Abstract
Meaningful co-creation with youth in citizen science relies on equitable power sharing between practitioners and youth. However, the idea of meaningful co-creation versus the reality of delivering it are two different things. In this article, we share the process of and learnings from co-creating a webinar conceptualized as a site of collaboration for a multi-country citizen science project on social inclusion. The expertise presented comes from both youth citizen scientists and adult practitioners, combining voices across countries and roles. Key findings highlight the importance of both temporal and spatial dimensions of trust building. As part of a longitudinal study, the citizen researchers and adult researchers at each site had sufficient time to build trusting relationships. This, in turn, facilitated co-productive practice in designing the webinar and in making new connections with unfamiliar researchers during the webinar itself. Valuing the unique cultural contexts of each research site also facilitated relationship-building during the webinar and offered multimodal means of engagement, creating an inclusive, creative space online. This co-produced article seeks to encourage others to critically reflect on shifting power to facilitate equitable work with youth, leading to meaningful and impactful co-creation.
- How to cite: Murray, C., Autorino, Y., Ball, E., Lorenzen, S.B., Butkevičienė, E., Cassidy, J., Danila, A., De Falco, F.M., Dowie, A., Dirzu, A.A., Franco, S., Gatti, F., Göbel, C., Graham, R., Holt, G., Kavaliauskaitė, M., Kubilius, J., Lemrabatt, E.M., Lorenz, U.,... Winther, C.M.S. (2026). Using Combined Voices to Share Our Knowledge and Experiences in Youth Citizen Social Science. Citizen Science: Theory and Practice, 11(1):35, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.5334/cstp.878
