Citizens participation and green solutions in smart cities

The Commission supported the Netherlands with the CitiMeasure project that aims to bring together the experiences and expertise of European cities, organisations and networks in implementing citizen science initiatives (in the form of guidelines, toolbox, web-platform, Apps, etc.).

Context

Citizen measurement (or citizen science) initiatives contribute to a sustainable transition in European cities. By using an array of tools and instruments, citizens can play a role in measurement and monitoring of indicators on air quality, temperature, soil moisture, biodiversity, or risk management, among other environmental areas. Citizen measurement initiatives also can foster communications and interactions among stakeholders and contribute to the democratisation of science and policy.

In the Netherlands municipalities initiate several citizen initiatives and projects to achieve local, bottom-up measurement and improvement of the quality of life in neighborhoods and cities. However, the authorities face specific governance issues so the project focused on improving the collection of data, the comparison of data and to ensure democratic safeguards in the process as to ensure knowledge development and exchange.

Support delivered

The project, coordinated by Eurocities, followed a co-creation approach to develop and test three instruments for tackling commons challenges in citizen science, namely, comparability of air quality measurement initiatives, competencies (skills, knowledge, and attitude) for digital inclusion, and influence of citizen science initiatives on behaviour and policy changes.

This was done through the establishment of four working groups (WGs): Comparability, Behavior & Policy, Digital Inclusion and Strategy & Oversight. The fourth WG (Strategy and Oversight) focused on providing strategic direction and ensuring cohesion of activities across the three instrument WGs, and the project in general.

Expected results

The expected results of CitiMeasure (linked to the objectives of the project) include: 1. Reinforce the City Deal execution and support the development of three City Deal instruments by involving European stakeholders 2. Support city measurement capacity building through the establishment of a European Knowledge Centre 3. Raise awareness and create engagement at European level on the potential of city measurement initiatives and tools.

More about the project

You can read the final reports here: