The 6th European Citizen Science Association Conference brings together a wide range of participants from across Europe and beyond. Hosted by the University of Oulu in the year the city holds the title of European Capital of Culture, the conference provides a forum for exchange between citizen science practitioners, researchers, policymakers, activists, artists and community representatives.

Under the theme Citizen Science bridging Centre and Periphery, the conference explores how citizen science operates across diverse regional contexts, from metropolitan centres to remote northern and southern areas. The programme combines scientific sessions, collaborative formats and public events, offering opportunities to reflect on citizen science’s role in sustainability, culture, governance and public engagement, while fostering inclusive dialogue and long-term collaboration.

The National Monitoring Centre for Biodiversity is part of the ECSA working group 'Biodiversity Monitoring' and will actively participate in conference workshop 12: ‘Biodiversity Monitoring and Enforcement across Centre and Periphery: exploring the interplay between Citizen Science, Technology, Law and Policy’. Together with our partners from the Museum of Natural History Berlin, we will discuss how citizen science contributes to national biodiversity monitoring and which approaches can be used to strengthen citizen science-based monitoring activities. Drawing on the experiences and results gained from previous workshops and an online survey, we will present gaps, barriers and success factors for citizen science in biodiversity monitoring and invite discussion on capacity building and data integration.