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Short Abstract

The article presents a discussion about the role of the Poetz-Sauermann design canvas and toolbox in promoting the structured development of the CSS project. Aim is to engage in constructive dialogue with the panel of experts about responsible and effective scaling of the project using these tools.

Abstract

This presentation delineates the context and preliminary outcomes of a five-day Bachelor's workshop seminar, which was part of a career-orientation module at the University of Hamburg's Department of Social Sciences, as a component of the regular curriculum during the winter semester of 2025/2026. The seminar co-developed a Citizen Social Science project with students, commencing from the initial stages and with a focus on preparing a public dataset with the assistance of artificial intelligence.

The primary objective is to generate public value, defined as the creation of actionable insights and low-threshold artifacts for a clearly defined affected public. Ideally, this initiative will also serve to cultivate a citizen-scientist community that contributes indigenous and local knowledge. The community shall refine, improve, or contest the public data, and shall also generate new research and analysis questions.

Seminar activities include problem scoping, stakeholder mapping, contribution paths, consent and data-handling plans, and piloting simple workflows. Students participate in the design and implementation of all of these activities. Ethical and evaluation principles are integrated into the project's design at all stages.

The presentation explores the potential of the design canvas and toolbox to assist in the structuring and organization of the project. Additionally, it investigates the means by which these tools could facilitate the responsible scaling of participation and impact within the context of this Citizen Social Science project.

Ideally , a pragmatic discourse would be initiated with organizational and strategy experts, resulting in a collaborative formulation of subsequent actions for project expansion.