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Short Abstract

In this interactive session, attendees will engage with the tools in the Soil Your Scarf project to gain insight into the methods used and rationale behind them, before sharing their own experiences and ideas about inclusive, non-extractive, and anti-colonial citizen science through creative mapping

Abstract

About the project:

Soil Your Scarf is an Irish citizen science project that empowers participants with accessible and DIY tools to assess the life in their own soil. The design of the project tends to attract people who may not otherwise feel welcome in scientific spaces, especially in soil science and agriculture. Engaging in knitting/making creates an environment that fosters discussion and openness and makes space for participants to take agency within the project. The scarf itself then becomes a tool for participants to assess their own soil and a vehicle for safely viewing and measuring soil mesofauna biodiversity without harming them – afterward, the scarves are returned to the soil to decompose and provide nutrients. When participants come together to analyse their data, they depict their results and their relationship to the place where they generated their data through creative mapping.

About the session:

Attendees will engage with the tools in the Soil Your Scarf project to gain insight into the methods used and share their own experiences and ideas about inclusive, non-extractive, and anti-colonial citizen science through creative mapping. The goal of the workshop is to spark ideas, build a community of practice around non-extractive citizen science, and explore potential collaborations. Using soil ecosystems as a model, participants are invited to creatively map their own citizen science and science communication ecosystems.