Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CompAir (Community Observation Measurement & Participation in AIR Science)
Berichtszeitraum: 2021-11-01 bis 2022-10-31
Pollution monitoring in the EU has a long history, and it’s one of the most comprehensive and advanced sources of evidence that exist in various environmental domains. Nevertheless, a few shortcomings remain. On a local level, for example, the granularity of data is not always sufficient to allow meaningful policy analysis. In part, this is due to the limited overview of air pollution in urban micro-environments, Because official monitoring stations tend to be few and far between, it is difficult to obtain good representative coverage of an entire city. Citizen science has the potential to fill this gap by providing high-resolution spatial and temporal data at the neighbourhood level. But, despite the concept being around for a few decades, citizen science is still considered a non-traditional data source in policy circles. Further efforts are needed to build its acceptance by decision makers at different levels of government.
Determined to make this happen, COMPAIR will deploy advanced quality assurance measures in the form of cloud-based calibration algorithms, to make citizen science data policy-ready. In addition, the project will engage the entire urban value chain in pollution monitoring and analysis, with a special focus on people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and geographic contexts with less developed citizen science culture e.g. Eastern and Southern Europe. Thanks to COMPAIR, local stakeholders will get a comprehensive, accurate and easily accessible view of pollution in places not covered by official monitoring stations. They will be able to see how pollution affects them individually and what its broader impacts are, or will be in case of inaction, on the economy and environment. Leveraging these insights, members of the quadruple helix community will be able to co-create appropriate measures and strategies needed to set smart cities on a more carbon-neutral footing and reduce air pollution to levels that are considered safe for all.
Determined to make this happen, COMPAIR will deploy advanced quality assurance measures in the form of cloud-based calibration algorithms, to make citizen science data policy-ready. In addition, the project will engage the entire urban value chain in pollution monitoring and analysis, with a special focus on people from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and geographic contexts with less developed citizen science culture e.g. Eastern and Southern Europe. Thanks to COMPAIR, local stakeholders will get a comprehensive, accurate and easily accessible view of pollution in places not covered by official monitoring stations. They will be able to see how pollution affects them individually and what its broader impacts are, or will be in case of inaction, on the economy and environment. Leveraging these insights, members of the quadruple helix community will be able to co-create appropriate measures and strategies needed to set smart cities on a more carbon-neutral footing and reduce air pollution to levels that are considered safe for all.
Main achievements in the first year broadly fall in these 3 categories: pilot results, research results, and technical results.
Pilot results
Preparations for setting up citizen science labs in Athens, Berlin, Flanders, Plovdiv, and Sofia were completed and the 'pilots' are now ready to start measuring air quality and traffic with the first group of interested volunteers. As part of this preparatory work, local teams organised several workshops with stakeholders representing policy, industry, academia and civil society, with the aim of identifying main pollution causes and priority areas to be targeted during measurement campaigns. Most cities chose schools or areas around schools where they would like to deploy sensors to measure children's exposure to air pollution, especially that caused by traffic i.e. nitrogen dioxide, or NO2. Toward the end of first year, some pilots already launched a recruitment campaign in the national language to reach the widest possible audience in their area.
Research results
The consortium produced several deliverables whose findings would benefit not just local teams in the five pilot cities, but also others with an interest in citizen science in general and community-led air quality monitoring in particular. Several reports that are worth mentioning include D7.1 Participation Risks and Compliance, which provides a thorough review different participation levels and tactics that have a bearing on ethical issues and risks that should be considered when starting a citizen science project. Then there is also D2.3 Policy Landscape Review, which mapped policy drivers that shape citizen science developments in the four pilot countries (Bulgaria, Flanders, Germany, Greece), as well as at EU level. And another important 'review' is D2.2 Citizen Science Landscape Review, which mapped 100 projects in the four countries, by critically analysing information on projects' engagement approach, data collection tools, and impact. In addition, it includes a new framework for categorising CS regimes at national level.
Technical results
COMPAIR's main technical outputs are the Policy Monitoring Dashboard (PMD), the Dynamic Exposure Visualisation App (DEVA), and the CO2 Calculator. As these are scheduled for release much later in the project, the work in Y1 focused mainly on 1) defining a set of requirements that would make these tools functional, relevant, easy to use, and ultimately market-ready, and 2) establishing the architecture that would make these tools stable, secure, scalable, and interoperable. At the same time, important work was undertaken to develop a coherent framework for data processing, algorithms and analytics based on sensor devices adopted in the project. These are SODAQ sensors and Telraam sensors. The former are going to be used mainly for measuring particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, the latter for counting traffic in areas that are likely to be affected by policy measures e.g. school streets.
Pilot results
Preparations for setting up citizen science labs in Athens, Berlin, Flanders, Plovdiv, and Sofia were completed and the 'pilots' are now ready to start measuring air quality and traffic with the first group of interested volunteers. As part of this preparatory work, local teams organised several workshops with stakeholders representing policy, industry, academia and civil society, with the aim of identifying main pollution causes and priority areas to be targeted during measurement campaigns. Most cities chose schools or areas around schools where they would like to deploy sensors to measure children's exposure to air pollution, especially that caused by traffic i.e. nitrogen dioxide, or NO2. Toward the end of first year, some pilots already launched a recruitment campaign in the national language to reach the widest possible audience in their area.
