Abstract:

La bottega della scienza” is an innovative laboratory of participative research in Trento (Italy), hosted by Fondazione Bruno Kessler, that brings together three different actors: citizens, researchers and high school students. The goal of the project is to collect scientific research proposals from citizens and schools, which are carried out (upon selection) by the students themselves under the supervision of researchers of Fondazione Bruno Kessler and other local research facilities. At the end, for each project the students have to present their results in the form of a real scientific paper.

The project is inspired by the "science shops", entities that carry out scientific research in a wide range of disciplines on behalf of citizens and local civil society. The fact that Science Shops respond to civil society’s needs for expertise and knowledge is a key element that distinguish them from other knowledge transfer mechanisms. Usually the research projects of a Science Shop are realized by professional researchers, Ph. D. or master students, but in our project we add an innovative element: the "researchers" are high school students.

We present the results of the first edition of the project, where the students of three local high schools realized four on-demand research projects: a study of the environmental impact of 3D printers, a survey about gender discrimination, a questionnaire for students on learning strategies and a study of the vegetation of a local creek by means a drone.

Keywords:

Participatory research, science shop, citizenship.