The natural history museum is the visible part of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences and its 160 researchers. It has 16 000 m² of permanent galleries, temporary exhibition rooms welcoming 2 exhibitions per year (a large one of about 700m² and a small one of 100m²) and educational workshops, enabling it to welcome its 340 000 visitors each year, approximately 30 % of whom are school groups. Its Dinosaur Gallery is world famous, it being the largest in Europe. In 2020 its latest gallery to open to the public "Living Planet" was inaugurated, delivering key messages to the general public on biodiversity loss.

The RBINS plays a leading role in the promotion and dissemination of scientific culture, both within and beyond its walls. This role is also visible within European projects under the Science with and for Society previous programmes in which it has been very active (notably FP7 PLACES, VOICES and Sea For Society projects as ECSITE network member – and cofounder). It remains very active as well in Citizen Science projects and has been notably partner in the H2020 project Doing It Together Science ( DITOs), member of the COST Action Citizen Science and participated to the development of the platform for CS projects and activities through the H2020 project EU-Citizen.Science..

The RBINS internal working group on Citizen Science is working towards the networking and forstering of its various collaborations with citizens experts, the raising awareness on the scientific expertise, on the biodiversity and environment surrounding us and the related policy making.