33 Understand participants’ potential, what motivates them, their barriers for participation, how they can overcome these barriers, and how their motivations align with the intended project impact. Criteria for citizen science projects that aim to result in successful environmental activism must be ‘credible enough’ to engage policy-makers, be appealing and inspiring to a wide audience to mobilise action, be personally relevant to participants, and provide mechanisms for advocates to be heard by the actors who can initiate change. Make sure that data, motivations, and collaboration opportunities target all involved stakeholders, including, e.g., citizens, researchers, government agencies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and industry. Realise stakeholders’ needs 36 38 37 B CS P B CS P The STEP CHANGE project B CS P Example 9: The STEP CHANGE project The H2020 project STEP CHANGE, launched in March 2021, is implementing citizen science initiatives, working with energy communities in Germany. The project brings novelty in citizen science research while contributing to broader science aspects. The overall objective is to formulate recommendations and instruments to better integrate citizen science within research and innovation (R&I) institutions and to help promote its value among researchers. In this specific initiative, households will receive a monthly report about their consumption and be provided with real-time access to their energy consumption data which might affect their energy lifestyle. See the full project