The place bonding potential of nature‐based citizen science with refugee children and youth

Abstract Nature‐based citizen science often involves close interaction with places. In addition to providing benefits, such as learning opportunities and contact with nature, it can facilitate and shape bonds between people and places. Research exploring the place bonding potential of such projects is still in its infancy. This paper addresses this gap by exploring nature‐based citizen science with youth who are temporarily displaced due to the war in Ukraine. The study was conducted as part of the pilot citizen science project ‘Water Rangers Twente’ that engaged newly arrived Ukrainian youth (ages 9–14) in Almelo, a city in the Netherlands, in the collection of data on urban blue spaces. Using sketch maps, interviews, focus groups and ethnographic observations, the study explored participants' experiences through personal, community and natural environment dimensions of the place attachment framework. Data suggest that all three dimensions of place attachment were strengthened. Conceptual nuances led to further specifications of those dimensions. The proposed adapted framework includes seven constructs and reflects the personal and socio‐cultural context of nature‐based citizen science with newly arrived youth—particularly in relation to the early stages of place bonding and the participants' vulnerable circumstances. The study provides strong empirical evidence of how nature‐based citizen science supports nature contact, strengthens social bonds and restores basic needs of displaced children and youth. The refined framework provides a useful tool for the design of future projects. Policy implications include the need to support such citizen science projects with vulnerable communities as a nature‐based social prescription, a type of support strategy that contributes to the resilience of communities and ecosystems alike. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.