On Friday 13 February, the headquarters of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) hosted the event Citizen Science and New Rurality, a gathering driven by our member organisation El Hueco that placed a powerful idea at its centre: knowledge is not the exclusive patrimony of laboratories, but a collective construction with genuine capacity to transform territories.
Far from being an academic conversation, the event was a declaration of intent. Citizen science and new rurality not as abstract concepts, but as concrete tools for confronting the major social challenges of the rural environment: depopulation, ecological transition, access to services, social cohesion, quality employment and youth rootedness.
A timely tradition: knowledge in the service of the common good
During the opening, Joaquín Alcalde, Director of El Hueco, evoked the figure of Julián Sanz del Río and his defence of knowledge in the service of the common good, and of Francisco Giner de los Ríos, with whom the Institución Libre de Enseñanza was born — the seed of scientific modernisation in Spain and a direct antecedent of today’s CSIC.
That tradition (the harmony between reason, ethics and nature; science connected with reality; education for citizenship) is what is updated today under the umbrella of citizen science.
As was recalled at the event: ‘we all know everything together’. This phrase encapsulates the essence of an approach that understands the generation of knowledge as an open, participatory and profoundly democratic process.
Projects demonstrating that another way of doing science is possible
The event made it possible to learn about concrete experiences that ground citizen science in the territory and connect it directly with the social challenges of the rural environment.
Some of the projects presented included:
- Ciencia en la Aldea, driven by Alberto Uría, which brings scientific research and outreach to small municipalities, activating scientific curiosity and strengthening the bond between community and natural environment.
- Proyecto BURARO, presented by David González Álvarez (INCIPIT-CSIC), focused on the historical archaeology of rural landscapes as a tool for understanding territorial evolution and reinforcing local identity.
- Espiciencia, an initiative by Bárbara de Aymerich, which promotes scientific learning communities from the rural sphere, integrating STEAM education and citizen participation.
- Raimat Community Foundation, presented by Elena Carandini de Raventós, an example of how scientific innovation applied to the agrifood sector can generate economic, environmental and social sustainability over the long term.
- Plastic Pirates and Mar de Limpio, presented by Virginia Fuentes (Fundación Oxígeno), a citizen science project for the analysis of waste in rivers and beaches that makes the population — especially young people — the protagonists of environmental monitoring.
- Paisaje Cultural, presented by Juan José Asensio, which highlights collaborative inventories of vernacular architecture as a tool for heritage conservation and territorial development.
Each of these inspiring projects addresses, from different angles, structural challenges of the rural environment: ecological transition, heritage conservation, scientific education, agrifood sustainability or community activation. They are impact solutions that generate useful evidence for decision-making, strengthen local social capital, increase governance capacity and turn citizens into active agents of development.
Taken together, these initiatives demonstrate that new rurality is not only a demographic or economic question, but also a cultural and cognitive one: it concerns who produces knowledge, for what purpose and in the service of which model of territory.
New rurality: infrastructure yes, but above all people and knowledge
One of the central messages was clear: new rurality is not built solely with infrastructure or economic incentives. It is built with engaged people, shared knowledge and sustainable development.
In this regard, it was announced that citizen science will play a central role in the 10th edition of Presura, the national fair for rural repopulation driven by El Hueco. Additionally, work is under way to drive citizen science projects in the approximately 90 municipalities that make up the National Network of Welcoming Villages.
For the impact ecosystem, this opens a strategic opportunity: to articulate financing, accompaniment and metrics that recognise the value of these community processes as levers for structural transformation.
Citizen science can contribute directly to several of the major social challenges that SpainNAB has been identifying, turning the rural environment into a living laboratory of solutions for society as a whole — challenges such as a just transition, territorial cohesion, education and skills development connecting science, schools and territory, democratic participation and governance, and the attraction and retention of talent.
Shared knowledge is not merely a cultural value or an intangible asset: it is a strategic asset for development and for the generation of measurable, lasting impact.
