Learning by Doing Science: A Citizen Science Pilot Study

Citizen Science is a core pillar of open science, as it promotes public engagement, transparency, and shared ownership of scientific knowledge. This poster presents a pilot Citizen Science project developed within the Science Under 18 framework, aimed at promoting sustainable food-related attitudes and behaviors among primary school children. The project involved students from three fifth-grade classes, their teacher, university researchers, and local Science Under 18 coordinators. Children were actively engaged not only as participants but also as co-creators of the research process. A mixed-methods design was adopted, combining both implicit and self-report measures to assess attitudes, intentions, and behaviors related to sustainable eating. In line with open science principles, students collaborated in the construction of a second questionnaire, administered to parents and teachers, and publicly presented the results during a science festival hosted at the University of Milan-Bicocca. Beyond outcome measures, the project incorporated a structured process analysis inspired by the evaluation frameworks for citizen science (Kieslinger et al., 2018). Feedback was collected from adult stakeholders to assess data quality, participant experience, ethical considerations, and social impact. This multidimensional evaluation highlights both the potential and the challenges of implementing citizen science in formal educational settings, particularly with respect to methodological rigor, inclusivity, and sustainability over time. Overall, the project illustrates how citizen science can function as an open-science practice that integrates research, education, and societal engagement, while underscoring the importance of transparent methods and systematic process evaluation when involving young citizens in scientific research.