Can we take student-based data rescue to the next level by engaging secondary school students across Europe and the world?

Over the past three years, tens of thousands of early African meteorological observations have been successfully digitised from the ACMAD collection. This is thanks to the Climate Data Rescue Africa Project (CliDaR-Africa) carried out by second year geography students as part of their Methods of Geographical Analysis module in Maynooth University. However, hundreds of millions of observations remain in image format from this collection, and billions more from numerous other archives around the world. To attain the quantum of rescue required the next logical step is to adapt the CliDaR-Africa Project for students at secondary level education across Europe and eventually the world. In this presentation we will outline what would be required to make this data rescue in the secondary school classroom a reality and some of the likely benefits for students. Students from Maynooth university who have already taken part in the CliDar-Africa Project have indicated that they have gained increased climate literacy and a range of useful skills from undertaking the activity. We are confident that, suitably tailored, it could benefit secondary level students in a similar way. Moreover, it is envisaged that the CliDar-Africa Project will directly make impactful social change by allowing young people to become involved in a real-world climate data project, allowing them to make a meaningful difference to others in less developed countries, while increasing their own knowledge on the challenges we face due to climate change. Novel participatory learning experiences should not be confined to the university sector alone. Suggestions and help in turning this from an ambition to a reality will be gratefully received.