The Cousin Project recently launched a Citizen Science initiative aimed at schools, with the goal of engage students and volunteers in collecting data on Crop Wild Relatives (CWRs) and promote a deeper understanding of biodiversity and sustainable agricultural practices.

As part of the initiative, students at the Russell-Newton Higher Technical Institute, based in Scandicci (Florence, Italy) received theoretical training aimed at improving their scientific knowledge of crop biodiversity and promoting a deeper understanding of biodiversity and sustainable agricultural practices.

The students were involved in a series of introductory lectures exploring the importance of crop biodiversity and conservation of CWRs. In addition to classroom learning, students participated in a field trip aimed at identify wild relatives of crops related to the project’s target species, as well as other wild edible plants found in the local area. This hands-on experience was intended not only to reinforce the theoretical concepts covered during the training course, but also to theoretical concepts covered during the training.