Participatory Patterns in an International Air Quality Monitoring Initiative

The issue of sustainability is at the top of the political and societal agenda, being considered of extreme importance and urgency. Human individual action impacts the environment both locally (e.g., local air/water quality, noise disturbance) and globally (e.g., climate change, resource use). Urban environments represent a crucial example, with an increasing realization that the most effective way of producing a change is involving the citizens themselves in monitoring campaigns (a citizen science bottom-up approach). This is possible by developing novel technologies and IT infrastructures enabling large citizen participation. Here, in the wider framework of one of the first such projects, we show results from an international competition where citizens were involved in mobile air pollution monitoring using low cost sensing devices, combined with a web-based game to monitor perceived levels of pollution. Measures of shift in perceptions over the course of the campaign are provided, together with insights into participatory patterns emerging from this study. Interesting effects related to inertia and to direct involvement in measurement activities rather than indirect information exposure are also highlighted, indicating that direct involvement can enhance learning and environmental awareness. In the future, this could result in better adoption of policies towards decreasing pollution.Comment: 17 pages, 6 figures, 1 supplementary fil

Understanding citizen science and environmental monitoring: final report on behalf of UK Environmental Observation Framework

Citizen science can broadly be defined as the involvement of volunteers in science. Over the past decade there has been a rapid increase in the number of citizen science initiatives. The breadth of environmental-based citizen science is immense. Citizen scientists have surveyed for and monitored a broad range of taxa, and also contributed data on weather and habitats reflecting an increase in engagement with a diverse range of observational science. Citizen science has taken many varied approaches from citizen-led (co-created) projects with local community groups to, more commonly, scientist-led mass participation initiatives that are open to all sectors of society. Citizen science provides an indispensable means of combining environmental research with environmental education and wildlife recording. Here we provide a synthesis of extant citizen science projects using a novel cross-cutting approach to objectively assess understanding of citizen science and environmental monitoring including: 1. Brief overview of knowledge on the motivations of volunteers. 2. Semi-systematic review of environmental citizen science projects in order to understand the variety of extant citizen science projects. 3. Collation of detailed case studies on a selection of projects to complement the semi-systematic review. 4. Structured interviews with users of citizen science and environmental monitoring data focussing on policy, in order to more fully understand how citizen science can fit into policy needs. 5. Review of technology in citizen science and an exploration of future opportunities

SUSMETRO : Impact Assessment Tools for Food Planning in Metropolitan Regions : IA tools and serious gaming in support of sustainability targets for food planning, nature conservation and recreation

By offering a series of decision support tools for stakeholders of metropolitan regions, SUSMETRO facilitates and enables evidence-based decision making by means of ‘serious gaming’. Making use of the Phase 1 thematic maps such as on agricultural competitiveness, nature conservation and recreational values, stakeholders can compare impacts of traditional versus innovative forms of agricultural production. The SUSMETRO Impact Assessment tool provides information on the expected effects of spatial planning with regard to the self-supportive capacities of the region (ecological footprint) and the share of recreational and nature conservation facilities (land use functions), offering cost-benefit calculations regarding the expected economic revenues. The whole process is embedded in a Landscape Character Assessment process and guided by Knowledge Brokerage procedures to strengthen the science-policy interface. In sum, the SUSMETRO approach allows a wide range of stakeholders to co-develop images for sustainable Metropolitan Agriculture

Policymaking prior to decision-making in the Digital Age

This thesis will examine the application of information and communication technology (ICT) innovations over recent times in the policymaking process, focusing on the policy stages prior to decision-making stage. Recent developments in technology innovation have led to a re-examination of citizen involvement in government processes and the expansion of opportunities for citizens to engage in the policymaking process

Assessing river basin development given water-energy-food-environment interdependencies

Many river basins in the Global South are undergoing rapid development with major implications for the interdependent water-energy-food-environmental (WEFE) ‘nexus’ sectors. A range of views on the extent to which such natural-human systems should be developed typically exist. The perceived best investments in river basins depend on how one frames the planning problem. Therefore, we propose an approach where the best possible (optimised) implementations of different river basin development scenarios are assessed by comparing their WEFE sector trade-offs. We apply the approach to Tanzania’s river basin, an area with multiple WEFE interdependencies and high development potential (irrigation and hydropower) and ecosystem services. Performance indicators are identified through stakeholder consultation and describe WEFE sector response under scenarios of river basin development. Results show considerable potential exists for energy and irrigation expansion. Designs that prioritise energy production adversely affect environmental performance, however, part of the negative impacts can be minimised through release rules designed to replicate the natural variability of flow. The reliability of monthly energy generation is more sensitive to environmental-oriented management than the cumulative annual energy production. Overall results highlight how sectoral trade-offs change depending on the extent of development, something that may be difficult to regulate in the future, and that there are important basin-scale interdependencies. Benefits and limitations of the approach and its application are discussed

Empowering Citizen Science: A Generic Data Collection Framework

Citizen Science (CS) is collaboration between scientists and citizens to expand opportunities for scientific data collection and problem solving. Recent advancements such as the Internet, social networks and smart devices have created a technological platform for CS to engage more citizens to work on a wide range of scientific problems. Due to technical, financial and management resource constraints many organisations struggle to develop effective tools to collect scientific data in CS projects. A robust web and mobile interface for scientific data collection will ensure collection of higher quality scientific data. While web and mobile applications have been developed for some CS projects many CS projects are hindered by the complexity and intrinsic costs of implementing these applications. This thesis describes a web-based model for CS data collection suitable for both small CS communities and larger scientific organisations. Offering features commonly used in CS projects, this model reduces costs associated with software implementation and management in CS. A CS campaign is undertaken as a case study that validates our model in a real world scenario. Overall the generic data collection framework presented will empower communities and organisations to engage and use CS in more ways and on large scales

Managing Marine Mammal Observations Using a Volunteered Geographic Information Approach

Traditional methods of gathering the data needed to understand human impact on marine mammals requires extensive time and resources. To reduce the burden associated with collecting and managing marine mammal observations, a geographic information system (GIS) solution was developed using a volunteered geographic information (VGI) approach. Web and mobile applications were built for the general public to submit marine mammal observations and visualize the results. The web application also includes querying and authorized download of data. Both applications consume web services published from an ArcSDE geodatabase using ArcGIS Server 10.0