Training for Development

Low-tech and participatory sciences: two complementary approaches

Admin, Tiphaine Riaux — 2026-05-13T20:10:42Z

Low-tech empowers people to do. Participatory sciences empower them to understand, document and share what they do. Together, they transform a hands-on activity into a knowledge project — structured, testable and transmissible.

🔧 What participatory sciences add to a low-tech activity

🗂️A method for moving from a "workshop" to a genuine "project"

A low-tech training can teach participants how to build a solar oven, a water filter, an irrigation system, a simple sensor, a repaired object or a lightweight housing solution.

Participatory sciences allow us to go further and invite participating audiences to contextualise their designs and take an interest in the effects they produce. Integrating a participatory sciences approach into a low-tech activity means asking:

✅ what problem do we want to solve?
✅ for which audience?
✅ how do we verify that the solution works?
✅ with what success criteria?
✅ how do we document the results?

The activity thus no longer limits itself to producing an object, but allows us to contextualise its role as well as its effects within a broader environment. By integrating participatory sciences, low-tech activities are then transformed into structured, testable and replicable projects.

🎓An expanded pedagogical stance

Technical training in the low-tech field provides both the practical expertise specific to the discipline and the learning methods specific to it.

The Participatory Sciences Step One training operates at a different level. It helps supervisors, facilitators, trainers, teachers, researchers, project leaders and advanced participants to design activities in which audiences are not merely beneficiaries, but progressively become:

✅ observers;
✅ investigators;
✅ contributors;
✅ transmitters;
✅ and sometimes even co-authors of the project.

This makes it possible to act on participant engagement and not simply offer training "for them", but to progressively build an approach "with them".
With a participatory sciences approach, the person is not merely "trained", they are recognised as a holder of useful knowledge. Combining participatory sciences and low-tech is also an opportunity to recognise the knowledge of communities, indigenous knowledge and ancestral practices as fully-fledged scientific knowledge.

🌱Skills development and participant empowerment

Low-tech activities welcome different people with different ambitions.
In a low-tech activity, some people come to discover, others to meet an immediate need, and others quickly show a desire to go further.
Participatory sciences make it possible to create differentiated pathways.

For example, among participants in a low-tech activity, some may become:

✅ workshop leads;
✅ facilitators for other groups;
✅ peer trainers;
✅ co-designers of new prototypes;
✅ links between several communities;

The practical autonomy that low-tech initially offers is complemented by participatory sciences, which organise the growing responsibility of participants.
Indeed, participatory sciences add another dimension: they enable participants to understand, explain, document and transmit.
From an individual, personal and professional standpoint, the benefits of this approach are numerous. They strengthen:

✅ self-confidence;
✅ self-image;
✅ the ability to speak up;
✅ the ability to train others;
✅ access to associative, professional or entrepreneurial opportunities.

The dimension of simple technical facilitation is transcended and transformed into a genuine capacity-building pathway.

📊A resource for producing useful data

A low-tech activity can be very concrete, yet difficult to evaluate if what it actually produces is not documented. By integrating a citizen science or participatory research dimension, low-tech workshops can become spaces for collecting data that is useful both to the organisation itself and to society at large. Integrating a "participatory sciences dimension" into one's activity allows for collectively asking concrete questions such as:

✅ what are the actual uses of the manufactured object?
✅ what is its lifespan?
✅ which materials work best?
✅ what are the actual costs?
✅ what local adaptations are needed?
✅ what are the impacts on autonomy, comfort, health, energy, water or food?

An enormous amount of useful, open-source material can emerge from combining low-tech activities with participatory sciences: improved prototypes, technical sheets, explanatory videos...
Ultimately, the improvement of low-tech can be made possible by field experience, and not solely by initial technical expertise.

🌍A link between science, technology and society

Low-tech often responds to concrete needs: water, energy, food, housing, mobility, health, material autonomy... Universal needs, often urgent ones.

The Participatory Sciences Step One training makes it possible to connect these everyday realities to broader challenges: climate adaptation, public health, territorial resilience, social inclusion, SDGs...

This goes beyond simply giving the low-tech workshop a deeper dimension; it ensures that it is not viewed merely as a technical space, but also as a venue for dialogue among citizens, organizations, local governments, researchers, engineers, funders, and institutions.
By breaking down the barriers between science, technology, and society, participatory science enables low-tech projects to emerge as as genuine impact projects.

👥A training that is equally useful for supervisors and advanced participants

The Step One training can be aimed at two levels.

