The recognition and enhancement of citizen science have led to the adoption of public policies and specific initiatives in many countries. This progress is based on conceptual and strategic frameworks of international reference, among which stand out:
- White Paper on Citizen Science for Europe (Socientize, 2014)
- Embedding Citizen Science into Research Policy. Final Report (OECD Global Science Forum, 2024).
The citizen science developed by Spanish groups and entities has maintained for more than a decade a relevant presence in the research programs of the European Union. This trajectory begins in the 7th Framework Programme with the Socientize project (2012‑2014), which gave rise to the White Paper on Citizen Science for Europe, and is especially consolidated from the Horizon 2020 programme.
According to data from the Observatory of Citizen Science in Spain (Sanz et al., 2020), un total de 77 entidades españolas participaron en proyectos europeos de ciencia ciudadana, superando en número a países como Reino Unido e Italia. In addition, 36.4% of these projects were coordinated by national entities, which demonstrates the leadership capacity of the Spanish ecosystem.
Under the current Horizon Europe programme, Spanish participation reached 99 projects as of February 2026, with a return of more than 112 million euros in European funding. It should be noted that 46 of these projects involve the participation of small and medium-sized enterprises, which reflects the evolution of citizen science from a predominantly academic approach towards its integration in processes of innovation and knowledge transfer. The leadership of these initiatives is distributed among different agencies, with a special relevance of the Higher Council of Scientific Research (CSIC) in the number of projects.
In the field of international recognition, various initiatives with Spanish participation have received awards from the European Union. In 2024, the INCREASE project, with INIA‑CSIC as one of its main partners, won the Citizen Science Grand Prix, while the CoAct for Mental Health project, led by the University of Barcelona, was awarded the prize in the category of Digital Communities. Likewise, in the 2025 edition, six projects coordinated by Spanish entities received honorable mentions for the quality and impact of their technical results.
The structural consolidation of citizen science in Europe is currently progressing through the RIECS-Concept project. This initiative, led by the Ibercivis Foundation and with the participation of the CSIC together with 14 other European institutions, aims to design a common research infrastructure that strengthens and gives sustainability to citizen science at European level.