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Citizen Science (CS) has been conceptualised as research where the public contributes to science, with the outcome being new knowledge. We discuss CS projects in schools in Finland and Poland addressing the challenges of linguistic diversity. In this project, we have been committed to Co-creative CS (CCS), where non-professional participants are involved in all stages of the research process and the control over the process is shared. First, we review the state of the art in CS research on multilingualism with a focus on CCS, schools and the youth. Then the highlights and challenges of our learning journey are discussed through experiences of co-designing the projects and the choices made by various participants during the research process. The main insight has been to add the dimension of engagement and social activism to the central outcomes for CCS projects in schools. Thus, we envision CCS not only as science education increasing the youth’s capacity to contribute to the knowledge economy, but rather as a tool for connecting academics with the public for co-creating new pathways to engagement and social activism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]