Urban Klima 2050 launches a platform with citizen science tools to involve people in climate action

05/06/2025

The LIFE IP Urban Klima 2050 project has introduced a new section on its website entitled "Citizen Cience Platform", a space designed to bring climate action closer to citizens through citizen science and facilitate their active participation in climate change adaptation.

This new section includes three tools developed within the framework of the project that enable key information to be compiled for the monitoring and management of the territory, with the collaboration of citizens. The first of these tools, Lurzain, is already available, while the other two will be activated soon.

Lurzain: soil health assessment

Lurzain is a web application developed by Neiker that enables citizens to collaborate in the assessment and sustainable management of soils. Thanks to the involvement of volunteers, this tool facilitates the compilation of data on the state of soil in a straightforward way, providing the necessary parameters for its sustainable management.

To improve the accuracy and efficiency of the measurements, in collaboration with the James Hutton Institute in Scotland, the centre has moved towards digitalisation by incorporating an innovative measurement that uses a mobile phone to take images, along with neural network models that estimate key soil properties, such as organic matter, texture and pH.

In this way, Lurzain organises these 12 measurements into 5 key soil functions to sustain life on Earth: plant production, biodiversity promotion, water regulation, fertility maintenance and carbon sequestration.

Access to the platform: Lurzain

Minka/KazkabApp: recording and monitoring of hail episodes

Minka/KazkabApp is a citizen science tool developed by Euskalmet that enables citizens to collaborate in the detection and monitoring of hail episodes, an increasingly frequent and intense meteorological phenomenon due to climate change. Via this application, anyone can send photographs of the hail they observe. This information complements existing detection systems and contributes to improving short-term warnings, as well as to increasing knowledge of the effects of climate change on this type of storms.

NbS-CoBAs: assessment of the psychosocial benefits of urban naturalisation

NbS-CoBAs is a tool designed to assess the psychosocial co-benefits of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) in urban settings, such as psychological restoration, social cohesion or the perception of safety. Although these interventions are increasingly present in urban regeneration projects, their benefits on people's health and well-being have not yet been studied sufficiently. 

This tool aims to compile the public's perception of various naturalised public spaces in the Basque Country. To do so, users are invited to participate in a study by answering simple questionnaires that will help to assess the real impact of these actions on the quality of life in cities.