AIR BREAK Participatory Air-Quality Monitoring – Zoom-In 1

Air-Break set the ambitious goal of reducing air-pollution by 25% in the most critical areas of the city. In doing so, the project tackle air-quality issues through a set of integrated actions along four core strategic fields:

• Nature-Based Solutions, with the plantation of phyto-absorbing species along the main access roads to the city, towards the simultaneous enhancement of the quality of the green environment, as well as of its resilience and capacity to mitigate air pollution.
• Infrastructural upgrades, with the development of an innovative smart bike lane and multifunctional Smart Hubs, towards the promotion and enhancement of sustainable mobility opportunities.
• Technological equipment, with the deployment of mobile air-quality monitoring stations, as well as of innovative digital services and gamification applications, towards the incentivisation of environmentally friendly behaviours.
• Awareness-raising and citizens and stakeholders’ engagement, with the involvement of the local community in the monitoring of air-quality and establishment of a pro-active participatory process and co-design living labs, towards the strengthening of collective ownership of- and responsibility towards the project’s issues, actions and goals.

One of the most interesting and innovative elements of the project is the participatory, citizen-science approach to air quality monitoring. With this Zoom-In, UIA Expert Pietro L. Verga dives deep into the different components of the participatory air-quality monitoring system designed and implemented by the AIR BREAK Ferrara project, specifically focussing on:

• The strategic relevance of Participatory Monitoring for the Municipality
• The technology behind the monitoring sensors/stations
• The strategy and technology for AQ data collection, management, and analysis
• The strategy and tools for public data visualization
• The strategy and approach to citizens engagement towards participatory monitoring