Citizen Science - Working together!
Your environment needs you!
Citizen science is ‘the collection of data and information by communities for scientific purposes’. You can help provide invaluable data and evidence about our water environment. If you're not already involved, you could make a big difference by joining us.
Supporting Citizen Science spotlight
Find out the latest highlight from Supporting Citizen Science. This section will update quarterly.
April 2026
The Rivers Trust’s Big River Watch is back!
This is your week-long chance to take action for our vital rivers and report on the health of your local river using the free #BigRiverWatch app.
This time last year, nearly 4,000 people took part, together, they helped to record over 1,700 signs of pollution, 1,000 signs of litter and nearly 150 kingfishers.
Helping our precious rivers couldn’t be easier! 💙
- Download the free Big River Watch app
- Spend 15 minutes observing your local river
- Answer the easy in-app survey and upload!
No training, no expertise, no experience needed.
Big River Watch isn’t just for big rivers. Spotting issues and sources of pollution is often easier in our smaller streams, tributaries, and headwaters.
Head to The Rivers Trusts live map to find unsurveyed spots near you and head out between the 24th and 30th of April and put your local river on the map.
What will you see?
Get involved
You will find ways to participate all over our water hub, and citizen science can be a fantastic way for us to work together by:
- Supporting communities to connect to their local environment.
- Bringing together local stakeholders and decision makers.
- Enabling collaborative action and support.
There are so many opportunities to take part in citizen science and help your environment. Find out more below!
Priority Pond Assessment (PASS)
WaterWatch - Our Hello Lamp Post Project
We are piloting this novel approach for collecting and sharing data and information. Users can take part in a two-way conversation, asking questions about their local environment and answering questions about what they can see. Helping the Environment gather more data on how many people are using the water and for what purpose.
You can find out more about the project and how you can help us collect valuable data on our bathing waters by visiting our WaterWatch - Hello Lamp Post page.
This ongoing project adds to our recently published report into water recreational use across England that gives robust and insightful data on how people use our waterways for the first time.
Come and join us!
We've love for you to subscribe to our page and become part of our community for future events, news updates, webinars and participation opportunities.
Here's how to join us:
- Create an account here on Engagement HQ.
- Once you have an account, come back to this page and hit the green subscribe button.
By subscribing to our page, you'll give giving us permission to contact you with page updates.
Families
Find out more about our summer residency at the London Science Museum this year.
Head to our Families Water Hub page
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What citizen scientists are telling us about bathing waters through AI signposts
Valuable new information about how and when people use popular bathing waters has become available, ten months after AI-powered signage was launched at pilot sites around England. Read the latest blog.
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Citizen Science and the Environment Agency
The Environment Agency is working with partners to develop tools, guidance and frameworks to support a standardised and connected approach to citizen science monitoring of the water environment.
View our latest gov.uk blog to find out more: Citizen Science and the Environment Agency – Creating a better place
Videos
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The supporting citizen science end of phase A event brought together citizen scientists and Environment Agency staff to celebrate learning, collaboration and achievements from the project. This included talks about the Technical Advisory Framework, Riverfly, CaSTCo and citizen science on the Lark/Wensum and River Brent.
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