Citizen Science Projects

The GROMADA project launched the student driven citizen science projects under the leadership of ONU. These projects aimed to apply citizen science principles for assessing various environmental issues in Ukraine, focusing on revealing the war damage to the local ecosystems. See below the projects. They are dived-in field-based projects taking place in the region of Odesa and desk-based projects.

The team of experts from all the GROMADA partners provided their state-of-the-art expertise on citizen science, environmental research and project development and worked with the students to analyze the data.

Field-based Projects

Microplastic Free Shore

The project aims to assist scientists in gathering valuable data on microplastics from various beaches in Odessa, as well as contributing to the development of a European-wide microplastics database. The project team will collect data on the growing presence of microplastics in the sand along the Black Sea shore.
The data will be collected in March 2025 from selected beaches in Odessa. The scope of the project is limited to Odessa, the largest Ukrainian city, port, and resort on the Black Sea coast.

The Satellite Remote Sensing

This project aims to assess the environmental consequences of the destruction of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station (HPP) due to military actions in Ukraine, focusing on its impact on the hydroecological conditions of the Black Sea’s coastal waters. By integrating hydrological, hydrobiological, hydrochemical, and radiometric measurements with satellite data, the study will evaluate changes in water quality, suspended matter distribution, and biological indicators, particularly chlorophyll-a concentrations. The findings will provide critical insights into the long-term consequences of war-related environmental disasters and their effects on marine ecosystems.

Climate-Resilient Urban Planning and Reconstruction in Post-War Ukraine.

This project aims to deploy climate monitoring stations in war-affected urban areas to collect data on temperature, humidity, pressure, and wind. By monitoring microclimatic conditions, the project will inform optimal construction decisions, ensuring favorable microclimate conditions for energy efficiency, green infrastructure, and ventilation corridors. The project will also establish a citizen science network for real-time climate monitoring using low-cost, Arduino-based sensors. These sensors will be strategically placed across the war-affected regions to gather climate data, which will be shared on open platforms such as ThingsBoard. This initiative will empower local communities to actively contribute to the recovery process and climate resilience planning.

Air Quality: The Field Research Project

The destruction caused by the war in Ukraine has greatly affected air quality, with more pollution from things like explosions, fires, and damaged buildings. This has led to higher levels of harmful particles (from PM2.5 to PM10) and gases (CO2, O3), which are dangerous to public health and make recovery more difficult. However, there is not enough data on local air pollution, which makes it harder to make good decisions for rebuilding and ensuring safety. This project aims to create a citizen science network for real-time air quality monitoring using low-cost Arduino-based sensors. These sensors will be placed in various places in Odesa affected by the war to collect environmental data, which will be shared on open platforms like ThingsBoard. This will help communities see pollution trends, find pollution hotspots, and contribute to recovery planning.

Environment: War Impact on Regional Development in terms of SDG

This project aims to assess the state of the territory in terms of sustainable development, taking into account environmental and economic indicators. The team will collect information on the state of the environment and indicators of economic development of the territory. The collected data is the basis for the formation of a database that can be used to calculate the environmental dimension index and the economic dimension index. In order to assess the state of the territory in terms of sustainable development and the impact of the military actions, the recommended period for analysis should be at least 5 years, including the pre-war years.

Assessment of Damage to Nature Reserve Areas Due to Military Aggression by Russia

This project aims to assess the extent of damage to nature reserves as a result of military aggression by Russia. The team will search for information on the loss of certain species of flora and fauna, and changes in the original state of protected areas. The data obtained will be used to calculate the damage caused by the loss of protected areas, as well as the costs of restoring the territories. The results obtained are the basis for collecting a contribution from Russia for the facts of ecocide caused to the environment.

Microdoctors for sea health

The potential of marine bacteria to kill pathogenic microorganisms in the sea and other water bodies will be investigated using databases with open data from other researchers. We will evaluate the range of antibiotics that marine bacteria can produce to compete with dangerous bacteria that can appear in water bodies sue to infrastructure damages. Possibility to create microbial preparations for water sanitation will be revealed.

Air Pollution from the Destruction of Military Equipment:

This project aims to assess the extent of damage caused to the airspace in Ukraine as a result of the destruction of Russian occupiers' military equipment. The team will monitor the destruction of the number of units of military equipment by type. The data obtained will be used to calculate the emissions of some pollutants into the air and the amount of damage caused. The results obtained are the basis for collecting a contribution from Russia for the facts of ecocide caused to the environment.

Design: Claire Fragkiadaki, Web2Learn

Citizen Science Projects