Inclusive circular economy: Promoting young adult's participation through citizen inquiry and creative participatory research methods in a developing country

This study investigates the effectiveness of citizen inquiry and creative participatory methodologies in promoting inclusion and participation of children and young people in an underserved community in Nigeria in the global environmental issue of single-use plastics and the drive toward a plastic circular economy. It uses the principles guiding collaborative citizen science and inquiry-based learning to engage children and young people as co-researchers in a six-week participatory research project. The design employs a mixed-method approach that includes a pre-post-test, informal discussion, and focus group interviews with volunteers made up of eight children and sixteen young people to assess the methodology's effectiveness by determining changes in their knowledge, environmental attitude, and environmental behaviour. The results are analysed using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests to determine the relationship between the intervention and the variables measured. The summative assessment revealed no significant change in the young people's knowledge, but it did reveal an improvement in their environmental attitude and behaviour. The findings show that citizen inquiry has the potential to democratise global participation of children and young people in environmental issues through formal and informal settings, but designs must be tailored to the peculiar realities of the participants.