- PROJECT CODE: O7-60122
- PROJECT TITLE: Citizen Science for Sustainable LOng-Term High-impact Decisions
- PROJECT TEAM: Ana Slavec, PhD (leader), Una Vuletić, Lea Primožič, PhD, Balazs David, PhD, Črtomir Tavzes, PhD
- PERIOD: 1. 9. 2026 – 30. 11. 2027
- BUDGET: 27.966,35 EUR
- FINANCING: Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency (ARIS)
- PROJECT COORDINATOR: UP IAM
The SLOTH project aims to identify the barriers and drivers of long-term decision-making and to determine how climate change mitigation and adaptation can be strengthened among private forest owners and private homeowners. One of its key goals is to estimate the mitigation potential of long-term decision-making in the context of private home construction and renovation. Within the third work package (WP3), greenhouse gas emissions associated with different construction and renovation practices are systematically assessed and critically evaluated. The proposed citizen science extension (CS SLOTH) will complement SLOTH by introducing a participatory component focused on WP3. Although SLOTH develops expert-driven estimates of the mitigation potential of long-term renovation decisions, WP3 currently collects no human subject data on actual renovation experiences. CS SLOTH fills this gap by engaging homeowners in co-developing a database of environmental outcomes of real renovation decisions. Through an interactive workshop, participants will learn how to interpret life cycle assessment information and contribute data about their own renovation choices, motivations, barriers, and material usage. This will enrich SLOTH’s technical findings with behavioural insights, enhance public engagement, and create a publicly accessible resource for evidence-based renovation and construction decisions. At the beginning of the project, an implementation plan will be developed, including the identification of target audiences and refinement of data collection questions. The project’s Data Management Plan (DMP) will be updated to incorporate citizen generated data and ensure full compliance with legal and ethical requirements. The data collected in CS SLOTH will be integrated with the qualitative and quantitative social science data already collected in SLOTH, enabling a mixed methods approach. The resulting database of environmental outcomes of homeowners’ decisions will help validate and refine the decision factors identified across SLOTH work packages. New scientific insights generated through this process will be presented at conferences and disseminated through peer reviewed publications. The data will be analysed not only for scientific reporting but also as part of the workshop activities, where results will be presented, interpreted jointly with participants, and discussed with other stakeholders. This co interpretation process will serve as a platform for formulating collaborative solutions aimed at reducing environmental impacts. All collected data and methods will be openly shared through appropriate data repositories. In addition, educational materials for homeowners will be developed, focusing on resource efficient renovation strategies, sustainable practices, and recommendations for future research and policy development.
