ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING TOOLKIT for PUBLIC PLACES. CITI-SENSE project Grant agreement nº:

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1 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING TOOLKIT for PUBLIC PLACES

2 CITI-SENSE Citizen observatories Communities of users who share Technological solutions of information and community participation methods Using appropriate communication solutions, Complemented with data and information systems To improve decision making process related with environmental policies.» Empowerment: Conditions. Interested parties should take part in the whole process, not only in a part of it and Participation can be named empowerment only when contributions have real impact on the decision making.

3 Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand. Chinese proverb

4 Urban Spaces: a field for citizen empowerment Urban public spaces & Quality of Life (social cohesion, health, identity, attractivness) Citizens understand and give success to urban areas Potential approaches: Participatory assessment of the quality of urban areas in the city: What they most like/dislike? How each area can be improved/preserved? Participatory design of a specific area: renovation or new development Ideas and reaction to proposals empowerment

5 CITI-SENSE for public places People participate collecting simultaneous objective (environmental data) and subjective (their related well-being) information Understand the balance between objective parameters and our perception City authorities apply innovation to the participatory process and collect novel information Improve the understanding of the success of urban spaces. Analysis of information. Identify aspect for improvement (challenges and opportunities). Supports a dialogue between them

6 Citi-Sense experienced: the city Vitoria Vitoria Gasteiz, 110 km. far from the coast, around inhabitants. Long tradition of green and sustainable policies good urban development and environmental quality

7 Citi-Sense experienced: Two ways to be involved: citizens 1. Citizens/Students are recruited to participate actively on the collection of data and to be empowered in environmental issues. 2. Citizens are invited to be part of a community of users and followers of the initiative (web page, facebook and on the street). General questionnaire (48 respondents): Main findings Environmental quality of public spaces is directly related to quality of life (65%) The comfort in public places is determined by the air quality (92%) and the sound environment (70%). Citizen can participate giving interesting information about public spaces, related to their physical elements and how pleasant they are (83%) and about environmental conditions (56 %).

8 Citi-Sense experienced: citizens Contact with 49 Local Civic Associations Personal Contacts Contact with Jesús Obrero Secondary School CONTACTS 3 WORKSHOPS 20 people Presentation of the project to 34 pupils INITIAL WORKSHOPS 30 people from associations 16 people from contacts 9 pupils EXPERIENCE 55 PARTICIPANTS 1. Los Herrán 28 observations 2. Plaza Constitución 32 observations 3. Parque Salinillas 27 observations 26 observations 4. Parque Olarizu WORKSHOP with 32 PEOPLE PRESENTATION TO 15 PUPILS FINAL WORKSHOPS

9 Citi-Sense kit We give to citizens a kit to collect objective information about some environmental conditions of the place and they also contribute with their perception of the place, regarding global satisfaction or its landscape value. The kit is composed by: Smartphone (apps and camera) Microphone, wind screen and Equipment to measure thermal conditions What is to be measured / evaluated? Thermal comfort Acoustic comfort Urban landscape General satisfaction Perceived health and emotions

10 Citi-Sense kit Quality of the measured data (Temperature, Humidity, Wind Speed, and Noise) is good enough for a Citizen Observatory Kestrel Smartphone+Edutige Radiant temperature was modelled in each observing site to be fusion with data collected by participants and calculate the Thermal Index

11 Citi-Sense protocol to observe public places Total duration proposed: 20 minutes. - Observe; - Measure; - Comment; - Take photos

12 Citi-Sense observation T < 0 Previous to the experience: -2: Register with an address. It will be the participant ID.

13 Citi-Sense observation T < 0 Once per participant - Fill in the questionnaire with some general info: - Personal characteristics - Health and lifestyle - Previous knowledge of the places

14 Citi-Sense observation T = 0 We have arrived at one of the places Start measuring

15 Citi-Sense observation

16 Citi-Sense observation At any time, during measurement. Pop up, each time a noise event is detected. Annotation

17 Citi-Sense observation T = 6 min In each observation (parts 3-6): - General perception - Soundscape - Thermal perception - Perceived emotions and health

18 Citi-Sense observation Feedback to participants In situ, at the smartphone

19 Citi-Sense observation

20 Feedback to participants at the web Combining subjective and objective results

21 Results: types of information 55 people engaged made 137 observations in four public places. collected by the Smartphone Measurements Perception 267 Comments 104 Photos shared at the Workshop Diagnosis X X Assessment X X X X Ideas / Proposals X X X

22 Plaza de la Constitución 32 people made 33 observations

23 Results: Previous knowledge of the place General perception and landscape Use of the place Why? Passing by (52%) Duration? Short time, less than 15 min (73%) When? Everyday Arriving walking (64%) From home (34%), that is at more than 500 m (74%) General Valuation: Neutral: Well valuated (29%) and bad (15%)

24 Results: acoustic comfort Noise levels Calculated from subjective and objective results N positive events Mostly unpleasant N negative events acoustic comfort (ESEI Index)

25 Results: thermal comfort Measured Perceived Temperature Wind Thermal comfort (PET Index) Average PET value 21,9 comfortable Some people warm Humidity

26 Results: comfort and perceived health Activation Low high positive Calm happiness negative sadness anger Staying at the place and doing the observations Increases the calm, decreases negative emotions and reduces the stress

27 Results: Valuation of elements Photos Comments N % N % Positive 12 57% 28 72% Negative 9 43% 11 28%

28 15 comments KEYWORDS: Traffic, Noise, Small area, Urban elements

29 Results: Suggestions

30 Analysis of data increases understanding Database: 137 observations with 170 variables for each of those observations. Comparison among spaces Importance of natural elements and of accessibility Type of urban area Constitucion Los Herran Salinillas park Olarizu Residential. Medium Residential. High density. density. Greenery Grass and trees Grass, bushes and scattered trees Residential. Low density. Grass Natural. Very low density. Grass, bushes, trees and water Location in the city City center City center Suburbs Green Ring

31 Perceived health Effects on emotions Urban Spaces Activation Low high positive Calm happiness negative sadness anger Natural Spaces Staying at the place and doing the observations Increases the calm, Decreases negative emotions Reduces the stress

32 Citizens` evaluation It is an opportunity for us to contribute in the transformation of urban spaces, making them more attractive and useful. It is useful if public administration is interested on the observations and obtained results. General evaluation of the experience During the experience they have identified aspects of space that would otherwise go unnoticed Usability for the improvement of environmental conditions in the city Solution is applicable in participatory processes Grant agreement 1nº: ,5 2 2,5 3 3,5 4 4,5 5

33 Tell me and I will forget, show me and I will remember, involve me and I will understand. Chinese proverb Video Spot (1 )

34 Potential applications: Participatory assessment of the quality of urban areas in the city: What they most like/dislike? How each area can be improved/preserved? Participatory design of a specific area: renovation or new development Ideas and reaction to proposals empowerment

35 CitiSense Public Places in your city Elements needed: Community of users engage to do the observations. Need of adapting the protocol for private legal issues? Radiant Average Temperature modelled at each place (to calculate the thermal comfort index). CITI-SENSE KIT. Analysis of the results coming from the observations and from the empowerment initiative. Workshop for integrating the experience in a participation/empowerment process: managing expectation and giving feedback to the community. Decisions to make by the City to apply the EI Public Spaces : Aim of the project: and selection of the places Scope of the Initiative: empowerment or participation: participatory assessment or decision making shared. Support needed from local experts in participation. Communication Plan: Pilot initiative or real communication process.

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