Citizen sensing - where people act as sensors

‘Smart city’ programmes are often developed and driven by the few and don’t always take into account the majority of people who live, work and collaboratively make the city. The Bristol Approach to Citizen Sensing is a new way of working that puts communities at the heart of innovation, ensuring that new technologies are developed to meet people’s needs and tackle the issues they care about, rather than being imposed on them by ‘big tech’ companies in a ‘top-down’ process. The approach enables the development of a ‘city commons’, where resources, tools, expertise and technologies are shared and used for the common good. The 6-step framework is itself a ‘commons’ tool that other organisations and groups can learn from, implement and iterate. Over 700 people were involved in more than 45 events during the pilot project. Three sets of prototype citizen sensing tools were designed and tested: tackling damp homes, food waste and mental health.