Citizen science in schools to take climate action: uneven air pollution concentrations in Barcelona

The city of Barcelona, like many urban centres, deals with the multifaceted challenges posed by air pollution. This abstract enlightens the pivotal role of citizen engagement and citizen science initiatives in catalysing awareness, understanding, and action against air pollution while addressing the broader context of climate change mitigation.

Barcelona's air quality is significantly impacted by anthropogenic activities. In 2022, population exposure to PM_2.5 and NO₂ tripled the health protection guidelines set by the WHO. Particulate matter concentrations returned to pre-pandemic levels and NO₂ exceeded the legal limits in one district, averaging 42 µg/m³ annually (Rico et al., 2023). Long-term exposure to those levels is estimated to cause 1,500 deaths, 900 new childhood asthma cases, and 130 new lung cancer cases annually, with associate social costs over 1 billion and healthcare over 5 million euros. These pollutants not only pose immediate health risks but also contribute to the exacerbation of climate change. Urgent and stronger action is needed to reduce air pollution and safeguard public health.

Citizens, as stakeholders, are pivotal agents in effecting meaningful change. Citizen science initiatives, such as participatory monitoring networks and collaborative research endeavours, empower individuals to actively engage in collecting data, analysing trends, and disseminating information on air quality. This engagement not only fosters a deeper understanding of the intricacies of air pollution but also cultivates a sense of ownership and responsibility among citizens towards their environment. This is the goal of I-CHANGE Living Labs, to encourage behavioural changes and promote eco-friendly practices in everyday life, as individual actions to combat climate change and towards more sustainable patterns.

The Barcelona Living Lab on Extreme Events has partnered with schools of different socioeconomic backgrounds in Barcelona (as stakeholders and citizen scientists) to deploy six low-cost air quality sensors (Smart Citizen Kits) and five meteorological stations. This campaign has consisted of several implementation phases where the sensors were installed, teachers were trained, and workshops were carried out to develop curricular material for different primary and secondary school grades. Students work on projects to understand how the sensors work and the collected data. Within these projects, data is gathered for specific days when variations in pollution levels are observed. Differences between various neighbourhoods and districts (whit sensors) are compared. Students use this information to create hypotheses about potential causes and then try to verify them. Then they are encouraged to understand how air quality affects their daily life and what they and their families can do to improve it and become more resilient to climate change. This contribution shows the methodology followed to develop this collaboration and the different campaigns, the difficulties that had been overcame, and the potential of the co-creative process with schools

The I-CHANGE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement 101037193.

 

References:

Rico M, Font L, Arimon J, Gómez A, Realp E. Avaluació de la qualitat de l'aire a la ciutat de Barcelona 2022. Barcelona: Agència de Salut Pública de Barcelona; 2023 (Catalan).