About the AQuA Project
2024-2028
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Aim
Aim
The AQuA project aims to create an inclusive and diverse Yorkshire community of practice using techniques new to citizen science that builds monitoring capacity and moves us towards achieving a non-toxic aquatic environment benefiting both the environment and people.
What we'll achieve together
What we'll achieve together
A strong, inclusive community of practice in Yorkshire built on engaged environmental science
Easy-to-use, affordable tools to test for types of water pollution that haven't typically been part of citizen science before
Environmental monitoring that reflects both public concerns and scientific priorities
Evidence to show which actions and solutions are most effective for reducing pollution
Open, accessible data (FAIR data) and a system to share and interpret findings nationally, and
Shared learning to support better water quality monitoring and citizen science engagement.
Six focal areas
Six focal areas
The AQuA project is comprised of 6 major focal areas of achievement which form the work packages (WPs) of the project:
WP1: A Yorkshire community of practice based on excellent engaged environmental science
Research Question:
How can we increase engagement and widen participation in environmental citizen science?
WP2: Cheap but accurate tools to measure environmental endpoints new to citizen science
Research Question:
How do we ensure that new methodologies used across different citizen science groups to study chemicals and microbial contaminants in the aquatic environment are of high quality and produce comparable and novel results?
WP3: Co-produced environmental monitoring that responds to both public and scientific needs
Research Questions:
(a) What is contaminating Yorkshire’s surface water, can stakeholders like the Environment Agency benefit from our citizen science, and can we characterise microbial and chemical signatures of different types of outfalls, and
(b) Are Yorkshire’s rivers and lakes safe to play in (e.g., wild swimming, kayaking) and what are the potential health impacts?
WP4: A data-driven prioritisation of which environmental solutions are most effective for reducing aquatic pollution
Research Question:
Can we quantify the effectiveness of measures already taking place to improve Yorkshire’s aquatic environments to help stakeholders & government prioritise solutions and locations for future investment?
WP5: FAIR data management and production of an integrated data sharing and contextualisation platform
Research Question:
How can we communicate co-created findings in an accessible and meaningful way?
WP6: Meaningful reflection on and sharing of our learnings to build capacity for excellent citizen science after the project
Research Question:
Can we use our learnings, successes, and failures to help others achieve excellent environmental citizen science beyond the lifetime of the AQuA project?
Where AQuA is working
Where AQuA is working
Working with academics, members of the public, local government and stakeholders during the first phase of this project, we co-selected 9 case study river and lake systems across Yorkshire to carry out the work. These case study systems are representative of not only the different landscapes and environments across Yorkshire but are great examples nationally as well.
These rivers and lakes are:
River Aire
River Foss
River Nidd
River Holme
River Rye
River Wharfe
Costa/Pickering beck
Waterloo Lake
Gledhow Lake
Partners
Partners
The AQuA project involves a great team across academia, the public, charities, businesses, and government groups. We're led by the University of York and are always growing.
Academic partners
Academic partners
Public and community groups
Public and community groups
Charities
Charities
Businesses
Businesses
Government agencies & authorities
Government agencies & authorities
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