First, at supervisors : facilitators; low-tech trainers; social workers; mediators; teachers; association managers; engineers; researchers; project coordinators.
It enables them to better design, facilitate, document and promote their activities.

But it can also be aimed at the most engaged participants.
For example, members of a low-tech programme or laboratory can take the Step One training in order to in turn become:

✅ links;
✅ co-facilitators;
✅ trainers;
✅ workshop coordinators;
✅ project leaders;
✅ social entrepreneurs;
✅ documentation managers;
✅ community mediators.

This is an important distinction: participatory sciences do not only serve to improve the low-tech activity; they can enable participants to become actors in its development.

✨In brief

The complementarity between low-tech and participatory sciences is therefore not merely technical. It is first and foremost methodological and pedagogical.

Low-tech poses the question: How do we do better, simpler, more sober, more repairable, more accessible?

Participatory sciences add: How do we work with the people concerned, how do we learn together, how do we produce useful knowledge, how do we document results, how do we improve over time, how do we pass it on to others?

It is this combination that creates the power of the model.
Together, they can transform a technical activity into a project of learning, autonomy, action research, inclusion and impact.

Low-tech provides concrete solutions.
Participatory sciences provide the method for testing, improving, documenting, transmitting and scaling them up with the people concerned.

Participatory Science: what is it ?

Tiphaine Riaux — 2026-04-28T13:56:52Z

Did you know that you could involve non-scientists in real research?

Thanks to participatory science, anyone can become an actor of knowledge and contribute to projects that concretely change the world. No degree needed. Just observation, commitment, and a desire to act. Curious citizen, local resident, or passionate enthusiast: this is where you have a role to play.

Participatory science in brief

Participatory science consists of involving society as a whole in scientific production. By mobilizing diverse actors within multidisciplinary activities, it promotes collective intelligence and the complementarity of knowledge, serving the advancement of knowledge.

Each person can thus contribute to identifying research questions, collecting and analysing data, interpreting results, but also to developing new technologies or innovating methods to address complex issues. Ultimately, science as a whole is strengthened, as is individuals' ability to better understand and act in the face of complex challenges.

By involving citizens in research, participatory science is a major asset for science and for society

⚖️Democracy and justice in science

A fairer and more complete science: Participatory science opens science to knowledge that laboratories alone cannot reach. By integrating local realities and community knowledge (indigenous knowledge, traditional practices, field experience), participatory science offers more tailored and consensual responses to major challenges, often resulting in more sustainable and inclusive solutions.

🔍Amplified research capacities

A science without borders or resource limits: By mobilising thousands of citizen-observers, participatory science allows data collection and fields of study to be multiplied, where research laboratories are often limited financially and in terms of human resources. Furthermore, new practices and methodologies can complement existing ways of doing science.

With participatory science, ambitions in research are no longer constrained, it is once again possible to dream bigger.

💪The individual at the heart of the process

A science that values and empowers: Participating in a participatory science project is not about being a mere executor, it is about being a co-author. Such an experience can become a lever for empowerment and individual recognition. By offering the opportunity to be involved in a project from A to Z, participatory science gives the individual the feeling of contributing to something bigger and offers everyone the possibility of feeling fully part of the world.

📚Educational assets and lever for engagement

A science learned through practice: Far from top-down pedagogical approaches, participatory science is based on a simple philosophy: we understand better what we do ourselves. By proposing action-based learning and placing participants in concrete situations, it facilitates the appropriation of complex issues, whether climatic, ecological, or social.

Thus, direct experience, rather than discourse alone, constitutes an effective method of awareness-raising, likely to foster engagement and taking action.

Already active in Participatory Science? Come strengthen, test, and deploy your projects

Are you already leading an observatory, a protocol, a field action, a participatory research program, or a science-society initiative? This Hackathon is not only an introductory training course: it is an intensive space to consolidate your existing projects, make them more robust, more mobilizing, and easier to deploy.

✅ Clarify your scientific, educational, and operational objectives.
✅ Improve your protocols without losing accessibility for the public.
✅ Strengthen data quality and contributor motivation.
✅ Work on presentation, recognition, and participant retention.
✅ Test your project with complementary profiles: researchers, educators, local authorities, NGOs, engineers, communicators, funders.
✅ Transform a one-off action into a sustainable, transferable, and replicable program.
✅ Leave with a method derived from Objectif Sciences International's 30 years of field experience.
✅ Benefit from a concrete toolbox to design, facilitate, fund, and promote your projects.

The Step One Hackathon is also aimed at those who already know what Participatory Science is, but who want to move up a level: better structure, better facilitate, better document, better transmit, and better sustain their projects over time.