Research results
The consortium produced several deliverables whose findings would benefit not just local teams in the five pilot cities, but also others with an interest in citizen science in general and community-led air quality monitoring in particular. Several reports that are worth mentioning include D7.1 Participation Risks and Compliance, which provides a thorough review different participation levels and tactics that have a bearing on ethical issues and risks that should be considered when starting a citizen science project. Then there is also D2.3 Policy Landscape Review, which mapped policy drivers that shape citizen science developments in the four pilot countries (Bulgaria, Flanders, Germany, Greece), as well as at EU level. And another important 'review' is D2.2 Citizen Science Landscape Review, which mapped 100 projects in the four countries, by critically analysing information on projects' engagement approach, data collection tools, and impact. In addition, it includes a new framework for categorising CS regimes at national level.
Technical results
COMPAIR's main technical outputs are the Policy Monitoring Dashboard (PMD), the Dynamic Exposure Visualisation App (DEVA), and the CO2 Calculator. As these are scheduled for release much later in the project, the work in Y1 focused mainly on 1) defining a set of requirements that would make these tools functional, relevant, easy to use, and ultimately market-ready, and 2) establishing the architecture that would make these tools stable, secure, scalable, and interoperable. At the same time, important work was undertaken to develop a coherent framework for data processing, algorithms and analytics based on sensor devices adopted in the project. These are SODAQ sensors and Telraam sensors. The former are going to be used mainly for measuring particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, the latter for counting traffic in areas that are likely to be affected by policy measures e.g. school streets.
COMPAIR plans to effect change in the following four areas:
Urban value chain: COMPAIR brings together members of the quadruple helix community to co-create effective place-based solutions to mitigate air pollution and other related urban challenges. The multi-stakeholder collaboration will exhibit high levels of trust and inclusion, with grassroot communities, researchers, industry experts and policy actors working side by side to make the vision of zero pollution a reality.
Behavioural change: COMPAIR will stimulate behavioural change by increasing environmental awareness among urban inhabitants. Commuters, car drivers, home owners, business managers and even climate sceptics will develop a well-rounded understanding of how their action and inaction contributes to, or helps mitigate, climate change and air pollution in the city. Better awareness will encourage people to engage in citizen science initiatives and improve their environment, for example by switching to more sustainable everyday practices, and participating in urban policy making processes.
Technical change: COMPAIR uses novel data collection and cloud calibration techniques as well as advanced data management processes to make citizen science data policy-ready. As a result, local and regional administrations will have a more fine grained information at their disposal to enact evidence-based policies. Also, authorities are expected to build trust in citizen science data from knowledge that grassroot initiatives are working with, not against, them when it comes to air pollution.
Policy change: COMPAIR will unlock insights from traditional and citizen science data by making air quality information available through advanced visualisation and analytical tools e.g. Policy Monitoring Dashboard, Dynamic Exposure Visualisation App, CO2 Calculator. Not only does this help policy making become more data driven, experimental and forward-looking, it will provide cities and regions with an enhanced capacity to monitor and simulate measures required to achieve carbon neutrality and zero pollution objectives within the framework of EU's Green Deal.
Urban value chain: COMPAIR brings together members of the quadruple helix community to co-create effective place-based solutions to mitigate air pollution and other related urban challenges. The multi-stakeholder collaboration will exhibit high levels of trust and inclusion, with grassroot communities, researchers, industry experts and policy actors working side by side to make the vision of zero pollution a reality.
Behavioural change: COMPAIR will stimulate behavioural change by increasing environmental awareness among urban inhabitants. Commuters, car drivers, home owners, business managers and even climate sceptics will develop a well-rounded understanding of how their action and inaction contributes to, or helps mitigate, climate change and air pollution in the city. Better awareness will encourage people to engage in citizen science initiatives and improve their environment, for example by switching to more sustainable everyday practices, and participating in urban policy making processes.
Technical change: COMPAIR uses novel data collection and cloud calibration techniques as well as advanced data management processes to make citizen science data policy-ready. As a result, local and regional administrations will have a more fine grained information at their disposal to enact evidence-based policies. Also, authorities are expected to build trust in citizen science data from knowledge that grassroot initiatives are working with, not against, them when it comes to air pollution.
Policy change: COMPAIR will unlock insights from traditional and citizen science data by making air quality information available through advanced visualisation and analytical tools e.g. Policy Monitoring Dashboard, Dynamic Exposure Visualisation App, CO2 Calculator. Not only does this help policy making become more data driven, experimental and forward-looking, it will provide cities and regions with an enhanced capacity to monitor and simulate measures required to achieve carbon neutrality and zero pollution objectives within the framework of EU's Green Deal.