SOCIO-BEE
Wearables and droneS fOr CIty Socio-Environmental Observations and BEhavioral ChangE
ABOUT THE PROJECT
The project uses the metaphor of the bee hive to define citizen roles in each of these communities. In each hive, citizen science campaigns will be conducted to measure air quality, and data co-creation, visualisation and dissemination activities will be carried out to disseminate the results and influence environmental policy decisions.
SOCIO-BEE is a European citizen science and technology project that aims to enable citizens across the continent to monitor the air quality of their environment with low-cost devices, while offering them tools and support for the assembly of aware and active citizen communities that can influence local environmental and mobility policies, thanks to the measurements and data obtained by this technology.
SOCIO-BEE has a consortium of around fifteen European institutions, including universities, research institutes, technology developers, private companies and non-profit institutions. On the one hand, this consortium is developing the technology that will be used to measure air quality in an easy and open way. On the other hand, it provides citizen communities with tools to assemble, grow and establish themselves as their own entities that elaborate, execute and disseminate the results of the citizen science campaigns they carry out.
Three European cities are testing and piloting the SOCIO-BEE developments: Zaragoza (Spain), where children and teenagers are targeted; Maorussi (Greece), where the inhabitants’ journeys are used for air quality measurements; and Ancona (Italy), where their elders will join together to carry out citizen science campaigns.
PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS
Project Type: European
Duration: 2021 – 2024
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The SOCIO-BEE project aims to design, implement and validate technologies for fixed and portable devices that citizens can use to make air quality observations and with the support of local decision-makers and action groups to bridge science, technology and society.
SOCIO-BEE will develop and implement a co-creation approach with a citizen science perspective. Citizens can be involved in choosing campaigns customised to their context and needs, each of which will include tools to deliver participatory programmes and campaigns that influence decision-making to reduce pollution levels in cities and build trust among stakeholders.
SOCIO-BEE aims to conduct co-created experiments that are sustainable, accessible and replicable/shareable using citizen science, which will be tested in three pilot sites and with different populations: children, young adults, older adults and senior citizens.
IBERCIVIS’ ROLE
The Ibercivis Foundation is part of the SOCIO-BEE project consortium, actively participating in the co-design process of the project narrative, as well as the engagement strategies to be implemented in the pilot projects: Spain (Zaragoza), Italy (Ancona) and Greece (Marousi).
In addition, it will deploy together with the Zaragoza City Council and the Zaragoza City of Knowledge Foundation the pilot activities in the city of Zaragoza, where the citizen science methodology for measuring air quality through the wearable devices that the project has designed will be tested.
The foundation will participate in the communication and dissemination activities of the project results, graphic design, hosting and web development.
OUR ACTIVITIES
Citizen laboratories, co-creation sessions, workshops, design of educational activities for the assembly of the participating communities (SOCIO-BEE hives).
Communication and engagement activities for the dissemination of the project and its activities.
Co-design of citizen science campaigns
