Editor’s choice
Editor’s choice
Inclusive Citizen Science is SEI York’s citizen science research group. We research, use and improve best practice in citizen science and inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability. Our goal is to empower citizens of the world, enhancing research and improving lives.
We use citizen science methods to conduct impactful research on air pollution, water quality, biodiversity, health and wellbeing. We also undertake research around the practice of citizen science, with a particular interest in who participates, what motivates them to participate and what they gain from participating.
Established in 2008, we are the longest-running academic research group on citizen science in the UK. (Read the history of the group.) Our research is used to guide the design of citizen science projects to make them more inclusive and rewarding for those taking part. Read about the 10 principles of citizen science and learn why participant diversity matters. In 2026, we launched Citizen Science UK — a resource hub for CS researchers and practitioners in the UK.
All of our projects are carried out in partnership with other organizations, including other research organizations, NGOs, community groups, schools, local authorities and the private sector. We also have a growing number of PhD students exploring a range of topics around citizen science projects.
We consider ‘inclusive’ citizen science to be citizen science research and activity which strives for the equitable involvement of diverse societal groups and individuals in scientific research, actively encouraging and supporting participation from individuals and communities often excluded from decision-making processes and creating spaces where their voices can be amplified and experiences understood and valued.
If you’d like to work with us on a project or as a PhD student, please get in touch with our Research Coordinator, Lucy Way.
Community engagement. Photo: Dario Valenzuela / Unsplash
Photo: Dario Valenzuela / Unsplash
Event on 26 June in Madrid / Sarah Foster will explain how creative approaches can make climate change and sustainability education more accessible, emotional and actionable.
Event on 01 July in Leeds / Join us in Leeds for a day of research and collaboration focused on the impact of indoor environments on child and adolescent health.
Find recordings, slide sets, posters and other outputs from our past events.
Past event / SEI York researchers are taking part in four activities during the University of York's annual flagship event series.
Past event / This webinar explored how community energy in the UK can scale social and environmental impact, through citizen-led insights from SEI York's research.
Past event / Luke Gooding presented a new paper which focuses on scaling participatory retrofit across diverse housing stocks.
Past event / In this third CHILI seminar, Sarah West spoke about citizen science and its growing role in understanding the environments we live in.
Past event / Access materials on how to embed equity, accessibility and diversity across citizen science projects and design projects to foster nature connectedness.
Past event / What are the gaps, challenges, and opportunities for future health research studies in the UK? Join the Air Hub for an interactive workshop.
Past event / Watch the first in the CHILI seminar series, which brought together experts to explore children’s learning environments and health.
Past event / At Retrofit Futures 2025, Luke Gooding shared insights on how local One Stop Shops drive fair retrofit and strengthen community-led climate action.
Past event / At Communicate 2025, join Sarah West and Emily Boxall for a fast-paced showcase of creative, collaborative methods that spark Ecological Citizenship.
Past event / NSUP hosted Luke Gooding and other experts to explore the North Sea’s role in Europe’s green transition, energy security and sustainable innovation.
Past event / We gathered in Derby, UK for a one-day festival exploring creative, practical approaches to ecological citizenship through workshops, food and dialogue.
Past event / Join SEI and Tim Braunholtz-Speight to explore business models and possible innovations in the community energy space in an online Q&A session on 4 September.
Past event / Join SEI and Fraser Stewart to explore Just Transitions in UK community energy during a live Q&A on 19 August.
Past event / Join SEI and guest speaker Breffní Lennon to explore more human(e) stakeholder engagement in community energy during a live Q&A on 24 July.
Past event / Join SEI and Luke Gooding to explore inclusive governance in UK community energy during a live Q&A on 6 August.
Past event / Read the paper on regenerative retrofitting and ecological citizenship which Luke Gooding presented at Cumulus Nantes 2025.
Past event / Sarah Laptain explored effective uses of citizen science to enable more inclusive public engagement and representation in cultural heritage.
