On the 25th and 26th of April, NordicPATH was participating at the Engaging Citizen Science conference in Aarhus. The conference aimed to engage the citizen science community to promote knowledge sharing on research, ideas, and innovations in order to make the field thrive and expand. The conference consisted on workshops, dialogue roundtables, posters, and demos from all main areas of research (natural and technical sciences, life and health sciences, and social sciences and humanities).
At one of the round table sessions on “Environment and Empowerment”, the NordicPATH representatives (Sonja Grossberndt and Nuria Castell) facilitated a dialogue with the participants on how low-cost sensor technologies and citizen science can make air pollution visible and shape policies towards healthier cities. Initially, the discussion versed on how to increase trust in sensor data. Among the responses, terms like standardisation, transparency and combination with other data were the most suggested, but also training and education of participants were mentioned.
The conversation then moved towards how data can be made more “attractive/actionable”. For this, different forms of visualization were suggested, preferably map-based. Additionally, peer-reviewed publications for policy makers and infographics for the public were mentioned. Further issues discussed included the ownership of citizen generated/collected data and how these data can be shared without violating European GDPR regulations.
From the project side, the session was a great scenario to constructively discuss on some of the most common challenges we face in our data-collection tasks. Having the opportunity to hear and learn from participants from academia, the public sector and NGOs from Europe and the US definitely enriched our visions and inspired us for the coming steps.
© Sonja Grossberndt
