MICS developed the first (software) platform to quantify the impact of citizen science, available at [https://mics.tools/]. The impact assessment of the MICS platform is based on an extremely comprehensive analysis of the state of the art in impact assessment related to citizen science (literature and methodologies). The impact assessment of the MICS platform uses a vastly more significant number of indicators (200) with respect to any previous methodology. These indicators characterise citizen science with an unprecedented depth and can be used by citizen-science projects not only to measure their impact but also to understand better the relation between the project activities and their impact, and consequently to improve the design of the project and its impact. This better understanding is also facilitated by the most extensive knowledge base on impact assessment in citizen science that the project made available at [https://about.mics.tools/] and that includes the complete documentation related to the project. Everything produced by MICS (deliverables, publications, methodologies, processed data, software code, algorithms) is available in the public domain and can be freely accessed and reused for any purpose and without restrictions. The MICS platform’s open and free availability should also facilitate its use when a new project is designed, to simulate its potential future impact, and by funding bodies, to measure, aggregate and compare the impact of the projects they support.
More specifically, the MICS consortium of leading citizen-science and NBS institutions progressed beyond the state of the art by:
• developing metrics and instruments to measure costs and benefits of citizen science, with particular attention to the domains of society, governance, the economy, the environment, and science and technology [https://about.mics.tools/];
• providing an integrated platform to apply these metrics and instruments [https://mics.tools/];
• considering best practices in the co-creation of hands-on citizen science validated in case-study sites across Europe;
• producing a comprehensive conceptual framework and clear recommendations [https://about.mics.tools/].
The MICS project, in case-study sites across Europe, also explored the applicability and usefulness of citizen-science co-creation tools in regions with differing needs, contexts, conditions, constraints and approaches to NBSs, and with various levels of citizen-science application and uptake. In some of the sites selected, MICS adopted the FreshWater Watch method [https://freshwaterwatch.thewaterhub.org/] which citizens used to monitor nitrates and phosphates in freshwater ecosystems.
The platform, the data and the totality of the results of MICS are openly available for use by anyone involved in a citizen-science project wanting to understand its impact, whether at the planning stage, during the project or after the project’s conclusion. The MIS impact-assessment tools apply to any citizen-science project, and MICS is collaborating with platforms like EU-Citizen.Science and the European Open Science Cloud to integrate the developed tools into those platforms.
Finally, the new MICS metrics and instruments can be used to measure the impact of citizen science in relation to the sustainable development goals (SDGs).
