A new peer-reviewed study in Citizen Science: Theory and Practice looks at how young people learn and become engaged with the environment through citizen science. It focuses on RIVERS, a school-based water quality monitoring initiative in Armenia.

Nine schools in Gegharkunik Province, around 100 students aged roughly 10 to 18, adopted a local river and measured it weekly for two to four months in spring 2025. They tracked water temperature, pH, electroconductivity, flow rate, ammonia, nitrite, phosphates, colour and odour. The aim was to understand how tributaries contribute to pollution in Lake Sevan, the largest freshwater lake in Armenia and the Caucasus.

Researchers found out that hands-on science can change minds. Students understood in depth the causes and consequences of river pollution through dirtect contact with these water bodies. Students also changed the way they see water pollution, shifting from picturing it mainly as solid pollution to recongising chemical contamination.

The paper also points out how engagement can take different forms, from individual behaviour change, such as not littering, to river clean-ups and a growing sense of civic responsibility.

Ownership and confidence matter. Engagement was strongest where students felt the river was "theirs", felt responsible for its condition, and believed their actions could make a difference.

The key to a meaningful experience is teachers and peers; teachers' motivation and the way they framed the activities strongly shaped students' sense of agency and responsibility.

Since the study demonstrates that participant outcomes are not always end points, and factors such as motivation, knowledge, self-efficacy and sense of community can be outcomes of taking part, the paper proposes to rethink the evaluation framework.

According to the study results, in fact, evaluation frameworks should be complemented by a process-oriented perspective that captures how outcomes develop and interact over time. This is a useful message for anyone designing or evaluating citizen science projects.

Read the paper: https://theoryandpractice.citizenscienceassociation.org/articles/10.5334/cstp.998

This research was funded by the Mission Ocean OTTERS project (Horizon Europe, Grant Agreement No. 101094041). Publication and dissemination costs were supported by the Horizon Europe CS-MACH1 project (GA No. 101214613). The original data collection was conducted within the RIVERS project, which received funding through the Mission Ocean ProBleu project (Horizon Europe, GA No. 101113001).