The Mannheim-based IHS project TransforMA has set itself the goal of actively shaping and supporting social transformation processes. This also includes the scientific monitoring of other research projects that deal with the topic of transformation or initiate transformation processes.

One such project is ‘Die Sprach-Checker’, an award-winning citizen science project from Mannheim. There, the Institute for the German Language (IDS) worked for years with children and young people from the Neckarstadt-West district of Mannheim, who systematically analysed the multilingualism of their environment. The project was scientifically flanked by TransforMA.

The results of the evaluation are intended as a so-called re-transfer to help successfully set up and implement further citizen science projects - especially those involving children and young people. In several surveys conducted during and after the project phase, the accompanying researchers were able to identify various success factors for successful citizen science.

Above all, they emphasised the importance of building networks in order to gain access to potential citizen-scientists in the first place. It is also essential to familiarise oneself with the living environment of the children and young people involved and, if necessary, to involve appropriate (educational) expertise.

However, the TransforMA team reports that even more important than the concrete results of the citizen science project that can be used for scientific purposes were the positive side effects: feelings of being valued, integration and participation on the part of the children and young people were the valuable ‘by-catch’ of these participatory experiences and had a strong impact on their commitment to the project. The self-esteem of the children and young people involved and their sense of identity were also visibly increased over the course of the project.