Young people supported by our Positive Transitions service became citizen scientists for a day to investigate and map biodiversity in their local park.
“How Biodiverse is Your Park” is a project that gave local people in Wester Hailes the opportunity to find and identify plants, animals and fungi in Hailes Quarry Park. These ‘citizen scientists’ compiled data that can be used to map local biodiversity and help inform improvements to parks.
Working with the University of Edinburgh, City of Edinburgh Council, SCOREScotland and Friends of Parks, the project began in July of last year and was funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) with the aim of engaging the public with environmental science.
We were delighted to give young people involved in our Positive Transitions service the opportunity to participate in the project, working together to get involved in this science research project and help map the park.
Young people and science
At People Know How we have always placed value in using science as part of our work supporting children and young people in the transition to secondary school, designing group sessions around science experiments and collaborating with organisations like the Science Ceilidh.
This project allowed for four of the young people we support to become ‘citizen scientists’, helping to map the park using two mobile apps. Guided by researchers, they photographed and recorded information on flowers, fungi, insects, birds and more.
As well as mapping the park, they also took part in some fun outdoor games led by our Youth & Family Coordinators, all of which was topped off with some hot chocolate and cookies to celebrate their achievements.
It was a win-win for our young people, as they enjoyed a fun day out with friends, building confidence and learning about environmental science, while contributing to an important project advocating for future improvements to greenspace in their local communities.
