Increase: the European project on the protection of biodiversity

Increase Citizen Science

Increase is a Citizen Science experiment on the protection of biodiversity and sustainability, promoted every year throughout Europe. To participate, it was necessary to register by February 28th on the dedicated Pulseincrease.eu portal. Increase (Intelligent Collections of Food Legumes Genetic Resources for European Agrofood Systems) is an innovative scientific project funded by the European H2020 program involving twenty-eight research centres, universities and European institutions, led by Professor Roberto Papa, Full Professor of Agricultural Genetics at the University Marche Polytechnic.

Increase aims at the characterisation, management, conservation and enhancement of agro-biodiversity and genetic resources; promoting the use, cultivation and consumption of legumes for food through the development of an agriculture that has environmental protection, food safety and health at its core, in order to mitigate the effects of climate change and support the agricultural and food system and production. Furthermore, citizen participation can extend the agro-biodiversity chain and conserve the genetic resources of legumes in a decentralised way.

How the Increase project works

After registering for the experiment, participants receive the seeds of five bean varieties – often no longer cultivated for years – to be grown in a field, in a garden or even simply on a balcony or terrace. Subsequently, through the dedicated app that was launched specifically for the first edition of the project in 2020, the "citizen-scientists" will have to send the results of the cultivation to the scientists who follow the European program and to the other farmers, with sharing a path divided into the various stages of growth of the beans. Among the objectives of the experiment is to generate greater awareness of the importance of agro-biodiversity and agricultural genetic resources in those who decide to register.

Through this Citizen Science experiment - now in its third year with over 7,000 subscribers - promoters want to create a green network of citizens who exchange legumes, create new eating habits to make the future of the next generations sustainable and at the same time bear witness to a message of protection of biodiversity, which through small gestures that require little time enters their daily lives. The principle of Open Science promoted by the European Union is based on free access to the results of scientific research, the sharing of which promotes through the participation of citizens in the activities, with the help of new technologies and innovation, to make science and scientific approaches more collaborative, inclusive and global.