<< Background >>In response to the call for Responsible Research and Innovation and valorisation as higher education institutes’ (HEIs) Third Mission, citizen science (short for CS) is a promising approach of knowledge co-production that:1.enhances social inclusion, civic engagement and democracy in the EU regions; 2.promote effectiveness of solving complex and ambiguous societal challenges; 3.foster active citizenship and ownership; and 4.advance societal progress in democratic societies (Bonn et al., 2016; Vohland et al., 2021). However, CS faces the challenges of attracting, training, and maintaining a stable pool of citizen scientists at the local and regional levels in the German, Dutch and Spanish contexts due to:1.lacking sustainable CS networks to support regional/local CS development 2.lacking access to and awareness of CS offers due to significant silos between HEIs andalogues between citizens, adult- and higher educators; raise their awareness and capacity of practicing CS; and make CS more accessible to citizen regional adult educators 3.lacking high-quality learning offers that equip adult citizens to actively engaging in/ initiate CS projects AND validate their learnings via practical projects.<< Objectives >>To facilitate long-term citizens’ involvement in CS projects it is vital to strengthen the effective and productive dialogue (Bonn et al., 2016). Thus, “Digital Citizen Science: Network, transfOrm, groW” (short Citizen Science NOW), aims to foster EU citizens' engagement and access to CS by:·establishing local and regional community NETWORKS that effectively connect citizens, adult educators and HEIs and promote sustainable CS development; ·digitalising and TRANSFORMING adult CS training experiences; and·empowering adult citizens with the essential competence and skills to GROW personally and professionally in the partner regions.<< Implementation >>The project will generate four outputs: ·PR1 provides a future foresight report with evidence-based guidelines, good practices and trend predictions to raise the awareness and facilitate stakeholders in envisioning and developing successful and sustainable CS projects; ·PR2 establishes/strengthens (existing) satellite CS networks to support local/regional CS development and enable sustainable, effective circulation of CS information and stimulate long-term collaboration between citizens, adult- and higher educators; ·PR3 develops a certified digital training program that equips citizens with the capacity to flourish and thrive in CS projects; and ·PR4 offers local/regional CS projects for citizens, academics, and students to apply their learnings by tackling real-world challenges.<< Results >>We expect to have the following outcomes from our project: -CS future foresight reports (PR1): The report will serve as a guideline to inspire and drive CS development at the EU and global level;-Local Satellite Networks (PR2): HEI academics and students will have better knowledge and access to citizens and adult education networks. Thus they will gain both responsible and transdisciplinary work experience in projects co-created with CS stakeholders and citizens. The regional CS networks will be sustained and incorporated into existing local CS stakeholder and university structures, helping expand portfolio of offerings, and creating further synergies with citizens. -The digital training program (PR3-4): Incorporating a challenge-based project approach, the digital training modules will be maintained as a blended adult learning resource for HEI, adult education organisations and citizens. -The pilot CS projects (PR4): The hands on projects with elements co-created with citizens will serve as practical examples demonstrating the application of skills learnt to contribute to local & regional development, and inspire future projects.-(ALL PRs): Citizens will have better awareness about CS, better access to key people, skills and competences necessary solve complex challenges in daily and professional life; enjoy an interactive, informal learning-by-doing experience by conducting research; contribute to societal impact.