Congregate currently supports the following projects:
The Wessex Water Guardians is a citizen science project focused on monitoring and protecting rivers and watercourses across the operating area of the Wessex Water utility company. Located in the south west of England, coverage extends across Wiltshire, Dorset, Somerset and Gloucestershire.
The project is funded by Wessex Water and coordinated by local wildlife and river trusts. Volunteers regularly walk their assigned stretches of river recording wildlife, pollution and other observations. The results collected by volunteers can be viewed in the RiverHub Dashboard.
Water Guardians data in the RiverHub Dashboard
Volunteers collect a range of information including evidence of pollution
See the latest results: riverhub.co.uk
River Detectives is a citizen science project where volunteers from local communities conduct long-term water quality monitoring on key watercourses. The volunteers have an important role to play in filling the gaps in water quality monitoring, crucial at a time when Environment Agency monitoring is being reduced.
The project aims to reconnect people with their local watercourse by empowering local communities with a sense of ownership. River Detectives has around 200 volunteers collecting observations and water samples on a monthly-basis to build an evidence base for river health.
The project was created by the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust to monitor rivers in their catchment. Off the back of its success, the project has since been adopted by other coordinators as well, such as the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust and Sustainable Sherston.
Viewing measurements in the River Detectives Data Explorer
Comparing measurements at different sites over time
See the latest results for the Bristol Avon catchment:
bristolavonriverstrust.org/river-detectives/
Flood Watch is a citizen science initiative run by the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust. Every month, volunteers check for signs of flooding at sites in the Bristol Avon catchment. As well as recording at their main site, Congregate allows volunteers to report one-off observations in the surrounding area too.
The scheme is currently in its pilot phase with test sites selected around the Midsomer and Radstock areas.
Measurement sites shown in the Flood Watch Data Explorer
Volunteers record observations at their main site and surrounding area
See the latest results:
bristolavonriverstrust.org/river-detectives/flood-watch/
Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) has been running its Bristol Avon RiverBlitz citizen science project since 2016. The project encourages members of the public to engage with their local waterways, whilst collecting valuable data on the health of rivers in their catchment.
The results gathered by the volunteers are displayed publicly on BART's website. The data helps BART to focus their conservation efforts, and it increases public awareness of the challenges facing the rivers.
RiverBlitz gathers data across the whole Bristol Avon catchment
Volunteers can register and enter their data through the platform
See the latest results:
bristolavonriverstrust.org/riverblitz/
Fixed-point photography involves taking a photograph from the exact same spot at regular intervals. The approach offers a powerful and accessible method for monitoring river restoration efforts and documenting environmental change. The data collected creates a baseline and ongoing narrative for restoration teams, helping them assess the success of different techniques, identify potential problems early, and communicate the project's impact to funders and the wider community.
Congregate supports multiple fixed-point photography projects by allowing members of the public to upload their photographs when they visit a site. Through the projects, volunteers, equipped with simple cameras or smartphones, can become key contributors to long-term monitoring.
Visitors can scan a QR code at the site to upload their photographs
Photographs captured by a volunteer on the Wellow Brook
See the latest results: riverhub.co.uk
The Congregate Portal has been developed by Riskaware. If you are interested in using the platform for your projects, please get in touch:
Website:
www.riskaware.co.uk
Email:
info@riskaware.co.uk
Phone: +44 (0) 117 929 1058