Call for Participation – Global Butterfly Week

Concept Overview

Global Butterfly Week is a coordinated international initiative currently co-led by eButterfly (North America) and  Fundación Alas y Antenas (Panama), with the objective of strengthening global capacity for butterfly education, monitoring, and conservation through inclusive, community-driven activities.

The initiative is envisioned as an international coordination effort to expand the annual Butterfly Education and Awareness Day (1st Saturday of June) into a larger campaign promoting awareness of the importance of butterflies and butterfly watching community science from the 30th of May to the 7th of June. 

Rather than imposing a single, rigid global event, the initiative is designed as a flexible, collaborative framework that allows organisations, institutions, researchers, educators, and individuals worldwide to participate in ways that align with their own goals, audiences, data monitoring platforms and resources.

Objectives

Global Butterfly Week aims to:

1. Build global capacity for butterfly monitoring
   Support individuals and organizations in developing skills and confidence to observe, document, and share butterfly data using accessible, scientifically robust tools.
2. Create a shared international space for education and exchange
   Facilitate webinars, workshops, talks, and discussions focused on butterfly biology, conservation, education, and community science.
   
3. Encourage collaboration and networking
   Foster dialogue and connections between organizations, researchers, educators, NGOs, and community leaders across regions and languages.
4. Lay the groundwork for future Global Butterfly Observation Initiatives
   Use this pilot year to gather feedback, build partnerships, and co-design a larger-scale coordinated observation initiative planned for 2027.

Structure and Activities

Participating organizations and individuals are invited to contribute by organizing or hosting activities such as:

• Butterfly BioBlitz events or local monitoring activities
• Educational talks, webinars, or short courses
• Community workshops or training sessions
• School-based or youth-focused activities focused on butterfly observation
• Informal discussion panels or roundtables
• Press communications, spokesperson recruitment and other communicational efforts to mobilize people to report butterfly observations for research and conservation

Activities may be offered online or in person, and participation can range from very light involvement (e.g., attending or sharing an activity) to more active leadership roles, depending on interest and capacity.

To encourage accessibility and global participation, activities are encouraged in multiple languages, with events already being planned in English, Spanish, and French. Additional languages are warmly welcomed.

To complement in person activities, eButterfly will facilitate and coordinate a virtual event and activity program during the campaign. 

Participants organizing activities will also be able to benefit from collective visibility, including shared promotion and amplification through partner networks and social media channels, helping activities reach broader and more diverse audiences.

Role of eButterfly 

eButterfly is the first global community science platform that empowers people to record, share, and explore butterfly observations using a listing approach similar to eBird.

As part of the initiative, eButterfly will support participants by:

• Offering virtual guided eButterfly platform tours for new and existing users before and during the campaign week
• Organizing butterfly observation outings with local experts to discover how to use eButterfly’s mobile application to document and share butterfly observations
• Hosting information sessions for organizations and individuals interested in participating through eButterfly or their own organizations
• Providing a shared space to announce activities and events
• Collecting feedback, ideas, and suggestions to inform the design of future coordinated initiatives
• Measuring and compiling key impacts and reporting the outcomes of the collective effort

No prior experience with eButterfly is required, and all capacity-building activities are designed to be accessible to a wide range of participants. Using eButterfly’s platform is not a requirement for participation if your organization has a different preferred community science platform for butterfly observation tracking and reporting.

Coordination and Identity

Coordinating with all participants, Fundacion Alas y Antenas will provide basic social media and communication guidelines. The shared communication and identity framework will be developed to ensure that the campaign demonstrates powerful unity, while fully respecting and highlighting each organization’s identity and leadership. 

Looking Ahead

This first edition is intentionally flexible and collaborative. Its primary purpose is to listen, learn, and co-create with the global butterfly community, ensuring that future global observation efforts are inclusive, scientifically meaningful, and widely supported.

Organizations and individuals interested in participating are invited to contribute activities, ideas, and feedback, and to help shape the long-term vision of a truly global butterfly education and observation initiative.

Call for Participation

Organizations and individuals are warmly invited to contribute activities, ideas, and feedback to help shape this global effort. Those interested in participating or supporting coordination efforts are invited to complete a short form to express their interest and indicate how they would like to be involved.

The form is open to all (organizations, researchers, educators, community leaders, volunteers, and individuals) and may be used to express interest in hosting or co-organizing activities, participating in events, or contributing ideas and feedback.

Please complete the form by the 15th of March 2026. https://tally.so/r/eqeBGQ (5min)

Following this date, online information sessions will be announced to present the initiative in more detail, facilitate discussion, and support early coordination in English, French and Spanish. Official confirmations of participation to the campaign will be issued in April. Event and activity announcements as well as initial public promotion of the campaign will take place throughout May.

In the meantime, anyone with questions, requests for clarification, or time-sensitive coordination needs is welcome to contact eButterfly at e.butterfly.help@gmail.com.