5º Action - Citizen Science

SchoolFaN aims to equip teachers with tools and strategies to tackle climate misinformation in the classroom. The project has followed a structured approach: analysing school contexts, developing educational resources, organising training for teachers and, ultimately, launching a citizen science initiative with pupils.

The citizen science phase of the SchoolFan project focuses on implementation and direct evaluation in secondary schools in Portugal, Spain, France and Greece. The primary objective of this stage is to empower teachers to apply an innovative approach in their classrooms, enabling students to act as citizen scientists capable of reporting on, analysing and debunking fake news related to climate change. This phase seeks not only to combat misinformation, but also to strengthen young people’s digital, scientific and civic skills, fostering the critical thinking essential for addressing complex social issues.

Between January and March 2026, this initiative was carried out in 32 secondary school classes across four countries — Portugal, Spain, Greece and France — involving approximately 350 students.

In this activity, students received training based on the knowledge and materials provided to the teachers who took part in the training. The students took on the role of fact-checkers. They explored climate-related content on social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram, critically analysing posts by applying international fact-checking guidelines. The students actively questioned sources, verified publications, and reflected on how misinformation is created and spread.

Following this process, the project hopes to establish a scalable proof of concept that can be replicated in other European contexts, ensuring a lasting impact on the education of more informed and responsible generations.