europe. On February 17, 2023, in Italy, a group of scientists and supporters of Citizen Science founded Citizen Science Italia ETS. EASIN dedicated webpage contains infos on Citizen Science projects in Europe.
To join the City Nature Challenge 2024 in your city, you can download the iNaturalist App and follow the instructions on the project website. You can also download the EASIN App and report the alien species you might observe.
Have fun and enjoy!