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Short Abstract

Drawing on a 3-year trajectory in doing citizen social science (CSS) with Deaf communities, this presentation explores design implications and social impacts on participants of a CSS project, Acting4DHH II, with Deaf communities from four European countries (PL, GR, SK, UA).

Abstract

While citizen science is often praised for its contributions to knowledge production (von Gönner et al., 2023), its transformative impact on participants, especially those from marginalised groups, remains underexplored (Pateman & West, 2023). This presentation aims to fill in this gap by drawing on the measurable social impact results of a 6-month citizen social science (CSS) project, Acting4DHH II, that brought together Deaf and Hearing individuals from Poland, Greece, Slovakia, and Ukraine.

Acting4DHH II aimed to enhance understanding and solidarity among Deaf and Hearing citizens through CSS, shedding light into instances of everyday communication, agency, and empowerment among these two groups. Thus, Deaf citizen scientists engaged in the co-creation of knowledge on themes such as accessibility and inclusion through videos recorded with the collaboration of Hearing individuals.

Thus, the presentation’s objective is twofold:

a) to reflect on the design of Deaf-inclusive CSS across Europe, and

b) to explore how participation shapes solidarity and civic agency through tools like self-portraits, narrative testimonials, and feedback mechanisms adapted to signed languages.

These approaches allowed for the measurement of subtle internal shifts often overlooked in conventional evaluation models.

By leveraging the Acting4DHH II results the presentation will contribute to the panel’s exploration of how citizen science can shape social identity, behavior, and agency, particularly within historically underrepresented communities, such as Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing citizens. This contribution draws on activities and results of the IMPETUS Accelerator 2025-funded “Acting4DHH II” project (Citizen social science for the benefit of Deaf communities in Europe, June 2025-January 2026).