The latest CaSTCo national meeting took place in Western Sussex, where the catchment played host to partners from across the country. One of the participating farmers kindly welcomed the group onto her farm, offering a tour and sharing some of the site’s key challenges around soil health, drainage, and slowing the flow.
Dr Charlotte-Anne Chivers, who leads this work from the CCRI side, was joined by colleague Chris Short in delivering practical demonstrations of the project’s co-designed citizen science soil testing approach. The event also showcased a set of instruction sheets co-developed with the project’s farmer group – who act as the ‘citizens’ in this context – and who have played a central role in deciding which tests to use, when to carry them out, and how results are recorded.
The project brings together CCRI, Western Sussex Rivers Trust, Southern Water, and Stephen Woodley Agronomy Services. It gathers four tiers of data to explore accuracy and robustness: from farmers, an expert agronomist, scientists, and a machine learning device developed by PES Technologies.
Next steps include piloting a ‘buddy’ system, pairing non-farmers with farmers during testing activities. This is designed to support shared learning around farming, food, and soil health, while also raising awareness of land management challenges.
Charlotte also presented some early reflections on the role of co-designed, citizen-led science in collaborative monitoring approaches.
