15 Practical and methodological skills for planning and carrying out scientific research Capacity to involve citizens in the collection and analysis of research data Asking research questions Answering research questions Scientific reasoning and argumentation skills Observing and recording Observing and collecting data about biodiversity Collecting data in a standardised manner Data collection in CitieS-Health Submitting observations to the project database Research design and execution Data collection Scientific research skills PI IP CS Skills Example 2: Data collection in CitieS-Health This scientific enquiry was co-created with the citizens of Barcelona to explore how air and noise pollution in cities affect the mental health and stress levels of their inhabitants. CitieS-Health distributed a kit to collect data which was used by 300 participants. Based on the geolocation, the project estimated how much contamination each participant was exposed to. The team used videos to explain the whole process (including data collection) to future participants. See the full project Example 1: Observing and collecting data about biodiversity More than five million people have collected 94 million data observations to date. Participants contribute to science by recording observations of different animal and plant species and sharing them with a wider community of citizen scientists, researchers, and fellow naturalists for further discussion. See the full project