The Citizen Science Netherlands (CS-NL) network is a community of people engaged in citizen science — from professional and volunteer researchers to active citizen groups and organisations across all sectors of society, including universities, businesses, government bodies, civil society organisations, and interested individuals.
The network’s activities enable people to meet, collaborate, and share knowledge and experiences about participatory research practices that actively involve citizens in the production of knowledge.
With funding from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), Citizen Science Hub Twente coordinates this network in collaboration with Leiden University.
Our Vision
Our vision for the Citizen Science Netherlands (CS-NL) Network is to build a strong, self-sustaining community that brings together all actors involved in participatory research practices — from grassroots organisations and citizen interest groups, to government bodies, private companies, the academic community, and the professional research sector. This includes all levels of education, from research universities to vocational training institutes.
Our Mission
The mission of the CS-NL Network is to establish a supportive ecosystem for open, inclusive, and participatory processes of knowledge creation. We aim to further embed citizen science within open science practices throughout the Netherlands, so that participatory knowledge production — initiated by both citizen scientists and professional researchers — is recognised, valued, and supported as an integral part of mainstream research.
You can find more documentation about CS-NL in our online Zenodo repository, including:
- Our full Vision and Mission Statement for the network
- Our 2024–2028 Budget (also submitted as part of our funding application)
- The report “Kennis & Kracht Gebundeld” (“Knowledge & Power United”)
The CS-NL Network is funded by Open Science NL.
The CS-NL Team
The CS-NL team consists of five people who dedicate part of their time to advancing the goals of the CS-NL Network, thanks to funding from Open Science NL. They are affiliated with Leiden University and the University of Twente:
- Margaret Gold is the CS-NL Network Coordinator (0.2 FTE), based at Leiden University, building on her role as NPOS Citizen Science Programme Line Manager. 📧 margaret@citizenscience.nl
- Anouk Spelt is the CS-NL Community Manager (0.6 FTE), also based at Leiden University, continuing in the role she held in 2022 and 2023. 📧 anouk@citizenscience.nl
- Sümeyye Sahin is the CS-NL Communications Manager (0.6 FTE), based at the University of Twente, bringing her experience as a Communication Officer to the team. 📧 sumeyye@citizenscience.nl
- Saskia Baas - Oude Hilbert is Advisor, based at the University of Twente. 📧 communicatie@citizenscience.nl
- Maya van den Berg is the CS-NL Knowledge Coordinator (0.2 FTE), based at the University of Twente, drawing on her expertise from the European projects INCENTIVE and Time4CS. 📧 maya@citizenscience.nl
If you would like to know more, please contact us via citizen-science@utwente.nl