During the first year, the project started to develop the framework for youth citizen social science through literature reviews, research exchange and discussions with youths and stakeholders from local to international level. We also organised three webinars together with the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA), Working Group on Empowerment, Inclusion and Equity (WG EIE).
Further, during the first and second years, the project successfully set up and carried out the multiple case study involving ten local projects. These projects looked at different aspects of social inclusion: how young people take part in society (like finding jobs), feeling like they belong, and being involved in their community and country. We got young people from both the local community and universities involved as young citizen scientists, teaching them about citizen social science. They gathered information about social inclusion using various methods, like interviews, doing creative activities, surveys, and using a special app called the YouCount App. Then, they used this information in the local living labs to co-create new ideas and policies to have a positive impact in their communities, which they shared with local and national leaders. The first findings were shared as open data in the summer of 2022.
At the same time, a team was evaluating the project by closely following the ten cases and talking to the young people involved, using different research tools like self-reports, interviews, and surveys. They also created a way to measure how much of an impact the project had on the individual youths, society and science.
Starting in the spring of 2023, the project group analysed all the different cases to see what we learned about doing this type of research with young people, young peoples' views on and experiences with social inclusion in their daily life and how social innovation can contribute to a more inclusive society. The findings are published in several reports. In the last year, we also hold a last joint webinar and a final conference where young people and community members talked about their experiences in the project. Throughout, we have worked hard to share research activities and experiences through different communication channels.
The project has shared its findings in many ways, like reports, blog posts, and two short papers, called policy-briefs, for policymakers. We also made a handbook and toolkit called "Handbook of Youth Citizen Social Science: Working with Young People and the Local Community for Social Change" in 2024. One of the policy-briefs, from 2021, talks about the importance of citizen social science and needs for future support in policy and research. The other, from 2024, shares key learning about social inclusion and how citizen social science with young people can be used to create a more inclusive society. The exploitation plan will also make sure the results keep making a difference even after the project ends, both locally and globally.