In November - Hackathon Waves of Change in La Réunion

Tiphaine Riaux — 2026-03-03T12:37:28Z

🌊 Hackathon “Waves of Change”

⌚5 days of training to design your participatory science project.🚀

Are you a sports guide, tour operator, teacher, researcher, passionate about science, innovation, or the environment? 🌱 Do you want to create your project and help build a better world? 🌍
Collaborate with experts and fellow enthusiasts to turn your ideas into ambitious innovations 💡. Join the Participatory Science Hackathon “Waves of Change”, taking place from November 2 to 6 on Réunion Island.

🌊 Recap of the previous edition of the Ocean Participatory Science Hackathon

After participating in the third edition of the United Nations Ocean Conference, the Ocean Participatory Science Hackathon is now taking place on Réunion Island!
This event brought together students, professionals, and researchers from all backgrounds to co-create innovative projects for ocean protection and help them emerge in the context of an international-scale event. Together, through the Hackathon, participants actively contributed to supporting and implementing UN Sustainable Development Goal 14: “Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas, and marine resources for sustainable development.”

This edition of the Hackathon is titled: “Waves of Change”.

🌟 Experience the Hackathon like never before

During five intense and inspiring days, develop team projects for a more resilient and sustainable world in your field of choice: environmental sciences, marine biology, computer science, law, finance, electronics, architecture, management, and more.
This interdisciplinary event allows you to actively contribute to global challenges while expanding your professional network. Take advantage of the presence of passionate participants and experts, and leave equipped with the tools to bring your project to life.

🔬 Building a sustainable future through participatory science

Participatory science is a powerful lever to imagine and design concrete solutions to today's major challenges. Whether it's protecting the environment, rethinking lifestyles, or exploring new forms of social and technological innovation, everyone can actively contribute to building a sustainable future through collective intelligence.

🛠 Hackathon: bring your ideas to life

On-site, after team formation, you will:
💡 Imagine an innovative solution that inspires you
🏗️ Build your project from start to finish
🎯 Tackle challenges proposed by major stakeholders
🧑‍🏫 Receive expert guidance to bring your ideas to reality
After the Hackathon, you will be able to:
🚀 Implement your project and develop your activities
🌍 Scale other impactful projects to help build a better future

In August - Participatory Science Hackathon ECLIPSE - Science, Climate and Humanity

Tiphaine Riaux — 2026-02-20T11:55:10Z

🌍 ECLIPSE Citizen Science Hackathon – Science, Climate and Humanity in Motion

⌚5 days of training to design your participatory science project.🚀

Are you a sports guide, tour operator, teacher, researcher, passionate about science, innovation, or the environment? 🌱
Would you like to create your own project and help build a better world? 🌍
Collaborate with experts and enthusiasts to turn your ideas into bold innovations 💡.
Don't miss the “ECLIPSE Citizen Science Hackathon – Science, Climate and Humanity in Motion”, taking place from August 10 to 14 in Soria, Spain 🗓️.
Take advantage of the unique occasion of the solar eclipse to travel to Soria in Spain and work with participants from around the world on a project you're passionate about.

🌟 Experience the unique adventure of the Hackathon

For five intense and inspiring days, you'll share your knowledge with other passionate participants from diverse backgrounds and develop projects in the field of your choice (astronomy, biodiversity, migration, architecture, computer science, or programming).
This interdisciplinary event will allow you to contribute actively to global and human challenges while expanding your professional network.
Take advantage of the presence of experts and enthusiasts, and leave with the key tools to bring your project to life.

🔬 In a world in motion, building a sustainable future through citizen science

Citizen science is a powerful tool for imagining and designing concrete solutions to today's major challenges.
Whether it's protecting the environment, rethinking our lifestyles, or exploring new forms of social and technological innovation, everyone can play an active role in building, together, a sustainable future through collective intelligence.

This Hackathon draws on citizen science to explore movement in all its forms — human migrations, cosmic cycles such as the solar eclipse, and ecological transformations — and to imagine innovative solutions to environmental and social challenges.

Climate change has become a pressing issue for our societies. Its effects impact all living beings, including human populations.
Today, and even more so tomorrow, climate change puts people in vulnerable situations. Forced to migrate, they often find themselves without any means to act.
This Hackathon aims to be a space for innovation to build a more resilient, united, and sustainable world by connecting the themes of environment and migration.
Through citizen science and public participation, this Hackathon seeks to provide solutions both for migrants already affected by the consequences of climate change and for communities that may one day be forced to relocate due to these disruptions.

