City Nature Challenge 2026

[AdamWargon]

@arboretum_amy

Whether CNC could/should be cancelled or drastically changed is such a complex and interesting question

It really is!

@arboretum_amy

There’s a lot of things about CNC that I don’t know. Who pays for it and why? What do they hope to get out of it? Who do they think benefits? What does success look like to them, and is “big numbers!” giving them an illusion of success that maybe isn’t there from our point of view?

I can answer some of these questions, but I will leave it to CNC organizer @rebeccafay, who started this thread. Rebecca did answer some these questions in her previous post:
https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/changes-to-city-nature-challenge-2026-from-the-global-organizing-team/72291

Amy, each of your questions opens up a whole other can of worms, both about CNC, and about the general direction of iNat. It reminds me of this:

@AdamWargon

there is a constant tension in dealing with the public. The data quality purists would want everyone to almost complete a PhD on using iNaturalist. That would ensure the highest data quality, right? But it would have a huge negative impact on engagement.

The other approach is “the more, the merrier”. That is great for engagement, but it has terrible effects on data quality.

There is no perfect answer. City Nature Challenge staff, iNat staff, and everyone who deals with the public in any capacity . . . we are always trying to “thread the needle” by balancing education with engagement.