Developing collective knowledge as territorial practice: Transdisciplinary citizen science in the CARPINO project

This paper reflects on a transdisciplinary citizen science project carried out in Carpaneda, Vicenza (Italy): CARPINO (CARPaneda for INclusion and Observation of biodiversity changes). CARPINO investigated the socio-ecological transformation of a contested peri-urban territory through a threefold model that combined artistic performances, an oral history school, and a science camp. The project fostered an alternative, situated form of collaboration in which diverse knowledge practices coexisted, interacted, and generated new forms of territorial awareness. Engaging with debates on sustainable transition and the politics of knowledge production, the paper frames peri-urban territories as governance frontiers—liminal spaces where ecological, institutional, and epistemic tensions converge. Within such a territory, CARPINO operationalized citizen science not as a data-driven outreach tool, but as a performative and political practice. The paper argues that initiatives like CARPINO, while fragile and incomplete, are essential for rehearsing alternative modes of governance and knowledge production in complex urban landscapes. It suggests that transdisciplinary citizen science, when rooted in local struggles, can expand the epistemic and institutional conditions for more just, situated, and imaginative forms of territorial transformation.