🛠 Hackathon: bring your ideas to life

This Hackathon is a learning-by-doing experience that gives you a complete toolbox and the skills you need, while helping you turn your wildest projects into reality.

On site, once teams are formed, you will:
💡 Imagine an innovative solution that inspires you
🏗️ Build your project from A to Z
🎯 Take on challenges proposed by major organizations
🧑‍🏫 Benefit from expert advice to turn your ideas into reality

After the Hackathon, you will be able to:
🚀 Bring your project to life and expand your initiative
🌍 Scale up other impactful projects to build a better future

March in Paris - Hackathon Participatory Science for Scientific Travel

Tiphaine Riaux — 2025-12-14T07:28:00Z

💡Let's invent together the travel and science of tomorrow!

⌚5 days of training to design your participatory science project.🚀

🚀 Are you passionate about science and love to travel? 🌍 Do you want to create your own project and contribute to building a better world? 🌱
Collaborate with experts and enthusiasts to transform your ideas into ambitious innovations 💡. Don't miss the Participatory Science Hackathon for Scientific Travel, taking place in Paris from March 6 to 8, 2026 + option with UNESCO the following week (4 half-days, for the Design and Project Development supplement from March 10 to 13), during the Terra Scientifica Scientific Travel Fair 🗓️!

🌟 Experience the unique Hackathon adventure

Over 3 intense and inspiring days—or a full week (2 duration options), develop projects that combine science and travel in your favorite fields (astronomy, geology, volcanology, biodiversity, architecture, computer science, electronics...). This interdisciplinary event will allow you to actively contribute to global challenges while expanding your professional network. Take advantage of the presence of enthusiasts and experts, and leave with key tools to bring your project to life.

🚲 Contribute to the creation of scientific travel projects

Propose extraordinary experiences that contribute to scientific research. Through the creation of immersive experiences accessible to all, combine adventure and discovery with learning and scientific research. 🔬
Bridge the gap between world exploration, data collection, and the production of scientific knowledge and solutions for planetary resilience.

Contribute to smarter, more sustainable, and environmentally respectful tourism. 🌱

🛠 Hackathon: bring your ideas to life

This Hackathon is a learning-by-doing experience that gives you a complete toolbox and the skills you need, while helping you turn your wildest projects into reality.

On site, once the teams are formed, you will:
💡 Imagine an inspiring and innovative solution
🏗️ Build your project from A to Z
🎯 Tackle challenges presented by major stakeholders
🧑‍🏫 Receive expert advice to bring your ideas to life

After the Hackathon, you will be able to:
🚀 Make your project a reality and grow your activity
🌍 Scale up other high-impact projects to help build a better future

Step and Go launches its international initiative to scale up impact-driven projects

Admin — 2025-10-30T16:25:58Z

Learning through action, acting through learning
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Participatory Science Step One: The Training-Hackathon That Sparks a Local OSI Group and Local Jobs

Admin — 2025-10-30T10:35:36Z

Step One (St1) is a 5-day training-hackathon in French, designed to fast-track projects already desired by local stakeholders in a given territory. Learning happens through making: immediately deployable activities (camps, classes, clubs, workshops), a complete toolbox (facilitation-teaching and design-development), a shared language, and a clear roadmap. Deployed in partnership between Step and Go and Objectif Sciences International (OSI), the goal is not to “bring OSI in,” but to equip existing teams so the local group can independently run its own OSI Local Group, along with its economy and job creation.

Why organize the Step One Hackathon?

A short story. Justine, a science communicator in Saint-Leu on Réunion Island, has been leading nature outings for families and high school students for years. She feels that three things are missing: simple and robust protocols, ready-to-publish materials, and a framework for involving other operators without losing the local DNA. Step One serves as a springboard. In 5 days, her idea of “Sentinel Reefs of the Lagoons” becomes a cataloged project, with a monitoring protocol, educational kit, web page, checklists, partners, and timeline. What started as science education or citizen science now enters the realm of Participatory Science, even Participatory Research.

What operators gain

Frameworks that respect their practices: we start from their topics, audiences, and constraints.
Models and SOPs that reduce time-to-market: project sheets, protocols, web templates, budgets, RACI, risk logs, media kits.
A network effect without dispossession: possible co-branding, credibility from an international NGO, scientific and civic recognition.
A recurring economic pipeline: classes, clubs, camps, workshops, training, kits/products, services and consulting.

Approach. Zero hype, 100% service. We build on what you already have, and collaborate to go further, on your terms.

