Unlocking Nature with Data: Designing Citizen Science Tools for Impact

How can we combine policy, citizen science and ecological data to drive real-world change? Join Outlandish at London Data Week as we take a data walk around Finsbury Park and learn about two emerging tech-for-good solutions - Pollenize and Greentalk - designed to support biodiversity and local nature recovery efforts.

We’ll also hear from Tranquil City, an environmental research company that combines scientific evidence with practical solutions to increase connection with nature, and the team at The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park’s Innovation District, who foster innovation on the challenges facing city life.

Together we’ll dive into how data, community participation and digital tools can help deliver on policy and encourage public action, and a codesign session will see us tackling common community + data challenges.

Who's it for?

This event is for anyone interested in or working at the intersection of communities and delivering government policies around the local environment. i.e.:

• local council teams
• NGOs and researchers
• academics
• community groups

What we'll do

🔍 10am: A Participatory Dive into Community Participation & Ecological Data – During a live walk and “bioblitz” data gathering around Finsbury Park’s park, we’ll explore how citizen science data can be used to deliver on environmental policies.

**Please note we will email the exact location in Finsbury Park to meet closer to the time.

🗣️ 11am: Panel Presentation + Q&A – Back at SPACE4, our coworking space nearby, hear from the teams about the challenges and opportunities of working with communities, businesses, statutory bodies and ecological data. Plus work with the teams in a codesign session to collaboratively solve data+community challenges.

⚙️ 12pm: Facilitated Networking – Take part in a structured networking session for attendees to connect with others and get useful takeaways for public-engagement data projects.

On the panel

Greentalk specialise in connecting people to their landscape, empowering them to take action and improve it. Their data platform forms a bridge between local government, property estate managers and residents, enabling the collaborative delivery of nature recovery and green infrastructure projects. https://www.greentalklabs.com/

Pollenize works with businesses and communities to help create, survey and protect habitats for pollinators, which play a vital role in maintaining a healthy ecosystem and the provision of food for wildlife and humans. https://www.pollenize.org.uk/

Tranquil City is an environmental research and innovation company that research, create and scale practical ideas that have the power to transform cities and lifestyles to be healthy, green and sustainable. https://tranquilcity.co.uk/

Nick Turner is a civic technologist, data and digital innovation expert, recently working with the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park Innovation District. The Innovation District supports startups, businesses, innovators and academics to improve local outcomes and helps set the standard for sustainable cities worldwide. http://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholas-turner941

What you'll gain

✅ A better understanding of how citizen science data and communities can work together for local environmental action.

✅ Hands-on experience in using data-driven tools for nature recovery

✅ Opportunities to codesign two community + ecological data-driven projects

✅ Connections with others working at the intersection of communities, data, and nature regeneration.

We charge a £5 deposit to get a better idea of how many people will actually attend our events. We refund this £5 within 3 working days of the event ending. If you are unable to pay please don't hesitate to email space4@outlandish.com and we will register you for free.

About Outlandish

Outlandish Co-operative is a digital agency and worker-cooperative committed to creating social and economic change. We work on technology that makes the world a fairer, better place: from web apps, data dashboards and monitoring tools that aid the discovery of new insights from complex data, to mass-impact campaigns and websites that promote your causes and mobilise your key audiences.

SPACE4 is our affordable work, networking and training space in North London. We use it to invest in our local community, democratic business, and social movements. We are a hub for social innovators and digital activists. Don’t hesitate to get in touch or visit us.