Citizen science with Deaf and Hard of Hearing adults: Web2Learn’s actions in Thessaloniki
Building on successful EU initiatives (CitSci4all project, European Citizen Science project workshop series, Acting4DHH project funded by the IMPETUS Accelerator program), our Web2Learn team is happy to empower an underrepresented citizen community, namely Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) citizens of Thessaloniki, Greece, by engaging them in citizen science. Follow our journey!
The beginning: the CitSci4All workshops
In the framework of the Erasmus+ project CitSci4All (Socially inclusive citizen science for deaf and hard hearing adults in climate change), Web2Learn, in collaboration with partners, created an online Toolkit for DHH trainers on citizen science. The toolkit has been used in the series of face-to-face workshops organised by Web2Learn for DHH individuals in Thessaloniki, Greece. In particular:
May 23, 2023: Citizen science workshop with DHH Secondary School students
During the workshop, we introduced citizen science to DHH students and engage them in a plant mapping activity in their school yard through which they had the opportunity to use the iNaturalistGR mobile application!
September 2, 2023: Citizen science workshop with DHH adults
Following the workshop with school students, we carried out a citizen science workshop and activity; this time with DHH adults who were introduced to the topic and learned how to use the iNaturalist app to map plant biodiversity.
The ECS workshops in collaboration with the Association of the Deaf of Northern Greece.
Inspired by our work with the DHH community in Thessaloniki, we ideated a new series of workshops on citizen social science, in the framework of the European Citizen Science project (ECS)’ s inclusive pilots. Thus, from December 2023 to February 2024, we carried out 4 face-to-face workshops through which we mapped needs and barriers to accessibility and participation in social life of the DHH community. Participants were encouraged to share their stories and engage in empowering group discussions.
December 10, 2023
Our first introductory workshop.
January 19, 2024
In our 2nd workshop, the group discussion was followed online by the Italian artist, Alice Toietta, who depicted participants’ views on paper through live sketchnoting!
January 28, 2024
On our 3rd workshop, we gave the opportunity also to DHH individuals from other Greek cities to join our discussions!
February 4, 2024
You can find a detailed description of our final ECS workshop here.
Scaling up: the Acting4DHH project
Motivated to keep engaging with the DHH community through citizen social science (CSS), Web2Learn ideated and implemented, in collaboration with the Association of the Deaf of Northern Greece (EKVE), the Acting4DHH project (Citizen social science for the benefit of the Deaf community).
#1 CSS: A video series that depicts instances of communication and collaboration among DHH and Hearing citizens (September-October 2024).
#2 CSS: Mapping of non-accessible urban spaces in Thessaloniki through the IMC mobile application (November-December 2024).
Our final public event: On January 10, 2025, we organised the Acting4DHH public event, hosted in the premises of EKVE in Thessaloniki. During the event, participants showcased the project results’ to members of the DHH community and engaged in discussions on the needs of the community and the value of citizen social science. Check images of the final event here.
You can find more about our Acting4DHH project here.
Research
Our engagement with the DHH community is also reflected in a series of research work conducted throughout our workshop series. Specifically:
May 2022
Katerina Zourou and Stefania Oikonomou (Web2Learn), gave a talk on the CitSci4All project and Web2Learn’s actions at the online monthly meeting of the Empowerment Inclusiveness and Equity (EIE) Working Group of the European Citizen Science Association (ECSA).
May 2024
Katerina Zourou and Stefania Oikonomou, together with researchers Alexandra Czeglédi and Barbara MIhok (ESSRG) published the research paper “Citizen social science: Two case studies with Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing communities” at the Edulearn 2024 Conference, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, 1-3 July 2024.
September 2024
Forthcoming paper: Katerina Zourou and Stefania Oikonomou are working on a paper that will expand reflections from doing citizen science with the DHH community. The paper will be submitted to the Citizen Science 4 Good Conference, Bremen, Germany, 4-6 September 2024.
December 2024
On December 3, 2024, Katerina Zourou and Stefania Oikonomou (Web2Learn) presented key insights from their ECS workshops’ experiences and reflections at the Conference “Contemporary Challenges: "Citizen Science" in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Pecs, Hungary. Full reference: Zourou, K., Oikonomou, S. (2024). (Re)shaping a citizen social science project for and with Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals. Conference “Contemporary Challenges: "Citizen Science" in the Humanities and Social Sciences, Pecs, Hungary, December 2-3, 2024
Funding
Web2Learn’s citizen science workshops with the DHH community in Thessaloniki took place in the framework of EU-funded projects. Thus, we would like to recognize the following projects:
- CitSci4All (2022-2024, Project Number: 2021-1-FR01-KA220-ADU-000035221), Workshops were part of Project result 3 Activity 2 (PR3A2) and PR4A1.
- ECS (2022-2026, Grant agreement: 101058509), Workshops were part of Task 5.2 Applied pilots on citizen inclusion.
- Acting4DHH (June 2024-January 2025), project funded by the IMPETUS Accelerator programme (2nd call, 2024).
What’s next?
Α. Deaf people advocating for equality and access to health services: A video series
As of March 2025, in the framework of the Erasmus+ BOLD project, we implement a new action that aims to support DHH people in the field of health; this time, we work with DHH individuals and students of the Faculty of English Literature of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki! Find out more about our BOLD action here (page in Greek).
Β. Acting4DHH II: Empowering Deaf communities in Europe through citizen social science!
After the successful implementation of the Acting4DHH project (cf. Acting4DHH videos), we are extremely happy to announce that our Acting4DHH II is funded as a Sustaining grant by the IMPETUS Accelerator 2025 programme! This time, we bring together 4 European Deaf communities from Greece, Poland, Slovakia and Ukraine that will raise awareness and advocate for Deaf-Hearing citizens’ collaboration through a series of videos.
The project starts in June 2025 with a face-to-face meeting in Thessaloniki!
Check more about Acting4DHH II here.
Stay tuned for our upcoming activities with European Deaf communities!
Contact
Interested in collaborations for inclusive and accessible citizen science projects?
Email us at: info@web2learn.eu