Making Sense: Advances and Experiments in Participatory Sensing

Making Sense

Making Sense: Advances and Experiments in Participatory Sensing

Contact
Alexandre Polvora
Main Organisation
DG Joint Research Centre
Department/Sector/Unit
JRC I2

Description

Making Sense was an H2020 project under the CAPS “Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation” programme. It was focused on how open source hardware and software, digital maker practices and participatory design could be used by local communities to make sense of their environment and effectively address problems such as air or noise pollution in urban settings. This was achieved through nine community-driven pilots in the cities of Amsterdam, Barcelona and Prishtina. The project’s main results can be found in Making Sense: Citizen Sensing, A Toolkit.

Participation Spectrum
Involve

When and Where

Start Year
2015
End Year
2018
Other Country
Kosovo

Policy Context

Policy Stage
Not applicable
Context of activity
Research Project
Third party (e.g. requested by another agency or institution)
Science or Policy Field
Culture
Digital Economy
Education
Environment
EU Citizenship
Health
Research and Innovation
Society

Participants

Participants
2000
Who was involved
Citizens
Citizen Representatives (e.g. NGOs)
Specific Communities (e.g. patients, students)
Other participants
Waag Society (NL)
IAAC (ES)
Peer Educators Network (KS)
University of Dundee (UK)
Joint Research Centre (BE)
Communities or representatives involved
Local communities in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Prishtina.
How were the Participants selected?
Volunteered through an open call

Methodologies

Events
500
Methodologies used
Boot Camps
Citizen Science
Co-Design
Community Research
Data Gathering
Hackathons
In-depth Interviews
Participatory Foresight
School Activities
Social Media
Tinkering
Other
Methodology description
25+ methods & tools.
Tools Used
Environmental Sensors
Apps
Social Media
On-line dialogue Platforms
Models or model outputs
Scenarios
Other
Spaces Used
City/Cities
Street(s)
School(s)
Makerspace
Citizen Science Data Platform
Other
Universities
Local councils
Partner organisations

Impact

Output
Action plan
Artefact
Artistic installation
Book
Brief
Citizen deliberation Document
Database Data
Manifesto
Media product
Policy recommendations
Report
Research Agenda
Other
Environmental Impacts
Social Impacts
Political Impacts
Main Outcomes and Lasting Achievement
Main output is toolkit as an entry point for the project’s approach to citizen sensing, aimed at both deepening and disseminating its understanding of sustainable processes which can enable collective movements from sensing to awareness to action.
How were the outcome taken up within the process they were carried out?
The toolkit contains multiple portraits and stories from citizens involved in the project, together with a presentation of an 8 steps framework, 6 cases and 25 tools and methods drawn from the pilots, and 7 key overall insights.
Were the methodologies used elsewhere?
Follow-up projects and side projects (eg. DECODE, iScape, Amsterdam Smart Citizens Lab, Science for Change Kosovo ...).

Assessment

Main Challenges
Difficulties with Member State authorities
Time constraints
Reason for such challenges and solutions
http://making-sense.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Citizen-Sensing-A-Toolkit.pdf
Lessons Learn
http://making-sense.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/Citizen-Sensing-A-Toolkit.pdf
Recommendation
Citizen engagement projects should address first and foremost citizen needs. Anything starting with a top down agenda compromises citizens trust and jeopardizes future endeavours.