Large-scale citizen science provides high-resolution nitrogen dioxide values and health impact while enhancing community knowledge and collective action

Abstract

We present outcomes from a large-scale air quality citizen science campaign (xAire, 725 measurements) to demonstrate its positive contribution in the interplay between advances in exposure assessment and developments in policy or collective action. A broad partnership with 1,650 people from communities around 18 primary schools across Barcelona provided the capacity to obtain unprecedented high-resolution NO2 levels and an updated asthma Health Impact Assessment. It is shown that NO2 levels vary considerably with at some cases very high levels. More than a 1,000 new cases of childhood asthma could be prevented each year by lowering NO2 levels. Representativity of site selection and the minimal number of samplers for land use regression modelling are considered. Enhancement of community knowledge and attitudes towards collective response were observed and identified as key drivers for successful large-scale monitoring campaigns. The results encourage strengthening collaboration with local communities when exploring environmental health issues.

Data set from large-scale citizen science provides high-resolution nitrogen dioxide values for enhancing community knowledge and collective action to related health issues

“…A pop-up citizen science initiative is defined by [2] as non-permanent, highly participatory collective experiments and it does not require of a long-term participants’ engagement to succeed in the research goals being planned. In reference [1] , we fully discuss the broad partnership with 1,650 citizens from communities around 18 primary schools across Barcelona provided the capacity to obtain unprecedented high-resolution NO 2 levels and an updated asthma Health Impact Assessment. Figs.…”

“…Nitrogen dioxide levels are measured in micrograms per cubic meter. Further details are provided below and in reference [1] .…”

“… Dataset from a large-scale air quality citizen science campaign is presented (xAire, 725 measurements, see Ref. [1] ). A broad partnership with 1650 citizens from communities around 18 primary schools across Barcelona (Spain) provided the capacity to obtain unprecedented high-resolution NO 2 levels which had in turn the capacity to provide an updated asthma Health Impact Assessment.…”

Sobre la possibilitat d’una ciència ciutadana social

“…Therefore, the same project offers the opportunity to keep a plurality of perspectives when delving into academically relevant citizen social science that can also generate actionable results. CoAct's approach reviews, adapts, and incorporates practices that already have some tradition within social sciences, such as communitybased research and participatory action research, apart from others from artists with experience working with communities (Perelló, Cigarini, et al, 2020).…”

“…The xAire project is an example of how important it is to expand participation spaces and how critical it can be to increase the social dimension of research. It is a collective mapping of Barcelona's air quality which has managed to measure the concentration of nitrogen dioxide in 725 different spots (Perelló, Cigarini et al, 2020). The initiative is led by our group, OpenSystems, 1 together with other institutions, also from the cultural sphere.…”