Intended End User: Teacher, Teacher Educator
Age Group: Upper Primary; Lower Secondary; Upper Secondary
School Curriculum: Science; Social, Physical & Health Education; Social & Environment Science
Themes and Topics: Behaviour & Lifestyle; Collective Action; Environmental Change; Futures Thinking; Food and Agriculture; Power & Influence; Information & Knowledge; Citizenship; Pedagogy Approaches
Duration: Depends on the activities. From a 2h activity to 15h as a project.
Type of Resource: Guidelines & Notes, Project
Keywords: Water stewardship, Citizen Science, Citizen Science Campaigns, Design Thinking
Languages: English, Gaeilge
Description
The OTTERS project is about encouraging positive and effective change in how we care for our oceans and freshwater through citizen science. A key focus is working together to design Citizen Science campaigns that empower people to take action in protecting our water resources. OTTERS focuses on three key objectives: protecting and restoring ecosystems, eliminating pollution, and promoting a sustainable blue economy.
OTTERS has developed three examples of Co-Created Toolkits. These are available for anyone who’s interested and can help organize a co-creation session and launch a campaign to inspire a deeper connection and responsibility toward water stewardship.
The toolkits provide teachers and students with resources to organize campaigns and participate in Citizen Science projects. In these projects, the public collaborates with professional scientists on activities like data collection, analysis, and reporting. Citizen Science aims to solve real-world problems, expand scientific knowledge, and engage participants in the scientific process through hands-on learning.
How to use this resource
Start by exploring the three Co-Created Toolkits provided by OTTERS. Each toolkit includes detailed guides, resources, and templates to help organize Citizen Science campaigns focused on water stewardship.
You can choose activities from the toolkits that align with the interests and goals of your community or group and customize these activities to address local water-related challenges and opportunities. Encourage collaboration to develop innovative campaign ideas that promote water conservation and protection.
Implement the co-created campaign ideas in your community and engage participants in hands-on Citizen Science projects, such as data collection, analysis, and reporting, to address real-world water issues. Reach out to the OTTERS project team to share your campaign successes and discuss opportunities for further collaboration.
The resources
Toolkit for Portugal Clean Beaches PDF
You can find here the two additional examples of co-created toolkits:
Learning Outcomes
- Elicit prior knowledge and further develop knowledge and comprehension of key Sustainability Citizenship key concepts, challenging established worldviews and values.
- Through workshop activities and communities of practice, build capacity and agency as Sustainability Citizenship educators and leaders.
Green Competencies
- Embodying Sustainable Values: Valuing Sustainability; Promoting Nature
- Embracing Complexity in Sustainability: Systems Thinking; Critical Thinking; Problem Framing
- Envisioning Sustainable Futures: Futures Literacy; Adaptability; Exploratory Thinking
- Acting for Sustainability: Political Agency; Collective Action
Creative Commons
The Co-created Toolkits were created by the OTTERS Consortium and is shared here by their kind permission.
SDGs
