Children's geo-citizen science project for climate adaptive cities

The overall aim of the project is to highlight the capacities of children, as co-researchers, to understand the problems in their community and their capacity to find strategies and solutions to the identified climate change-related challenges. The main research question is ‘How can children's geo-citizen science support the structural and societal transformation in cities to reduce the impact of climate change?

Children are a highly interactive group and can succeed in recognising the collective good. Despite their true potential, children are considered passive victims with no role to play in communicating. Sharing their knowledge and perception about their neighbourhood will prove their capability to respond appropriately. The climate school strike triggered by one child also shows that children would like to participate in decision-making and processes and take roles in reducing the impacts of climate change.

In this project, International School Twente and the University of Twente collaborated to involve children as co-researchers to uncover and further develop their capacities that contribute to improving methodologies in citizen and climate adaptation science. The project started with seminars on the methods and topics, and we discussed the application of methods for data collection with children. We applied a qualitative GIS approach, including participatory mapping, to enable a connection between the macro-scale urban phenomenon and the micro-scale of the perceptions of the individual child. Finally, the children produced an art exhibit with the support of an artist to communicate their findings to a wide range of audiences.

Throughout the project, we've followed an active research framework that we co-developed, co-adapted, and co-improved throughout the process with children. Children had been part of every research step from the beginning till the end, i.e. collecting and analysing data, deciding and communicating actions that support the structural transformation in cities to reduce the impact of climate change, collaborating with the artist, and communicating with the public during the exhibition opening.