Past event / Discover ways to achieve enduring impact from environmental citizen science projects in schools, based on Smriti Safaya's research in Hong Kong and the UK.
Feature / Watch SEI York researchers introduce different citizen science concepts and methods and explain how we are using them in our projects.
Feature / Smriti Safaya gives us a flavour of the varied activities she gets involved in as a citizen science researcher at our York centre.
Feature / Learn how citizen science methodologies can be valuable at different stages of the research process, and the benefits (and costs) of different approaches.
Feature / Learn how our group has evolved over 18 years to focus on improving best practice in citizen science and inclusive engagement for environmental sustainability.
Press release / Ecological Citizen(s) Network+ awards funding to 15 projects empowering communities to explore ecological citizenship and drive sustainable change.
Press release / SEI will help lead research to monitor and tackle pollution in Yorkshire's rivers and lakes, announced this press release from the University of York.
Feature / In this Q&A, Rachel Pateman, a Research Fellow at SEI York, discusses the importance of inclusivity in volunteer biological recording.
Feature / On UK Clean Air Day, SEI York researchers explore the potential for UK-led initiatives to inspire and guide global policies and actions toward cleaner air.
Perspective / "Scientists, teachers and pupils are working together to evaluate air quality in UK classrooms" writes Sarah West in Air Quality News Magazine.
Feature / Smriti explains how York residents can contribute to this international event by recording wildlife they see and why she is passionate about citizen science.
Feature / Co-created citizen science empowers communities, reshaping research to reflect their real needs and priorities.
Other publication / Principles like co-creation, reflexivity and transparency are well suited to tackle the current socio-environmental polycrises.
Other publication / Why does creative and arts-based educational research matter? How does it contribute to larger conversations in environmental sustainability education?
Journal article / The authors engage with debates on ecological citizenship and design justice by reflecting on the co-creation of a bespoke, future-visioning card deck.
Other publication / Retrofitting can be about more than just energy efficiency; it can enhance nature connectedness, circularity and can heighten a sense of ecological citizenship.
Other publication / An ambitious initiative providing highly affordable housing in exchange for citizens making their communities healthier, greener, stronger and more joyful.
Journal article / Eight UK organizations who run volunteer biological recording schemes gathered to evaluate their engagement and activities with underrepresented groups.
Other publication / Introducing a new methodology for designers, technologists and citizens to engage with technologies in an ecologically interdependent world.
Journal article / Data from surveys, interviews and written responses are used to explore the strategies used and challenges faced by organizers of citizen science events.
Journal article / Technological development should centre environmental values to ensure an equitable digital transformation which benefits human and planetary wellbeing.
Journal article / SAMHE data shows that particulate matter levels in UK schools are heavily influenced by outdoor air quality.
Journal article / Authors offered eight key recommendations for co-designing, implementing and evaluating effective microbiology citizen science research.
Journal article / Explores how ecological citizenship is communicated, understood and implemented by stakeholders, and considers how to promote wider use of the practice.
Journal article / Reflecting on projects conducted in Kenya and Thailand, researchers have produced a six-step methodology to support others using citizen science approaches.
Journal article / INGENIOUS project researchers studied indoor air quality in 300+ Bradford homes, linking pollutants to cooking and ventilation practices.
Other publication / This two-page brief brings together SAMHE's findings and other evidence on air quality in UK schools and makes recommendations for policy and practice.
Journal article / This paper shares learnings from a discussion on co-creation practices across Europe, which we led at the 2024 European Citizen Science Association conference.
Journal article / By empowering communities and adopting participatory approaches, citizen science projects generate essential knowledge that informs decision-making processes.
Journal article / Using arts-based approaches, researchers worked with communities in Nairobi to empower people to take action on air pollution.
Journal article / The SAMHE Web App was co-designed with schools to ensure maximum acceptance and engagement by teachers and pupils, as this is critical to the project's success.
Journal article / Authors assessed the experiences of 87 citizen scientists in a project in Hong Kong. Their findings offer useful insights for citizen science implementation.
