The INCREASE project was announced in June 2024 as the winner of the 2024 European Citizen Science Award. Now, during the Ars Electronica Festival, which took place in Linz, Austria, from September 4th to 8th, the INCREASE team had the honor of officially receiving this prestigious award.
The Ars Electronica Festival is an international event where science, technology, art, and ecology intersect, held annually. This year's festival was themed "HOPE: Who Will Turn the Tide?", inviting people from around the world to explore innovative ideas and participate in interactive experiences. The award ceremony took place on September 5th at the Design Center Linz, where 13 renowned awards were presented, including the European Citizen Science Award.
This European Union prize aims to recognize "outstanding citizen science initiatives that foster change, expand knowledge, and address social, political, cultural, and environmental challenges through the active engagement of citizens" (European Commission).
Over the past four years, the INCREASE project has stood out for its engagement of citizens in its citizen science experience, which is one of the central pillars of its research. The main goal of this project is to promote agrobiodiversity, inviting European citizens to conserve and characterize different bean varieties through a specially developed app. Since its inception, more than 16,000 dedicated citizens have participated in the project, and the number continues to grow.
The Citizen Science Award recognized the exceptional contribution of INCREASE in advancing knowledge about seed preservation through empowering civil society, particularly citizens from rural areas. In addition to promoting agrobiodiversity and raising awareness about nutrition and environmental sustainability, the project’s coordinator, Prof. Roberto Papa, highlighted the social impact: “The INCREASE citizen science experience has generated great interest from various groups, such as schools and urban gardening communities, and we are extremely happy to see how our project is bringing people together around a common cause.”
The Faculty of Biotechnology (ESB) of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa is one of the active partners in this project, having played a key role in engaging Portuguese citizens in the citizen science experience. Through INCREASE, participants are invited to grow different bean varieties at home, even on a small scale, like a few pots on a balcony.
In Portugal, one of the success stories is the ATL Centro Social do Bairro in Famalicão, which has enthusiastically participated in the project since the first round. The children are involved in the entire process, from growing to consuming the legumes, contributing to greater acceptance of these foods at an early age. Recently, ATL shared on social media a special lunch prepared with legumes grown under the INCREASE initiative, showcasing the educational and nutritional benefits of this effort.
Registrations for the 2024 experience are already closed, but all interested individuals can sign up for the 2025 edition on the project website. More information is available at: https://www.pulsesincrease.eu/pt/experiment
This international recognition reinforces the importance of collaboration between science and citizens in developing solutions to global challenges, such as biodiversity preservation and the promotion of sustainable food systems.
