The project’s aim is to enable schoolchildren to become actors of change for hygiene and hand-washing in their community, through a living lab approach.

The living lab will be based in the schools and communities in Greater Accra, in Ghana. A set of citizen science experiments will be set at the schools and communities, enabling children to visualise the impact of hand-washing (no water, with water, water and soap, etc) on the growing of bacteria on petri dishes.

These interactive experiments will enable children to see the ‘invisible bacteria’ and the impact that hygiene and hand-washing has. This will inform their learning and will impact their school community, curiosity and understanding. Children will act as agents of change, by transferring this knowledge (and photos taken in their phones) to their parents, siblings and relatives.

Additional capacity building and training workshops will be also run with the schools and communities. This pilot project will serve the community and inform future research.