Explore knowledge & action

How citizen observatories work in practice. Read stories from the project cases, for example schools monitoring air quality in Greece or educational institutions in Mykolaiv, together with the lessons learned along the way.

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  Co-Creating Resilient Cities: Citizens, Data & Participatory Action 

  Three European projects - CitiObs, CLIMAS, and Empower-Citizens - are coming together to demonstrate how citizen science, participatory methods, and collaborative innovation…
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  Empowering Communities: Citizen Science and Water Quality Monitoring in Mykolaiv 

  In Mykolaiv, Ukraine, CitiObs is actively integrating citizen science into the research efforts of pupils and students. Ongoing projects include monitoring atmospheric…
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  Empowering Policy with Trusted Citizen-Generated Air Quality Data

  As Europe races toward its Green Deal goals, high-resolution data and timely environmental intelligence have never been more crucial. Yet traditional monitoring…
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  Expanding the CitiObs Alliance: 30 New Citizen Observatories to shape urban environmental action

  In spring 2025, the CitiObs took a significant step forward by welcoming 30 new Alliance Cases (ACs) to our growing community of…
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  Exploring the CitiObs Citizen-Led Toolkit

  Our consortium partners, Jessica Carmen Guy and Óscar González from Fab Lab Barcelona | IAAC share insights on the process of the…
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  FILTER: A Tool for Making Citizen Air Quality Data More Reliable and Usable

  Over the past decade, low-cost sensor (LCS) networks for air quality monitoring have surged across Europe. However, despite their growing popularity, LCS…
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  From 213 Proposals to 25 Projects: The outcomes of the CitiObs x Distributed Design Open Call  

  Between May and June 2026, CitiObs and the Distributed Design Platform opened a call inviting artists, designers, makers, and creative collectives around…
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  From low-cost community sensors to better air quality maps

  Air pollution can vary sharply from place to place, both over a city and an entire continent. A busy intersection, a sheltered…
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  From Reference Stations to Hybrid Networks: Designing Monitoring Systems Fit for 2030

  For decades, air quality monitoring followed a familiar logic: install a handful of high-precision reference stations in key locations, collect data, and…
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  Hyperlocal, Real-Time Air Quality Data: Turning Transparency into Public Value

  Annual averages have long been the currency of air quality reporting. A city either meets its limit values or it does not.…
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  Identifying local challenges and fostering collaboration with Citizen Observatories in Barcelona

  In this post our consortium partners Milena Calvo Juarez and Oscar Gozalez , Fab Lab Barcelona delve into the dynamic knowledge exchange…
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  Indicative Air Quality Measurements in Europe: What the 2024 AAQD Really Enables

  Air quality is no longer a peripheral environmental topic. It is a compliance challenge, a public‑health priority, and increasingly a political pressure…