Feb 13, 2023

Salviamo l’aria: NO2 NO Grazie!

Share this initiative

First NameAnna

Last NameGerometta

Emailsegreteria@cittadiniperlaria.org

What is the name of your organization?Cittadini per l’Aria ONLUS

Website/URLhttps://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/

What best describes the type of organisation that you are representing?Non-Governmental Organisation

Where are you based?Via Lentasio, 9, Milano, Città Metropolitana di Milano 20122, IT

Name of the equipment
Palmes diffusiontubes Buro Blauw BV
Brand
Buro Blauw BV
The number of these devices used in your initiative (estimation):
1,500
Origin
  • DIY – from a dedicated provider
Measured parameter (you can select several)
  • NO2
NO2
NO2 – Unit
μg.m-3
Communication type
  • Not relevant
Energy type
  • Not relevant (passive tubes, for example)
Does your device allow SD cards?
  • No
Temporal resolution
4 weeks
Where are you measuring air quality?
Outdoor
Device’s location
  • Street – public domain
Level of expertise required to operate
Simple if you take the time to read the documentation
What is the approximate market price per unit?
18
Are there any other costs related to this equipment?
n/a
Are there any setup/installation costs? If possible, provide a figure
n/a
Are there any maintenance costs? If possible, provide a figure
n/a

What is the name of your initiative?Salviamo l’aria: NO2 NO Grazie!

How would you describe the main mission of your initiative?Measure/monitor air quality, Measure personal exposure, Raise awareness/education, Advocate for air quality policies, Air quality modelling

Please provide a short description of your initiative (What is being done? Who is participating? What are your main goals?) This text will appear on the main page.Our initiative is a citizens science project where citizens from the urban areas of Milan and Rome monitor the concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in a place of their choosing (the street where they live, where their children go to school, where they go to work). The monitoring happens for 4 weeks, and the subsequent goal is to create a map of the air quality in order to request local policies on the reduction of pollutants.

Who is your main audience?Citizens, Media, Cities, Other government administrations

If possible, provide the list of partners involved in the initiative.The full list of partners is provided at this link: https://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/ringraziamenti-campagna-milano-roma/.
Please note that being in this list does not mean financial contribution. Other partners are the two municipal bodies of Milan and Rome that are using some passive diffusers in specific locations in the city, the University of Milan and other researchers from various research bodies.

How is this initiative funded?Association initiative, Private programme

Please provide an estimation of the total budget of the initiative (in €):5 000 – 50 000

What is the duration of the initiative?1 to 6 month

How many participants (citizen scientists, volunteers, etc.) have been involved (approximately)?1000 – 5000

Website that presents your initiativehttps://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/campagna-monitoraggio-2023/

Please share any other relevant/interesting links about your initiative:Our initiative is now at its fourth edition. Results collected during previous ones have shown that pollution derived from NO2 is connected to 10,9% deaths in Milan and 6,2% in Rome. For this reason, it is pressuring to use the results collected to ask for new policies to protect citizens’ health in urban environments.
Additionally, this year, citizens of Milan have been offered the possibility to participate in an experiment on the relation between personal exposure to NO2 and mental health. Citizens who have volunteered for this extra part of the project wear a different diffusion tube for a week to monitor personal exposure levels.

Please upload a picture to illustrate your initiativehttps://citimeasure.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/gravity_forms/1-ac26b2f28fbd1afdb0c6e30541245704/2023/02/come_funziona_la_campagna-1200×541.jpg

Are you using a platform for data visualisation?Yes, we connect to an information data viewer provided by a third party (GIS, digital twin, …)

Add the public URL (if any)https://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/campagna-monitoraggio-2023/

Is your platform open source?Yes

Are there any other interesting links related to the data platform?previous campaign link interactive map https://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/milano-2020-sai-cosa-respiri/

From 0 (the lowest) to 5 (the highest), how easily accessible and user-friendly is your platform?5

What are the estimated costs related to the data platform (subscription if any, development costs…)5-6000 €

Are you providing open data?Yes

If any, what qualitative or quantitative indicators (e.g., AQI, alerts…) are you calculating?WHO Air Quality Guidelines

How frequently is the data refreshed in the data platform?For the time being it is not online as we are currently still monitoring the air quality. Data is notprovided in real time as it is an average calculated on the period of the campaign.

How long does it take before the newest data is available on your platform?5 months approx.

Do you give access to historical data?Yes

If possible, please share a link to your data privacy policy:https://www.cittadiniperlaria.org/informativa-relativa-al-trattamento-dei-dati-personali/

What type of data visualisation do you provide?Statistics / Indicators / Charts, Maps, Report

Would you like to share with us any additional information? (Max 300 words)The first edition of the campaign took place in February-March 2017 only in Milan and other 11 cities of its province. The data showed that 96% of the tubes used for the monitoring collected NO2 concentrations higher than what is prescribed by the World Health Organization. Starting from this data, our association asked the municipality of Milan to adopt new local policies to protect citizens’ health, including the total prohibition of Euro 3 and Euro 4 vehicles.
In 2018, the campaign was repeated also in the cities of Rome and Brescia. The collection of data was this time used to ask to the municipalities involved to forbid diesel vehicles progressively to then eliminate them fully by 2025.
In 2020, the campaign took place in Milan, Rome and Naples. This time, several maps were created. The first maps showed the monthly NO2 concentrations measured by the installed tubes and the average annual concentrations calculated on those data. Furthermore, our researchers elaborated a LURF map, which estimates the NO2 levels in the whole city (even where tubes were not installed).
This year, as previously mentioned, the campaign is taking place in Milan and Rome, with the introduction of a research on personal exposure and its impact on citizens’ mental health.

Other Initiatives

HumidityPM10PM2.5Temperature
Window open or window closed? Increase a healthy surrouding

Window open or window closed? Increase a healthy surrouding

Location: Nijmegen, Netherlands

Description: By measuring inside and outside homes or offices, citizens get a clear overview what the air quality is in their living environment. By looking at the results, one can adjust its behaviour, to increase a healthy surrouding. The detectors are provided in the project to for example ten citizens. During workshops they share insides and knowledge they gained. When is the best moment to open the window? For municipalities, it can optional be combined with wood burning courses.

List of parameters measured: PM2.5, PM10, Temperature, Humidity

Read More

NO2NoisePM1PM2.5Temperature
Citizen Urban Health Laboratory

Citizen Urban Health Laboratory

Location: Barcelona, Spain

Description: The Urban Health Lab is a collaborative space for experimentation, learning and practice to foster community participation in building more resilient, healthy, sustainable and inclusive neighbourhoods. The lab aims to create communities of learning and practice, working collectively to identify needs, problems and interests, and to foster creative ideas that improve neighbourhood conditions through experimentation, shared knowledge and scientific culture.

List of parameters measured: PM1, PM2.5, Temperature, Noise, NO2

Read More

Black CarbonHumidityTemperature
CAIRGOBIKE Project

CAIRGOBIKE Project

Location: Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium

Description: CAIRGOBIKE is designed to improve air quality in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR) by accelerating a modal shift from car/van to cargo bike to transport children, deliver goods and services through an integrated ecosystem of complementary nudging strategies. This innovative ecosystem will convert citizens and professionals to cargo bike use, ease the access to cargo bikes and create parking facilities. User community (citizens/businesses and non-profit) will be directly involved in air quality measurement and communication.

List of parameters measured: Temperature, Humidity, Black Carbon

Read More