Catalan regional cluster is launching two citizen science pilots
The month of April saw the launch of two citizen science pilots in Catalonia. Thanks to citizen participation, these pilots aim to generate scientific evidence that will inform public policies and their better alignment with societal needs.
Pilot 1. Citizen science for the co-design and implementation of an “interactive waste game” that contributes to improving the selective collection of municipal waste.
The first pilot, developed in the municipality of Mollet del Vallès, addresses a local challenge to increase and improve waste separation at source.
The first phase of the pilot is based on the co-creation of an “Interactive waste game” that will bring together the knowledge and skills of local citizens and students of Master‘s degrees from the Autonomous University of Barcelona. This interactive game will then be used as a citizen science tool to:
- raise awareness on negative impacts of waste on health and the environment;
- collect data on citizens behaviours, attitudes, habits, perceptions and preferences towards waste management;
- identify barriers for the implementation of improved waste collection systems.
The collected data will help design the new waste management contract as well as the municipality’s waste innovation public procurement project.
Pilot 2. Endometriosis in the first person: participatory research on experiences, assessments and needs of people with endometriosis
The second pilot is developed together with Sant Pau Hospital and the Catalan Agency for Health Quality and Evaluation (AQuAS) to tackle the invisibility, under-diagnosis and lack of research into endometriosis, a condition affecting people worldwide of which the exact cause still remains unknown.
The first phase of the pilot will consist of collecting information from a wide and diverse range of people suffering from endometriosis. The collected data will gather first-hand experiences of people with this condition and their assessment of and needs for diagnostic, care, support services and resources, all this feeding a policy brief addressed to policy makers and healthcare staff and officials with a view to improving care and support services for patients with endometriosis.
The second phase of the pilot will bring together women and healthcare professionals in a co-creation exercise of a tool designed to improve self-awareness of one’s body and early diagnosis of the disease.
Photo by Cátia Matos from Pexels.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 872687. This website reflects only the authors' view and the REA and the EC are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.