Building the Bridge to a Participatory Citizenship: Curricular Integration of Communal Environmental Issues in School Projects Supported by the Internet of Things

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TL;DR

This study implemented Citizen Science strategies supported by Internet of Things technologies in a Portuguese secondary school to address students' lack of participatory citizenship. Over two Design-Based Research cycles, students engaged in collecting and analyzing data on communal environmental issues (waste, air quality, noise, mobility, toponymy) using low-cost sensors and georeferenced platforms, which increased their involvement in citizenship activities from 25% to 46%. The findings suggest that integrating IoT-enabled Citizen Science into school curricula can foster participatory citizenship, improve dialogue between local actors, and inform municipal education policies.

Full summary

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**Background:** The study addresses a recognized lack of participatory citizenship among secondary school students in Portugal, despite national policy frameworks (Portuguese Citizenship Education Guidelines, National Education Strategy for Citizenship, Sustainability for Environmental Education Referential) emphasizing the need for active, responsible citizenship. Previous research by the authors revealed that students showed limited engagement in community issues. The study explores whether integrating Citizen Science (CS) strategies—supported by Internet of Things (IoT) technologies—into school curricula can foster participatory citizenship, promote dialogue between local actors, and inform municipal education policies.

**Methods:** The research employed a Design-Based Research (DBR) methodological framework across two cycles. The first cycle (2019/2020 school year) involved 16 teachers from the target school in a civic co-creation workshop, followed by a 50-hour teacher training course attended by 18 teachers (grades 7-12) from multiple disciplinary areas. The second cycle (2021/2022 school year) refined CS strategies with four STEAM-field teachers (Physics/Chemistry, Mathematics, Arts, Technology/Engineering). The Smart School Lab (SSL) was established as a training/learning space where schools and municipalities collaborate through citizenship strategies. Six citizen engagement systems and four sensor-based systems were designed: (1) Waste/garbage monitoring using Esri Survey123; (2) Bike paths/safety routes reporting via ESP32 microcontrollers with GPS and LoRa/Wi-Fi; (3) Marine debris collection at Praia da Costa Nova; (4) Toponymy data collection; (5) Charity/human rights mapping during COVID-19; (6) SmartWaste (food waste measurement using 20 kg load cell); (7) SmartAir/SmartInAir (CO₂ and PM2.5/PM10 monitoring using NDIR sensors and Plantower PMS5003); (8) SmartSound (noise monitoring using Gravity Sound Level Meter V1.0, 30-130 dBA range); (9) SmartGreen (smart irrigation with soil moisture, temperature/humidity sensors). Data were collected via GPS-enabled mobile devices, Survey123 forms, MQTT brokers, and ThingSpeak cloud platform. Pre-test and post-test surveys were administered to students: 298 validated pre-test responses and 330 validated post-test responses in cycle 1; 56 pre-test and 30 post-test responses in cycle 2.

**Key Results:** In cycle 1 (2019/2020), pre-test data showed students' most frequent response to civic participation questions was "neither agree nor disagree," and only 25% had participated in citizenship activities in the prior 12 months. Post-test results showed 46% of students reported involvement in citizenship projects after strategy implementation. Students' major concerns were environmental problems (47.8%), being a better citizen (30%), social issues (6.7%), toponymy (6.7%), mobility (2.2%), and food issues (1.1%). Among students who participated in activities, only 14.6% expressed negative views about being community-involved citizens, compared to 25.3% of non-participants. In cycle 2 (2021/2022), 70% of students had been involved in at least one citizenship activity during the school year. Students reported being "aware of the difficulties that our society is going through" and finding themselves "capable of being more active in society." The SmartAir project won the 2021 Energy Up School Award (Galp Foundation), receiving €20,000 for solar panel installation. CO₂ monitoring in classrooms showed increased concentrations in afternoon periods due to higher occupancy and saturated air. Sound data collected in classrooms showed variations during class periods and breaks. The SmartWaste system (under development in 2022/2023) aims to measure food waste using the formula FW% = (Food Waste / Food Served) × 100. The study registered 203 student users, 26 teachers, 2 stakeholders, and 4 administrators on the ArcGIS platform.

**Clinical Implications:** This is an educational research study, not a clinical investigation. However, the findings have implications for public health and environmental health: air quality monitoring (CO₂, PM2.5, PM10) in schools can inform ventilation policies—particularly relevant during COVID-19 when Portuguese DGS guidelines required airing between classes. Noise monitoring (30-130 dBA range) addresses WHO concerns that at least 100 million EU citizens are affected by road traffic noise, with 1.6 million healthy life years lost annually in Western Europe. The study demonstrates that low-cost IoT sensors can engage communities in environmental monitoring, potentially contributing to reducing air and noise pollution exposure. The participatory approach aligns with WHO air quality guidelines and EU Zero Pollution Action Plan targets for 2050.