Citizen Commitment in City-Organized Air Quality Monitoring

Abstract

Based on a case study from Rennes, the chapter presents how a group of urban public actors re-uses methods and technology from citizen sciences to raise the urban air quality issue in the public debate. The project offers to a group of inhabitants to follow air quality training and proceed PM2.5µm measurements. The authors question the impact of the ongoing hybridisation between citizen science and urban public action on participants' commitment. They present how the use of PM2.5-sensors during 11 weeks led to a disengagement phenomenon, even if we observe a strong participation to workshops. Finally, the authors present a spatial analysis of the measurements produced and analyse how the inhabitants use the sensors in their daily lives. These results come from an interdisciplinary methodology using observations, interviews, and data analyses.