The format: 5 days, with or without accommodation

Pedagogy. A mix of practical workshops, short plenary sessions, and hands-on project development. We learn by building and testing, not by sitting still.

Two logistic formats
Residential (with accommodation): full immersion, thematic dinners, afterworks or debates. Team cohesion is at its best.
Day program (without accommodation): same content, extended days, with an evening event (“local specialties” dinner).

Sample living agenda
Day 1 – Frameworks & framing: understanding local issues, audience mapping, topic selection, first deliverables.
Day 2 – Design: participatory protocols, educational pathways, safety, inclusion, initial materials.
Day 3 – Prototyping: iterations on kits and content, workshop tests, adjustments.
Day 4 – Dry-run: full rehearsals under near-real conditions, operational documentation.
Day 5 – Packaging & public pitch: final catalog sheets, ready-to-publish pages, RACI, 90/180/365-day plan, open presentation and commitments.

What your team takes away and knows how to do after 5 days

“Catalogue-ready” deliverables (public + internal version)

Complete project sheet: promise, educational and scientific objectives, target audiences, calendar, pricing, logistical requirements.
Participatory protocol (field/lab/data) and turnkey educational kit (animation, mediation, and teaching sequences).
Operational plan: locations, permits, safety, equipment, facilitation, partners, checklists.
Communication materials: webpage or mini-site, poster, 3–5 minute pitch, social media elements.
90/180/365-day roadmap: milestones, RACI, risks/mitigations, adoption and impact KPIs.

Consolidated skills
Knowledge: components of citizen science, project-based pedagogy, ethics and dissemination, SDGs.
Know-how: define, design, secure, organize, document, and publish an operation.
Soft skills: facilitation and teaching posture, cooperation, feedback, multi-audience mediation.
Common language & framework: shared definitions (operation, indicators, restitution), common templates, common way of presenting projects.

7 concrete examples from a single territory

“Dolphin Watchers”: ethical observation protocols, behavior sheets, anonymized dataset, workshops with families and high school students, partnership with a local nautical operator for safety.
“Highland Birds”: ridge and edge trail walks, dawn listening points, ID notebooks, Wednesday clubs, monthly online newsletter.
“Sentinel Reefs”: simple transects, visual surveys, popular science kits on bleaching and resilience, traveling school exhibit, citizen outing calendar.
“Bioclimatic Homes”: model workshops & microclimate recordings (shade/wind/thermal inertia), passive diagnostics (orientation, shading, vegetation), site visits, open source mini-simulations, low-tech renovation roadmap.
“Drone for Science”: flight plan & safety, cartography/photogrammetry (coast, mangroves, lava flows), orthomosaics & profiles, GDPR/consent protocol, beginner drone piloting & data analysis training.
“Geology & Crystals”: outcrop routes, mineral sheets (structure, hardness, cleavage), magnifiers & non-destructive tests, responsible observation protocol (no collection in protected zones), educational sample exhibit.
“Traces of the Past” (paleontology): fossil and ichnite site mapping, non-invasive protocol (scale photo, geolocation), educational/3D casts when permitted, reconstruction workshops (habitats/species), reporting procedure to authorities.

Each project comes with its catalog sheet, webpage, logistics, checklists, partners, and roadmap. The following Saturday, a pilot workshop can already be up and running.

The transferred toolbox (facilitation-teaching + design-development)

Project canvas: objectives, audiences, partners, protocol, logistics, budget, risks, indicators, restitution.
Pedagogical progression: charter, steps, evaluations, “typical week,” team-building games.
Facilitation and teaching tools: scenarios, mediation materials, serious games, public restitution guides.
Design & dev tools: prototyping (sensors/kits), technical docs, communication assets (poster, pitch, webpage), implementation checklists.
Organization & quality: field safety, insurance, administrative aspects, continuous evaluation, feedback loops.

Economic impact and jobs: tangible, local, sustainable

During the St1: food, lodging, venues, audiovisual, fablab, media.
After the St1: school classes, clubs, camps, programs, trainings, kits/educational materials, mediation and consulting services, entrepreneurial opportunities (associations, co-ops, micro-enterprises).
Activated roles: coordinators, science mediators/educators, designers/makers, partnership managers; medium-term: specialized trainers, program leads, social entrepreneurs.

A local team doesn't wait for an unlikely grant: it builds a portfolio of tangible, marketable, useful activities that fund jobs.

How does a Local OSI Group start in your region (and remain autonomous)?

Step 1 — Connect and structure
Organize Step One locally; open public pages (local group, local St1) and a simple forum; form the core team (Operations Director, Pedagogy & Logistics, Participation & Fundraising Development, Research Program); choose 2–3 priority operations.
Result: access to basic templates and standards (sheets, protocols, checklists, web layouts).

