Citizen Science for and with schools
In this first session we looked at two citizen science projects developed in collaboration with secondary schools in Belgium and in Denmark. Which transdisciplinary skills come into play when working with teachers and students? We discussed this with Dr. Steven Caluwaerts, (researcher and coordinator of VLINDER at UGent and Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium) and Mette Fentz Haastrup, (pedagogical coordinator of Our History at the University of Southern Denmark).
The VLINDER network consists of 70 weather stations located in very diverse landscapes, in Flanders and in Brussels. The stations were built together with secondary school students to collect meteorological data in places where information was missing. This Do-It-Yourself Science adventure has opened the door to collaboration with universities and municipalities.
Our History is a Danish citizen science school project, focusing on topics such as welfare, children and the family in the period 1950-2000. History is told by and is about the people who lived during those times. Students become interviewers embarking on the study and practice of oral history.