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
When and Where
Start Year
2015
End Year
2018
Other Country
Policy Context
Policy Stage
Context of activity
Science or Policy Field
Participants
Participants
2000
Who was involved
Other participants
Communities or representatives involved
Local communities in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Prishtina.
How were the Participants selected?
Methodologies
Events
500
Methodologies used
Methodology description
25+ methods & tools.
Tools Used
Impact
Output
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
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.