Step 2 — Run a first cycle
Pre-camp → operation → post-camp; each role adopts its toolkit (OpsDir, PED-LOG, DEV, Research, facilitators).
Result: packaged deliverables (catalog descriptions, SOPs, comms materials, RACI, risks) ready to relaunch.

Step 3 — Industrialize and sustain
Publish descriptions, set up intranet and governance (steering committee, rituals), repeat (families, schools, clubs), capitalize (post-camp, data, feedback), aim for local financial balance and certification of key personnel.
Result: functional local group able to operate independently.

Who signs up? (and prerequisites)

Teachers, educators, mediators, guides, researchers/engineers, NGO/institutional leaders, students, career changers, economic and public stakeholders.
Prerequisites: none required. Motivation, team spirit, and willingness to try and iterate are enough.
Inclusiveness: social pricing, partnerships, sponsorship possible for scholarships.

Your role in organizing and registering

You: choose the city, book the venue (60–100 people), activate your networks (registrations), coordinate partners and media.
We: provide content, methods, toolkits (SOPs, templates, canvas), create the pages (local group, local St1), the forum, the call/registration script, and train through practice.

Acquisition tip: target three circles — professional communities (teachers, educators, clubs), motivated public (families/students), local businesses (CSR). Offer 2 spots sponsored by a co-branded partner, and discounted early bird tickets.

Take action in three steps

1) Block a date (November, March or June depending on your season), confirm venue and format (residential/day).
2) Open the pages (local group, local St1) + a forum, launch registration call (target: 50–80).
3) Prepare 2–3 “priority territory” operations to package on Day 5 and publish the following week.

What you bring / what we bring

You: topics and audiences, local networks, logistics, registration outreach, partner and media relations.
We: pedagogical frameworks, protocols, kits, templates, final packaging (catalog), follow-up rituals, light support for the first cycle.

Common misconceptions

“We don't need OSI to do this.” True — and that's the point. You already know how to do it. Step One accelerates what you already do, with useful structures and a network.
“It's going to be administratively heavy.” Templates, sprints and checklists reduce the load; you leave with deliverables ready to publish and operate.

In conclusion

If you want to build a local team and launch meaningful activities (education, citizen science, scientific tourism) without losing your identity, organize Step One in your region. We'll transfer the tools and the framework; you stay in charge of execution, jobs, and the value created. The following week, your first workshops can already be up and running. Justine's story can become yours too.

To see the content of a Step One Citizen Science Hackathon: Check this page "Training in Citizen Science

To organize a Step One Hackathon in your region and launch a Local Group, contact us!

Participatory democracy: the impact of “Participatory Science Hackathons” on the economy and society

Admin — 2025-10-09T16:03:18Z

The Participatory Science Hackathons, initiated by Objectif Sciences International and Step and Go, are training-experimentation events where citizens, researchers, educators, and youth co-create concrete scientific projects in just a few days, linked to the Sustainable Development Goals. Based on learning through practice and shared governance, these hackathons transform participation into a driver of social innovation, citizen empowerment, and collective resilience, strengthening participatory democracy at both local and global levels.

When democracy regains its original meaning

“It's crazy that we have to say participatory democracy, when democracy should already mean that,” jokes Thomas Egli, 50 years old, founder of the NGO Objectif Sciences International (OSI), which he created at the age of 17 in 1992.
This science enthusiast turned citizen trainer saw from the beginning a contradiction in our institutions: a democracy drifting away from its citizens, participation exhausted by representativity, and active citizenship constrained by verticality.

The Participatory Science Hackathons (see description) , organized with Step and Go, reverse this logic. Here, deliberative democracy, shared governance, active citizenship, and intergenerational collaboration are no longer empty words. They are daily practices—lived, discussed, sometimes chaotic—but deeply transformative.

“We wanted to do real scientific research, not just discovery activities,” explains Thomas Egli. “The difference between pretending to participate and experiencing real participation is at the heart of the current democratic problem.”

Science for all, democracy for everyone

It all started with a science club, which became a global network recognized by the UN for its participatory science, social innovation, ecological transition, and citizen diplomacy projects.

Today, these hackathons bring together teachers, researchers, artisans, 12-year-old children, 16-year-old teenagers, retirees, farmers, electronics students from Bahrain, biologists, and journalists from France Inter or committed podcasts.
This social, geographical, cultural, and professional diversity reflects a dynamic social and solidarity economy — an ecosystem where social justice, diversity, inclusion, pluralism, and mutual accountability become democratic levers as powerful as voting.

