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NODES will mobilize the tools of citizen and data science combined with Earth observations to monitor, analyze, and foster progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
To realize this vision, NODES will exploit novel data ecosystems in which several actors interact via infrastructure, analytics, and applications to produce, analyze, exchange, and consume data.
Three main cross-fertilizing pillars characterize the research focus of NODES:
- Advancing the field of citizen science: NODES will remain at the forefront of citizen science from conceptual advancements to innovations in citizen science practice, including the development of new means to acquire, analyze, and openly share citizen science data, as well as how citizen science can contribute to the SDGs and sustainability.
- Enriching Earth observation: NODES will utilize new types of Earth observation technology (e.g., high-resolution imagery, drones, and the Internet of things (IoT)) and develop applications that focus on the interplay between Earth observation and citizen science using Geo-Wiki tools, various forms of remote sensing, and on-site observation.
- Exploiting the digital revolution: NODES will harness the opportunities arising from the digital revolution by exploiting advancements in computing capabilities, data science (e.g., machine and deep learning), environmental informatics, and the geospatial sciences, among others, to enhance integrated systems science research and generate new and innovative data sets for further insights.
Projects
Urban ReLeaf - Citizen-powered data ecosystems for inclusive and green urban transitions
Open-Earth-Monitor Cyberinfrastructure (OEMC)
Staff
Martin Hofer
Researcher (NODES)
Fernando Orduña-Cabrera
Research Scholar (NODES, EM)
Linda See
Principal Research Scholar (NODES)
Orysia Yashchun
Research Assistant (NODES)
News
20 October 2026
How are nutrition, the gut microbiome, and mental health connected?
Mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression affect millions of people across Europe and are increasingly recognized as closely linked to diet, nutrition, social inequalities and broader lifestyle factors. IIASA researchers are collaborating on new Horizon Europe-funded research project, NUTRIMIND (Understanding Mental Health and Nutrition in Europe), which aims to explore how nutrition, dietary choices, the gut microbiome, and lifestyle factors might interact with mental health.
15 October 2026
MowingQuest system-test campaign 2026 concludes, data collection continues
IIASA’s MowingQuest citizen-science campaign has wrapped up its August–September 2026 system test, with 25 pioneer users submitting almost 800 observations across eight countries. The results will help improve the app and data-quality workflows ahead of the main 2027 campaign. Two participants have also won Garmin GPS watches in the campaign raffle.
24 August 2026
Project "G/ArtenLeben": Turning gardens into biodiversity hotspots together
How can private gardens help support biodiversity in Austria? The new IIASA citizen science project G/ArtenLeben brings science and gardening practice together. At three G/ArtenCafés in Lower Austria, hobby gardeners are invited to contribute their knowledge and experience to research and work alongside scientists to explore how gardening can help biodiversity thrive.
Events
Barcelona, Spain
ENFORCE Annual Project Meeting
Residence Palace, Brussels, Belgium
Final LAMASUS Conference
Barcelona, Spain
Open Earth Monitor Final Workshop 2026
Focus
24 July 2026
Citizen science and the politics of measuring sustainability
How we measure sustainability matters. In a new World View article published in Nature Sustainability, IIASA researcher Dilek Fraisl explores why citizen science and other participatory approaches should play a greater role in developing the indicators and methodologies that guide international action on climate, biodiversity, and sustainable development.
16 July 2026
Towards a pan-European research infrastructure for excellent citizen science
Citizen science is changing how research is done, but fragmented platforms and tools continue to limit its potential. Through the Horizon Europe-funded RIECS-Concept project, IIASA is helping to lay the foundations for a pan-European research infrastructure that will connect citizen science efforts across Europe and strengthen their scientific and societal impact.
Publications
Berger, K., Requena Suarez, D., Szantoi, Z., César de Sá, N., Fritz, S. , Milenkovic, M., Maso, J., Heinrich, V., & Herold, M. (2026). Towards a FAIRer future: insights from Europe's geospatial community. European Journal of Remote Sensing 59 (1) e2676254. 10.1080/22797254.2026.2676254.
Neumann, M., Raichuk, A., Potapov, P., Lesiv, M. , Overlan, M., Rey, M., Rajakumar, R., Conserva, M., Stanimirova, R., Sims, M.J., Carter, S., Goldman, E., Jiang, Y., Scheibenreif, L., Georgieva, I. , Shchepashchenko, M. , Fritz, S. , Clinton, N., Stanton, C., Morris, D., & Purves, D. (2026). Global forest typology at 10-meter resolution for forest and land-use monitoring. Scientific Data 13 (1) e1434. 10.1038/s41597-026-08299-5.
Torresani, M., Montali, M., Da Re, D., Da Ros, L., Hakkenberg, C.R, Rocchini, D., Mina, M., Waegeman, W., Foody, G., Menaa, M., Wingler, A., Fraisl, D. , Andreoli, A., Goethals, P., Pasolli, E., Borruso, L., Perrone, M., Stock, M., De Baets, B., Brunori, G., Stritih, A., Bottero, A., Cherubini, P., Ghidini, C., Orlandini, A., Poccianti, P., Rossi, C., Cotrina-Sanchez, A., Urquiza-Muñoz, J.D., Veneros, J., Nguimdo, V.R.V., Andreo, V., Altintas, I., Satta, G.G.A., Pitscheider, F., Rozzoni, A., Koyanagi, K., Stereńczak, K., & Tognetti, R. (2026). Opening ecological data to reduce bias and strengthen AI in ecology. BioScience biag147. 10.1093/biosci/biag147.
Hu, Q., Cai, Z., You, L., Fritz, S. , Zhang, X., Yin, H., Wei, H., Yang, J., Li, Z., Yu, Q., Wu, H., Xu, B., & Wu, W. (2026). Hcropland30: A hybrid 30-m global cropland map generated by leveraging global land cover products and Landsat data via deep learning. Remote Sensing of Environment 344 e115552. 10.1016/j.rse.2026.115552.
Fraisl, D. (2026). Citizen Science: From Local Action to Policy Across Governance Levels and Topics. In: Citizen Science Networking Day 2026, 28 September, 2026, Brussels, Belgium.