What does citizen science have to do with democracy?

Justice, fact or fake, the future of Europe. These are just a few of the burning issues on which students from all over Austria can submit a multilingual speech and, with a bit of luck, perform it in front of an audience. For 16 years now, the SAG'S MULTI competition has been committed to providing a platform for diverse voices and empowering young people in their multilingualism.

But does the competition live up to its aims? How does it feel to give a speech in front of a large audience – in a language that you normally only speak within your own four walls? And should multilingualism be promoted in day-to-day school life? To find answers to these questions, researchers from the University of Vienna teamed up with school students as part of the project ‘SAG'S MULTI. Selbstermächtigung durch Mehrsprachigkeit’. Together they developed questions, designed the research project, interviewed former competition participants, analysed the results and wrote recommendations on multilingualism in schools.

Citizen science refers to all research processes involving people from outside the academic environment, explains Katja Mayer from the Department of Science and Technology Studies at the University of Vienna, pointing to the ‘Ladder of Citizen Participation’ which was developed in the 1960s by the political scientist Sherry Arnstein and has had a major influence on many disciplines (see publication). But what does citizen science actually involve? Activities range from informing citizens about research efforts to collecting and analysing data together all the way through to ‘citizen-controlled’ projects, where research questions come from the communities themselves. The Sparkling Science initiative was set up years ago to encourage stronger collaboration between academics and schools on research projects – "it is a programme which exists across Austria, is unlike any other in Europe and provides an excellent example of how academic research and schools can cooperate," explains Mayer. 

Citizen science: Tools for dealing with a complex world

We live in a fast-moving world characterised by change and uncertainty. Which sources can we still trust? What is fact and what is fake? "When people are excluded from the knowledge production process and can no longer classify the information that the chatbot generates or hallucinates, this leads to uncertainty," explains Mayer. "Citizen science gives students the chance to learn how knowledge is created, but also how researchers deal with uncertainty and constantly create new tools to gain knowledge."

Making your voice heard

Citizen science also empowers students to systematically contribute their own perspectives, interests and questions to the community. They get to experience participation, adds Schweiger, reflecting on his recent project work. This is particularly relevant for first- or second-generation children and young people who may not have Austrian citizenship. Even if this is no substitute for the necessary expansion of voting rights and the removal of barriers to Austrian citizenship, they can use citizen science in this way to make their voices heard and engage with democratic processes, says the researcher.

"Hard to reach, easy to ignore"

The project by Hannes Schweiger and his colleagues Jelena Altomare, Amina Račević and Miriam Weidl is integrated into classes at school, with a particular focus on science and multilingualism. Citizen science initiatives that are based on voluntary participation often only reach those who already have connections to research. In an article entitled ‘Hard to reach, easy to ignore’ a number of researchers including Katja Mayer have put together a list of criteria to make participative science more inclusive, though she admits that "the problem is and remains a structural one."

"By selecting one academic secondary school in Vienna's 8th district and one in the 15th district as our partner organisations, we were able to reach students from diverse backgrounds and consciously build bridges between school and academia," Schweiger continues. The final workshop in the first year of the project took place at the University of Vienna, where the students got to know the University from the inside and were invited to give a multilingual speech in front of their classmates. "This opens up a space for languages that are not normally heard in a school setting."

To be continued

In the next stage of the project, Hannes Schweiger and his team plan to build on their work with the school students to formulate lesson recommendations and develop teaching materials. Incorporating the entire linguistic repertoire will be key here, as holistic language support increases the chances of educational success and social participation, Schweiger anticipates.

Building strong democracies

Citizen science projects – such as Hannes Schweiger's – train participants in tolerance and acceptance. They learn that people around the world have different views and perspectives – and that these are just as valid and important as one’s own. This 'multiplicity of perspectives' is, among other things, one of the Future Skills that Katja Mayer would like to see established in school curricula. Because that is precisely what the next generation needs in order to "build strong democratic institutions for the future." And with this mammoth task, young people need support. (hm)