D5.4 Exploitation plan

This deliverable presents the IMPETUS project's exploitation and sustainability strategy, outlining how its key results will continue to generate impact beyond the project’s lifetime. IMPETUS strengthened the European citizen science ecosystem through an articulated set of outputs, including the open call processes, the European Union Prize for Citizen Science, the accelerator programme, the related training modules, the IMPETUS impact assessment methodology, the toolkit and the policy briefs and guidelines.

Importantly, IMPETUS built on and exploited the legacy of previous Horizon 2020 projects such as ACTION and NEWSERA, focusing on scaling, consolidating, and operationalising validated approaches rather than developing them from scratch.

A central pillar of the sustainability strategy is the adoption of Open Science principles. Most Key Exploitable Results (KERs) are released under Creative Commons 4.0 licences and made available through Zenodo, ensuring long-term accessibility and reuse. In addition, key resources such as the IMPETUS toolkit will be hosted on established platforms including the European Citizen Science portal and the EUSEA one, further extending their reach and

longevity. This open approach facilitates collaborative exploitation among partners and external stakeholders without the need for additional legal Agreements.

The exploitation strategy is tailored to each KER but follows a common logic: enabling reuse, replication, and service-based deployment. Some outputs - such as open call processes, training modules, and the impact assessment methodology - are already being actively exploited in other projects (e.g. PartArt4OW), demonstrating their transferability and maturity. Others, such as the Accelerator programme and the EU Prize for Citizen Science, are

positioned for replication and scaling through partnerships with public authorities, research organisations, and funding bodies. In several cases, partners are exploring the development of integrated service offerings that combine open call management, training, acceleration, and impact Assessment.

Financial sustainability is addressed through a combination of strategies, including integration into existing platforms (e.g. ECS Academy), development of consultancy services, and engagement with potential sponsors and institutional adopters. While some outputs (e.g., training modules) generate limited direct revenue, they serve as strategic entry points for broader collaborations and higher-value services. The continuation of the European Union Prize for Citizen Science represents a specific challenge, as it ideally requires continued alignment with European funding programmes to maintain its identity and positioning.

The deliverable also identifies key risks related to market uptake, differentiation, scalability, and external dependencies. These are addressed through mitigation strategies such as strengthening the value proposition, ensuring flexibility and contextual adaptation, aligning with EU policy priorities, and maintaining high-quality standards.

Finally, although IMPETUS is a Coordination and Support Action, the consortium has actively pursued scientific exploitation through publications and conference participation, further reinforcing the project’s impact and Visibility.

Overall, the sustainability and exploitation plan shows that IMPETUS has established a robust and diversified pathway to sustain and exploit its results, contributing to the long-term consolidation and growth of citizen science in Europe. Nevertheless, the pathways proposed here would highly benefit from additional European funds. Indeed, without dedicated European funding, the IMPETUS model and the community it supported will, de facto, fragment into smaller, probably national and local programs and lose its international dimension.