Home River Bioblitz

Periodically active

from 01/07/2026 until 15/10/2026

The Home River Bioblitz is a world-wide citizen science project that invites river lovers to explore their local rivers, zooming into details they normally pass by. Each 3rd weekend of September, local organizers bring out their communities to gather biodiversity data through the iNaturalist app. Online workshops prepare them in the weeks leading up to the event, and focus not only on the science and the technology, but also on storytelling and environmental justice. Collaboration is encouraged over competition so a fun, engaging day out matters more than numbers. Artistic community activities as well as continuous monitoring of key species are encouraged, and multiple local events have stepped towards policymakers with their results to demand better protection of their river ecosystems. 

Aim

To create a yearly snapshot of biodiversity that can tell us something about the health of our rivers. 

To be a low threshold entry-point for river lovers to get bring together a local community for the protection of rivers, connected to and inspired by a global community. 

Participation & Audience

Target group: River lovers, diverse. Adaptable to any group, from schools to families and groups of friends to colleagues. Initiated during the pandemic when rules were very different, this adaptability to serve local contexts has remained a main trade of the event.

Number of participants: 1000-2000

Duration of involvement: Local organizers several weeks, local participants mostly one-time event, sometimes more.

How to participate

Organize your local event or join one that is organized close to you. 

Impact
Community impact: On local level, impacts are sometimes big. Awareness creation is a step, but some local groups have grown into organizations leading campaigns for the protection of their rivers, involving policy-makers.
Community impact types: Awareness-raising, Policy changes
Insights and Highlights
Achievements:
Annually over 70 participating rivers with over 20000 observations by more than 1000 people participating.
Challenges:
Biggest challenge may be financing the project, but overall we try to not push for bigger numbers or growth that would make the project competitive on paper, but rather focus on trust and long-term engagement from the community, which is leading to steady and heartfelt collaboration.
Outreach methods:
Probably the most important tool in our outreach is the yearly artwork created by an artist, which local organizers can use to promote their local events.
Interesting highlights:
Our recap session is a special moment where local organizers come together to share their experiences and connections to rivers. It goes to show that, even though the base of the event is data collection, the value of it lies in the parallel stories that connect us as a global river family.
About branding
Profile image design by: Cristian Toro
Home River Bioblitz Go to Project
Water type
Surface water
Keywords
Biodiversity Rivers
Science Topics
Water Education Biodiversity
Tags
Suitable for children Teaching materials available Do-it-yourself Participate from home
Difficulty Level
Easy
Participation tasks
Classification or tagging Data analysis Data Entry Geolocation Identification Observation Photography Site selection and/or description
Location
Global
Contact
E-mail
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Created Feb. 11, 2026, 11:28 a.m.
Updated Feb. 11, 2026, 11:28 a.m.

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