“At each hackathon, we ask participants to identify their superpowers,” says Chloé Larose. “Then to look for those who complement them. It's like a miniature society: everyone needs the skills of others. That's where real collective intelligence is born.”

Participants experience learning by doing.
They face real cooperation scenarios: making joint decisions, resolving disagreements, designing a scientific method with non-specialists. These are micro-experiences of collaborative democracy and environmental governance, but also of dialogue culture, active listening, and social mediation.

A microcosm of society: between utopia and complexity

In a lecture hall at the University of Nice, at the end of a hackathon, children present their ethical drone observation project. Beside them: an acoustics researcher, a mountain guide, a teacher, and an electronics engineer from Bahrain. Applause masks the emotion — it's a small victory for applied deliberative democracy.

For Thomas Egli, “learning to participate is learning to confront.”
Each hackathon becomes a laboratory of governance sciences and complexity sciences.
One must negotiate, persuade, listen, delegate — and sometimes fail.

“There's always one group that blows up,” he says, smiling. “We know it in advance, we spot it, we ‘nurture' it. That's democratic life: it's learned through friction, not artificial consensus.”

These frictions reveal the root causes of a democracy that is “not participatory enough”:
the lack of civic education, the centralization of power, the administrative complexity, the digital divide, economic insecurity, mistrust, individualism, and the lack of recognition.
But they also reveal their remedies: transparency, collaboration, accountability, popular education, civic training, and local solidarity.

Concrete projects, real impacts

The outcomes are measured both in learning and social transformation.
Each session generates 5 to 10 concrete projects: citizen observatories of biodiversity, technical prototypes, cultural actions, or educational campaigns.

In Kinshasa, for example, a partnership between OSI and a cultural festival on the Congo River brought together more than 180 children over three years. Together, they conducted research on water quality and the restoration of river ecosystems. This participatory environmental governance project mobilized embassies, universities, and local associations, creating genuine community resilience.

“At first,” recalls Chloé Larose, “we were told it was impossible to involve children in scientific research. Three years later, they were leading their own investigations.”

In Nice, another project left a mark: “Wheels for Ocean”, initiated by a teenage girl.
She decided to cycle from the Alps to the Mediterranean, collecting environmental data and raising awareness in schools along the way.
This project, both educational, ecological, and emotional, illustrates the power of citizen empowerment and capacity building: when people are given the tools, anything becomes possible.

Review of the Hackathon Participatory Science for the Ocean, June 2025 in Nice

Admin — 2025-10-02T08:46:22Z

Step and Go, the NGO Objectif Sciences International, Université Côte d'Azur and Alliance Française Nice Côte d'Azur, together with the City and the Metropolis of Nice, organized a 10-day international Hackathon in June 2025, in parallel with the 3rd United Nations Ocean Conference. Students, researchers, NGOs, policymakers and citizens from around the world co-created concrete participatory science projects for the preservation and resilience of the oceans.

The Hackathon Participatory Science Step One for the Ocean gathered in Nice, from June 3 to 12, 2025, participants from all horizons to imagine and develop innovative solutions for the oceans. Led by Objectif Sciences International, with its Special Consultative Status with the UN (ECOSOC), and Université Côte d'Azur (Faculty of Management Sciences), within the framework of the United Nations Ocean Conference, this unique event brought together scientific expertise, citizen creativity and institutional engagement. Through workshops, mentoring and networking, it generated promising projects designed to influence international policies and practices for a living and sustainable ocean.

10 intense days

A Hackathon from June 3 to 12, 2025, held in parallel with the UN Conference.

30 to 150 participants

Students, researchers, NGOs, artists and decision-makers from around the world, participated in a module or over the entire duration.

6 flagship projects

Innovative solutions for ocean preservation and resilience.

20+ modules

Workshops and training led by international experts.

Organizing a 5-day Participatory Science Hackathon: a driver of economic, educational, and employment activities

Admin — 2025-09-09T08:56:46Z

A Participatory Science Hackathon is not just a moment of collective innovation; it is a catalyst for new and sustainable activities, both in the educational and economic fields. In five days, such an event mobilizes talent, stimulates sectors, and opens up unexpected employment opportunities for the host country.

