Let them participate! School students as citizen scientists and agents of change

Through citizen science initiatives school students have contributed

substantially to scientific knowledge. Often, their contribution is limited

to the collection of data and other processes of the research cycle such

as developing a research question or disseminating research outputs

are not part of a citizen science initiative. In this article we present the

involvement of school students in the citizen science program Plastic

Pirates, investigating plastic pollution of the environment. We project two

collaboration opportunities beyond data collection and purely academic

work: fitting citizen science initiatives to policy-making processes and

engaging with local stakeholders and decision makers. This would

ensure that school students as citizen scientists do not only create data

and knowledge but experience self-efficacy and step into negotiation

spaces, where they are able to act on and engage with the investigated

topic at hand.