Over the past 20 years, thousands of citizen science projects engaging millions of participants in collecting and/ or processing data have sprung up around the world. Based on the concept of the Knowledge Ecosystem, the purpose of this conceptual paper is to explore the potential role of the involvement of citizens in research activities in developing their abilities, enriching their knowledge with the purpose to acquire knowledge, skills and competencies in a new field. Citizen science is a multifaceted concept that reduces the distance between science and society, contributing to the achievement of an inclusive society. Citizen science refers to the active involvement of the general public in scientific research tasks. This collaboration between scientists and citizens aims at producing new knowledge which can play a significant role in developing society, improving communities, and promoting public participation (Vohland et al., 2021). The participants in citizen science are also involved in a learning process (Bela et al., 2016), not just the acquisition of the skills necessary for participation in citizen science, but also a deeper understanding of scientific concepts and processes – historically referred to as “scientific literacy” (Miller, 1983). How can we align the goal of citizen science (to bring scientific progress) and the goal of education (to support learning)? These two goals can be achieved both in formal and informal environments which raise unique challenges for practitioners (how information is communicated and shared; the capacity of citizens to be involved in the process, and the desire/ obligation to reach specific learning objectives (Roche et al., 2020). As members of the community, citizens are empowered to engage more deeply, and learn more about the scientific projects they are involved in, and thus they are likely to collaboratively shaping scientific endeavours from their inception, and participating in their analysis throughout.