Journal article / This article advocated for greater understanding of barriers to participation in citizen science projects and suggested methods for improving impact.
Journal article / Who takes part in citizen science and how do we engage those who don't?
Journal article / Using Internet platforms to help parents ask questions they wanted answered by scientific research and to build their confidence in assessing research evidence.
Other publication / Citizen science is a rapidly expanding field. These ten principles are presented as a framework to foster excellence.
Journal article / This article provides an overview of key terms used in citizen science drawn from a broad range of practitioners.
Journal article / Read a review of the literature on why people start and continue participating in citizen science projects and learn how to run successful projects.
Other publication / A study to investigate people's motivations for citizen science, commissioned by the UK Environmental Observation Framework.
Project / CS Co-labs supports researchers to use citizen science and other participatory methods to deliver high quality, inclusive, and robust sustainability research.
Tool / CHEPA is an easy-to-use calculator that helps schools assess how a HEPA filter impacts classroom air quality and energy use.
Project / A UK-wide collaboration working to transform access to environmental careers for people of colour.
Project / An interdisciplinary network set up to understand particulate matter in indoor air, its health impacts and effective and equitable ways to address it.
Project / AQuA will create an inclusive and diverse community of practice to monitor Yorkshire’s waterways and improve the value of aquatic citizen science.
Project / CHILI aims to ensure that we support and improve children’s health and education as school and nursery buildings are adapted for energy efficiency.
Project / The Ecological Citizen(s) project cultivates trans-disciplinary collaboration and research to enable a digital sustainable society for positive climate action.
Project / Working to co-create a toolkit with UK-based teachers to deliver practical and investigative projects that integrate citizen science into their lessons.
Project / Working with young people to co-design relevant mental health research by identifying and addressing priority research questions.
Project / We’ve delivered a co-designed web-based tool to enable schools to see the costs and benefits of installing HEPA filter units.
Project / A citizen science project monitoring indoor air, created with and for UK schools.
Project / This project investigates air pollutants inside homes in the city of Bradford, UK: their sources, interactions and health effects on those living there.
Project / We worked with Hertfordshire County Council, using SAMHE to evaluate how using HEPA filters in schools affects air quality.
Project / A partnership with STEM Learning to use SAMHE (Schools’ Air quality Monitoring for Health and Education) to support schools in Educational Improvement Areas.
Project / Investigating if and how hands-on experiences with nature impact values, attitudes and pro-environmental behaviour amongst secondary school students.
Project / Exploring the feasibility of citizen science to improve WASH conditions in two districts of Mexico City.
Project / Novel methods to map the social and cultural value of trees to inform policy decisions regarding urban treescapes.
Project / Delivering Enhanced Biodiversity Information with Adaptive Citizen Science and Intelligent Digital Engagements
Project / Improving understanding about early life origins, burden, determinants, and prognostic significance of non-communicable lung disease in Kenya.
Project / Surveillance and Management of multiple Risks to Treescapes: Integrating Epidemiology and Stakeholder behaviour.
Project / The AIR (Action for Interdisciplinary Air Pollution Research) Network uses a transdisciplinary method to address air pollution in informal settlements in Kenya.
Project / Access to safe drinking water continues to be a challenge globally. This project uses a participatory approach for technology innovation in Vanuatu.
Project / Air pollution is a serious threat to the health of humans and ecosystems, yet is largely invisible and so out of the public consciousness.
Project / Towards healthy communities: Citizen science for improved air quality in Nairobi and Addis Ababa is a project addressing health problems from air pollution.
Project / A study to investigate people's motivations for taking part in citizen science on behalf of the UK Environmental Observatory Framework (UKEOF).
Project / A project to assess levels of knowledge and people's understandings of air pollution and see whether this changes over time.
Project / A Community Science Project in the Peak District National Park and surrounding areas.
Project / The OPAL project encourages people to get back in touch with nature by enabling them to explore and study their local environments.
