The YouCount project is about using citizen science to boost young people’s inclusion in society. As part of the Swedish case, PhD student Dina Dabaghie has been sharing her own experiences with the young citizen scientists.
The aim of YouCount as a whole is to promote social inclusion of young people. In Sweden, the research group consists of members from the Botkyrka Youth Council, and researchers from VA and Södertörn University. So far, the group has been developing the Swedish case methodologies as well as questions for the YouCount app. In a few months, young citizen scientists in all participating countries will be using the app to collect data on drivers for social inclusion.
Another part of the preparations has been a series of training sessions. Team member (and Karolinska Institutet PhD student) Dina Dabaghie’s presentations on research methodology and her own road to becoming a scientist can now be seen on VA’s YouTube channel.
In Sweden an additional focus is to help young citizens in Botkyrka raise their voice on needs for change. Using the YouCount app, they will identify local problems for local stakeholders to address in a ”living lab”. The goal is to then co-develop a social innovation to address the most pressing issues.
