Problem and Opportunity

Citizen Science (CS) has democratised urban data collection through low-cost sensors, mobile applications, and IoT platforms, enabling communities to actively monitor their environments. However, a critical gap persists between data collection and meaningful action: while DIY and mobile technologies now enable citizens to gather hyperlocal data, their capacity to interpret, analyse, and act upon this information remains limited. This gap also raises important questions related to social justice, ethics, and agency — who has access to urban data, who can understand and make sense of it, and whose voices inform decisions that shape the city?

These concerns are particularly consequential in fragile urban ecosystems, where environmental vulnerability, heritage preservation, and community resilience are deeply intertwined. In such contexts, equitable access to data and the tools to visualize and interpret it is not only a matter of civic participation but a precondition for agency and inclusive and sustainable urban transformation. Addressing this gap requires designing technologies and advanced interfaces that reduce barriers to data literacy and empower diverse communities — including those historically excluded from urban decision-making — to contribute meaningfully to the future of their cities.

List of topics:

• Critical Data Science

• Technologies for Fragile Urban Ecosystems

• Application of Citizen Science

• Advanced Visual Interfaces and AI for Citizen Science

• DIY and Sensing Technologies

• Co-creation methods for agency and civic engagement

• Social Justice

• Interactive creativity for Citizen Science

• Agency and ethics in the design of Citizen Science systems

Timeliness and Relevance to the AVI Community

As visual and interactive systems become central to how people engage with complex data, the AVI community is uniquely positioned to address how advanced interfaces and interactive creativity can mediate between citizen sensing and urban transformation. Venice, hosting AVI 2026, exemplifies the fragile urban ecosystem: a city facing hydro-geological vulnerability, mass tourism pressures, and demographic decline. This context offers a timely opportunity to bring together researchers and practitioners from Human-Computer Interaction and the data visualisation field to critically examine how advanced interfaces can support bottom-up approaches to urban challenges.

Goals and Expected Outcomes

The workshop aims to: 

(1) map current approaches linking citizen-driven sensing, data visualisation, and urban decision-making; 

(2) identify design challenges and opportunities for supporting data literacy and collective sensemaking in fragile ecosystems; 

(3) foster dialogue between HCI researchers, designers, urban practitioners, and city representatives. 

The expected outcome is the consolidation of a community of practice around citizen-driven urban transformation, with a shared research agenda connecting visualization, citizen science, and actionable urban interventions and social justice. 

Accepted position papers may contribute to a joint publication synthesising key challenges and future directions in the field.

Workshop Format

The workshop is structured as a full-day event combining knowledge sharing and participatory design activities. The morning session (9:00–12:30) includes a keynote on sensing in fragile urban ecosystems, followed by presentations of accepted position papers grouped thematically.

The afternoon session (14:00–17:30) engages participants in a participatory design activity using a tangible toolkit designed by the authors, aimed at designing citizen-driven interventions for Venice. The day concludes with a round table discussion involving local stakeholders, aimed at defining actionable guidelines and a shared research agenda. Outcomes will inform a collaborative white paper.

Target Audiences

This workshop is designed for researchers and practitioners working at the intersection of interactive systems, citizen science, and urban challenges.  We specifically welcome Researchers in Human-Computer Interaction, Data Visualization, Urban Computing, and Citizen Science, particularly those investigating how interactive technologies can support civic participation, data literacy, and community-driven monitoring. Also interdisciplinary scholars from Urban Studies, Environmental Science, and Science and Technology Studies (STS) who engage with questions of agency, data ethics, and technology for social good.  Designers and practitioners working on participatory design methods, DIY/maker technologies, and low-cost sensing systems for urban or environmental applications.  Urban planners, policymakers, and city officials, especially those working on sustainability initiatives, urban resilience, and environmental monitoring in urban fragile ecosystems.  Local stakeholders and community organizations engaged with Venice's urban challenges, including heritage preservation, environmental sustainability, and resident well-being. Their firsthand experience and on-the-ground perspective will contribute to grounded research discussions in real-world needs.   No prior experience with citizen science or sensing technologies is required—we encourage participation from those new to the field who wish to explore these emerging research directions.

Important Dates

Contributions submission deadline: March 29th, 2026

Notification of acceptance: April 10th, 2026

Workshop (at AVI 2026): June 8, 2026 (TBD)