CS4Water Conference 2027
The CS4Water Conference 2027 will take place from 29 June to 1 July 2027 at the Emeris Newlands Campus in Cape Town, South Africa. This is the second biennial edition of the world’s only dedicated international conference on citizen science and water, and the first edition in Africa.
The CS4Water Conference 2027 will bring researchers, practitioners, policymakers, educators, and communities together in Cape Town to advance citizen science as a trusted, resourced, and permanent part of how the world monitors, manages, and involves people in water.
Vision and mission
The CS4Water Conference exists to provide an international platform to accelerate and strengthen the establishment of citizen science as a permanent, credited, and adequately resourced part of how the world monitors, manages, and governs water. It brings researchers, practitioners, policymakers, decision-makers, community members, educators, and other stakeholders into one room to advance practical problem-solving alongside scientific exchange to secure resilient water futures for all.
Focus for the 2027 edition
Advancing participation in citizen science for water.
The inaugural edition of this conference in Delft established, on the international stage, the breadth, importance, and interest in citizen science for water. The CS4Water Conference 2027 in Cape Town will take a deeper dive, focusing on addressing the growing need for elevating knowledge from the Global South, integrating citizen science into education, embracing digital innovation to enhance citizen science data systems, and increasing trust in citizen science within governance systems for policy adoption and enhancement.
Southern Africa and the wider continent hold strong current momentum on this focus, making Cape Town a perfect destination to gather, share, and drive progress. Cape Town is also more than a venue; it is a living landscape of innovation in inclusive water management. The city’s famous response to its Day Zero crisis is a globally relevant case study in urban water resilience, quality and quantity regulation, and participatory adaptive governance.
Conference aims
Advance collaborative research and knowledge exchange. Connect researchers, practitioners, policymakers, decision-makers, educators, stakeholders, and community members across the globe, and especially the North-South bridge, to strengthen cooperative freshwater monitoring, education, management, and research, with African and Global South practices at the centre of the conversation.
Strengthen community and institutional agency in the water commons. Examine how inclusive community freshwater science can shape decision-making, communication, accountability, and governance, and what it takes to integrate and sustain citizen science systems within formal structures.
Accelerate practical solutions to the freshwater crisis. Co-develop citizen science-driven approaches to water security, climate adaptation, and ecosystem stewardship that deliver solutions both locally and for increasingly urgent worldwide objectives, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Africa Water Vision and Policy 2063 (AWVP63), and Output 1.10 on citizen science of the ninth phase of UNESCO’s IHP-IX.
Build lasting Global South capacity and networks. Establish durable North-South connections between institutions, community programmes, and the international citizen science community, with emphasis on platforming and strengthening Global South networks.
Champion ethical and inclusive science. Promote openness and empowerment in science through advocating consent, recognition, and ethical and responsible generation and ownership of Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data.
Important dates
Conference dates: 29 June to 1 July 2027
The call for contributions is now open until 23:59 South African Standard Time (SAST) on 14 December 2026, and decisions will be issued on 1 February 2027, when registration opens. Read the call for contributions.
Follow the CS4Water Conference 2027 LinkedIn page to stay updated.
