Citizen Science in the Classroom: Observing, Understanding, and Taking Action with Students

Join us for the Va Savoir?! Festival’s Professional Day, which this year is dedicated to citizen science in the classroom.

Intended for researchers, teachers, community outreach workers, organizations, and project leaders, this event will take place on Friday, October 23, 2026, at the Émile Zola Media Library in Montpellier.

The event will focus on citizen science in schools and the roles that students, teachers, researchers, and citizen science practitioners can play in this context. It will be a day dedicated to exchanging experiences, sharing projects carried out in the field, and reflecting together on the role of citizen science in educational practices and the collaborations it can foster between schools, research, and society.

Program:

• 9:30 a.m. > 10:00 a.m. – Welcome coffee
• 10:00 a.m. > 10:15 a.m. – Launch of the “Va Savoir?!” Festival and the Professionals’ Day
• 10:15 a.m. > 10:30 a.m. – Citizen Science: Current Status and Future Prospects
  An overview of citizen science today, with a particular focus on schools. Speaker: François Jouaillec, president of Instant Science.
• 10:30 a.m. > 10:40 a.m. – Launch of the “
  ” participatory science project: A participatory science program on light pollution for schoolchildren in Occitanie.
• 10:40 a.m. > 12:10 p.m. – Panel discussion: Why and how to incorporate citizen science into the classroom
  What are the drivers, barriers, and conditions for success in classroom-based citizen science projects? What are the expectations and needs of teachers, researchers, and other stakeholders involved?…
  
  Speakers:
  • Vincent Chassany – biology teacher and coordinator of Vigie-Nature Ecole (MNHN)
  • Raphaëlle Bats – sociologist, co-director of URFIST in Bordeaux – University of Bordeaux
  • Arnaud Vedrenne – Co-Director of the Toulouse chapter of Les Petits Débrouillards Occitanie
  • Matthieu Renaud – CNRS research fellow at the Observatoire des Sciences de l’Univers de La Réunion (OSU-Réunion)
    
    Moderator: Anaïs Moressa of Instant Science
• 12:10 p.m. > 1:10 p.m. – Lunch break
• 1:10 p.m. > 2:40 p.m. – Project Forum
  Meet with organizers of citizen science projects involving schoolchildren through booths and informal discussions.
• 2:40 p.m. > 3:40 p.m. – The Impact of Citizen Science in the Classroom
  Feedback on:
  • Measuring the Impact of Citizen Science, with Raphaëlle Bats—sociologist and co-director of URFIST in Bordeaux—University of Bordeaux
  • How Teachers Embrace Participatory Initiatives and Under What Conditions They Become Transformative, with Sébastien Turpin—Scientific and Educational Project Coordinator at the University of Paris-Est Créteil (UPEC) and former coordinator of Vigie-Nature École (MNHN)
•  3:40 p.m. > 4:00 p.m. – Participatory wrap-up

Practical Information:

• Join us on Friday, October 23, from 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event is free, but registration is required.
• Location: Émile Zola Media Library, 218 Boulevard de l’Aéroport international, 34000 Montpellier.
• Directions: By car, Europa parking lot / By tram, lines L1 and L4, Place de l’Europe stop.

The Va Savoir ?! Festival is organized by Instant Science and Les Petits Débrouillards Occitanie in partnership with the Montpellier Méditerranée Métropole Network of Media Libraries and Science Culture, with support from the DRAC Occitanie, the Occitanie Region, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), the City of Montpellier, the University of Montpellier, and the Community of Universities and Institutions of Toulouse.