Hoernke Katarina, Shrestha Aishworya, Pokhrel Bhawak, Timberlake Thomas, Giri Santosh, Sapkota Sujan, Dalglish Sarah, Costello Anthony, Saville Naomi
Children in All Policies-2030, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Institute for Global Health, University College London, London, WC1N 1EH, UK.
Wellcome Open Res. 2023 Dec 11;8:570. doi: 10.12688/wellcomeopenres.18591.1. eCollection 2023.
Young people will suffer most from climate change yet are rarely engaged in dialogue about it. Citizen science offers a method for collecting policy-relevant data, whilst promoting awareness and capacity building. We tested the feasibility and acceptability of engaging Nepalese adolescents in climate change and health-related citizen science.
We purposively selected 33 adolescents from two secondary schools in one remote and one relatively accessible district of Nepal. We contextualised existing apps and developed bespoke apps to survey climate hazards, waste and water management, local biodiversity, nutrition and sociodemographic information. We analysed and presented quantitative data using a descriptive analysis. We captured perceptions and learnings focus group discussions and analysed qualitative data using thematic analysis. We shared findings with data collectors using tables, graphs, data dashboards and maps.
Adolescents collected 1667 biodiversity observations, identified 72 climate-change related hazards, and mapped 644 geolocations. They recorded 286 weights, 248 heights and 340 dietary recalls. Adolescents enjoyed learning how to collect the data and interpret the findings and gained an appreciation of local biodiversity which engendered 'environmental stewardship'. Data highlighted the prevalence of failing crops and landslides, revealed both under- and over-nutrition and demonstrated that children consume more junk foods than adults. Adolescents learnt about the impacts of climate change and the importance of eating a diverse diet of locally grown foods. A lack of a pre-established sampling frame, multiple records of the same observation and spurious nutrition data entries by unsupervised adolescents limited data quality and utility. Lack of internet access severely impacted feasibility, especially of apps which provide online feedback.
Citizen science was largely acceptable, educational and empowering for adolescents, although not always feasible without internet access. Future projects could improve data quality and integrate youth leadership training to enable climate-change advocacy with local leaders.
年轻人将是受气候变化影响最大的群体，但他们很少参与有关气候变化的对话。公民科学提供了一种收集与政策相关数据的方法，同时还能提高人们的认识并促进能力建设。我们测试了让尼泊尔青少年参与与气候变化和健康相关的公民科学活动的可行性和可接受性。
我们从尼泊尔一个偏远地区和一个相对便利地区的两所中学中，有目的地挑选了33名青少年。我们根据实际情况对现有的应用程序进行了调整，并开发了定制应用程序，以调查气候灾害、废物和水资源管理、当地生物多样性、营养状况以及社会人口统计信息。我们使用描述性分析对定量数据进行了分析和呈现。我们通过焦点小组讨论收集了看法和经验教训，并使用主题分析对定性数据进行了分析。我们通过表格、图表、数据仪表盘和地图与数据收集者分享了研究结果。
青少年收集了1667条生物多样性观测数据，识别出72种与气候变化相关的危害，并绘制了644个地理位置图。他们记录了286次体重、248次身高和340次饮食记录。青少年喜欢学习如何收集数据和解读研究结果，并对当地生物多样性有了更深刻的认识，从而产生了“环境 stewardship”意识。数据突出了作物歉收和山体滑坡的普遍性，揭示了营养不足和营养过剩的情况，并表明儿童比成年人食用更多的垃圾食品。青少年了解了气候变化的影响以及食用多样化的本地种植食物的重要性。缺乏预先确定的抽样框架、对同一观测数据的多次记录以及无人监督的青少年输入的虚假营养数据，限制了数据的质量和实用性。互联网接入的缺乏严重影响了可行性，尤其是对于提供在线反馈的应用程序。
公民科学在很大程度上为青少年所接受，具有教育意义且能赋予他们权力，尽管在没有互联网接入的情况下并不总是可行。未来的项目可以提高数据质量，并整合青年领导力培训，以便与当地领导人进行气候变化宣传。