Educational activities with high added value
Accelerated training for youth: hands-on workshops where students learn programming, data analysis, and science communication.
Capacity building for teachers: integration of active and participatory methods they will reuse in their classrooms.
Valorization of local research: connecting national researchers with citizen communities to test prototypes or popularize their work.
Non-formal education: involvement of associations, youth clubs, and scouts, discovering science as a collective game.
International openness: participation of foreign teams, creating a dynamic of intercultural learning.
Direct economic activities during the event
Scientific tourism: accommodation, catering, and transport for national and international participants.
Technical service providers: venue rental, high-speed internet connection, audiovisuals, 3D printing, digital fabrication.
Event services: decorators, facilitators, graphic designers, photographers, and videographers mobilized for the occasion.
Local production: crafts, merchandise, and local catering highlighted for participants.
Media and communication: radio stations, TV channels, and digital agencies finding new coverage and contract opportunities.
Economic impacts after the event
School trips across the country: projects from the hackathon serve as the basis for new educational programs. Schools organize outings and national science stays, generating an economy around transport, accommodation, and educational mediation.
Regenerative and resilient tourism: the innovations and activities created become attractions for the general public and international visitors. This develops tourism that is both cultural and scientific, highlighting local natural resources while protecting them.
Circular economy: prototypes and solutions designed (sensors, educational kits, scientific objects) are produced from local, recycled, or sustainable resources, creating a circular value chain where reuse and waste reduction become economic opportunities.
Startup creation: some teams continue their projects (mobile app, environmental sensor, educational platform…).
Data valorization: citizen databases on biodiversity, pollution, and public health, reusable by companies or institutions.
Professional training: development of training modules derived from prototypes, offered to schools, NGOs, and companies.
Social innovation: emergence of cooperatives or associations that extend hackathon ideas (circular economy, sustainable agriculture, renewable energy).
Attraction of investments: increased visibility attracting international donors, cooperation agencies, incubators, and private investors.
Jobs created or consolidated
Short term:
Project coordinators
Facilitators
Digital technicians, designers, makers
Science mediators, scientific and educational managers
Sales representatives, business developers
Medium term:
Trainers specialized in participatory science
Developers of applications emerging from the hackathon
Managers of educational programs in schools or NGOs
Science journalists and communicators
Long term:
Social entrepreneurs
Consultants in participatory innovation
Researchers associated with international networks
Managers of citizen science platforms
Types of activities, formats, audiences, and venues generated by a Participatory Science Hackathon

Types of activities

Science camps and educational stays
Discovery classes and school trips
Technical and pedagogical training (teachers, facilitators, students)
Participatory research projects (environment, health, biodiversity, energy, astronomy, etc.)
Maker workshops and prototyping (3D printing, robotics, sensors, connected objects)
Publications and editions (guides, manuals, educational kits, popularized scientific articles)
Consulting and auditing services (NGOs, local authorities, governments, UN)
Creation of educational objects and scientific kits
Local cooperatives or startups emerging from hackathon projects

Formats

Short hackathons (24h, 48h) or intensive (5 days)
Residential seminars (3 + 6 days) to train future leaders of local groups
Citizen prototyping workshops
Conferences-debates and multi-stakeholder roundtables
Field experiments (scientific measurements in nature, full-scale tests)
Webinars and online training to extend the hackathon
Exhibitions or science fairs open to the public

Target audiences

Children (science awareness, discovery stays)
Youth and students (practical training, research projects, civic engagement)
Teachers and educators (continuing education, new teaching methods)
Researchers and experts (co-construction of solutions with citizens)
Economic actors (entrepreneurs, cooperatives, startups)
Institutions and local authorities (local projects linked to SDGs)
Families and the general public (scientific tourism, cultural events)
NGOs and local associations (capacity building and partnerships)

Venues

City centers (coworking spaces, incubators, universities)
Eco-responsible business incubators
Natural sites: forests, mountains, coastal zones, lakes, seas, deserts, glaciers
Heritage and archaeological sites
School and university centers
Villages and rural communities (local anchoring, citizen participation)
International cooperation venues (Palais des Nations in Geneva, global forums)

By combining these activities, formats, audiences, and venues, a hackathon becomes a platform generating jobs, training, and local solutions, while integrating the host country into an international network of participatory innovation.

A 5-day Participatory Science Hackathon is therefore much more than a one-off event: it is a living infrastructure of education and innovation.
It immediately generates local consumption, stimulates creative and digital industries, and above all, leaves behind a fertile ecosystem of entrepreneurial, social, and scientific initiatives.
Each edition is an investment in the future, to transform citizen creativity into sustainable jobs and concrete solutions to society's challenges.

To see the content of a Step One Citizen Science Hackathon: Check this page "Training in Citizen Science

To organize a Step One Hackathon in your region and launch this economic activity, contact us!