Project Description

The Gems of Water is a citizen engagement project for water quality monitoring, initiated by the European Commission Joint Research Centre.

By challenging the typical roles of citizens and scientists, the project connects local groups concerned with water quality issues around the world to scientists, who provide methodological, technical and analytical support to monitor pollution caused by organic contaminants.

The Gems of Water uses an advanced technique, the Stir Bar Sorptive Extraction (SBSE), to assess the occurrence of agrochemicals in surface and groundwater. The project is currently travelling to various locations, including Costa Rica, Kenya, Australia, Romania and Bulgaria.

The project aligns with UN resolutions on monitoring water quality. It supports the World Water Quality Alliance in collaboration with the UN Environment Programme Global Environment Monitoring System for Water (UNEP GEMS/Water) collecting different types of data on water quality around the world.

Impact Assessment Tools: Measure the impact of this project
Impact Assesment Tools
Current Project Impact

The following scores were calculated using a statistically-driven machine-learning approach, a type of AI that learns to perform a task by analysing patterns in data. This is an experimental approach to citizen-science impact assessment, and the exact reasoning behind the scores is not explainable. The scores represent a best guess of the impact the project is having in each domain. Scores are recalculated and updated when “View impact report” is clicked.

Society 36 Society 36 Governance 24 Governance 24 Economy 12 Economy 12 Environment 40 Environment 40 Science 18 Science 18 max. 42
Total Score 26/42
Domain Progress

Proportion of questions answered in each domain.

  • 100% General (13/13)
  • 97% Economy (30/31)
  • 100% Environment (30/30)
  • 95% Governance (41/43)
  • 100% Science and technology (39/39)
  • 96% Society (64/67)