Involving students in invasive alien species monitoring: education and engagement

Invasive alien species (IAS) affect all kind of environments, including rivers and lakes in urban areas, putting at risk ecosystems, their services and human activities. People can actively contribute to early detection and monitoring of IAS trough Citizen Science (CS), helping to achieve the European policy biodiversity goals, including those of the EU Regulation 1143/2014 on IAS. The European Alien Species Information Network (EASIN), facilitates access to information on alien species occurring in Europe in support to policy and scientific research on IAS. Moreover, it is committed to CS and public engagement through the development of dedicated tools and information material for the public, with focus on the educational and teaching community. A smartphone app "Invasive Alien Species in Europe", a CS projects web page repository, and a communication strategy, including Social Media and participation to science popularization events, aim at creating a European-wide community of interest and participation around IAS issues. In addition, the board game “Have you seen an alien? focused on rivers as pathways of introduction and spread of alien species, has been developed and tested in different contexts with students and teachers. Our experience shows that direct interactions with teachers and students in science popularization events provides personalized feedback, considering participants´ objectives and expectations. Learning from these interactions greatly helps improving communication with potential citizen scientists, contributes to update the IAS app features, and supports public engagement in the early detection, monitoring, and management of IAS. High attention is dedicated to providing swift feedback to enquiries and contributions from participants, to keep interest around the subject, and promote long-term engagement in biodiversity and ecosystems conservation.

GERVASINI Eugenio;  LOPEZ CANIZARES Celia;  DE JESUS CARDOSO Ana; 

2026-07-30

CNR Edizioni ROMA

JRC121734

9788880804246 (online),   

https://www.cnr.it/sites/default/files/public/media/attivita/editoria/9788880804246_DaylightingRivers_ConferenceProceedings_0.pdf,    https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC121734,   

10.26388/IBE201201 (online),