SEEDS (Science Engagement to Empower aDoleScents) is a science project by teenagers for teenagers. It aims to empower them to live healthy lifestyles and to help them explore how important and exciting science can be. They will use citizen science to create new experiments for healthy lifestyles. These will run for six months in schools in Spain, the Netherlands, Greece and the UK.
SEEDS Consortium aims to engage adolescents from underserved communities in designing interventions that seed an interest in scientific methodologies, promote STEM careers and empower them by enhancing their critical thinking capabilities. All SEEDS partners share a core belief that more can be done to create a better (and healthier) future for adolescents from low-income neighbourhoods.
ECSA activities and milestones
ECSA led the development of the Makeathon events, building a common structure with all partners and creating guidelines to standardise the process. ECSA trained the SEEDS team in the Makeathon process and delivered the first implementation of the Makeathon series in person in the UK. We are leading the dissemination and communication work and
have shared the process and practicalities of SEEDS within the citizen science community. We promote the work of the teenage scientists and the possibilities for citizen science in public health via the SEEDS Twitter and website.
The interventions co-created by the teenagers will be implemented between January-June 2022 and evaluated at the end of 2022. ECSA and SEEDS consortium partners will share their results, including publications and policy briefs through the website, the Twitter account and at various conferences, centring the voices and perspectives of the teenage scientists.