A citizen science project with school children in fife
Project PI: Dr Matteo Saltalippi
Project Co-I: Dr Patrick O’Hare
Research and workshop assistant: Lucrezia Milillo
From January to March 2025, this project brought together primary school students in Fife, social anthropologists, and environmental activists to explore how young people can take the lead in reducing waste through reuse practices.
Project Objectives
- Promote awareness of reuse as a sustainable practice
- Empower young pupils through citizen science
- Produce a practical, student-created booklet to inspire change in local schools
- Build bridges between academic research and everyday environmental action
Workshop 1: Learning and Planning
Pupils learned about waste, the circular economy, and anthropological methods. They created data collection forms to track reuse in their everyday lives.
Home-Based Data Collection
Students recorded their own reuse practices over two weeks, observing habits at home and in their communities.
Workshop 2: Analysis and Collaboration
Pupils returned to discuss their findings and decide what reuse strategies worked best.
Booklet Creation
Based on students’ input and findings, a reuse guide was co-produced and designed to be shared with schools across Fife.
Lucrezia Milillo 