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Short Abstract

This contribution outlines D-NOSES’ policy impact at global to local levels, including input to the Zero Pollution Action Plan, the UNE 77270:2023 standard on citizen odour mapping in Spain, and national policy influence in Portugal, Chile, Colombia, and Uganda.

Abstract

Odour pollution is underrepresented in environmental regulations globally, despite being the second environmental concern after noise in number of citizens’ complaints, impacting health and well-being (SDG3). Due to the lack of regulations, situated technical studies are rarely conducted, data on odour pollution are scarce or unaccessible. When existing, emission limits and acceptability criteria for odour impacts differ significantly among jurisdictions.

D-NOSES (Distributed Network for Odour Sensing, Empowerment and Sustainability) was an H2020 citizen science project that aimed to put odour pollution in the map and in the policy agendas at local, national, regional, European and global levels. Based on a multi-level engagement and governance model and a bottom-up approach, D-NOSES contributed to Principle 10 of Rio declaration in local communities increasing transparency, promoting policy-societal dialogues and collaboration between 4H stakeholders to reduce the impact of odour pollution.

The project produced a Green Paper and a Strategic Governance roadmap targeting 10 countries in Europe, LATAM and Uganda, presented at the event “Revisiting odour pollution in Europe” in the European Parliament. As a result, odour pollution and its monitoring through citizen science was introduced in an amendment to the Zero Pollution Action Plan proposed by the Committee of the Regions. At national level, policies were informed in Portugal, Chile, Colombia and Uganda, where odour pollution was included in Air Quality Regulations. In Spain, a working group created in 2019 produced the standard UNE 77270:2023 Building collaborative odour maps through citizen science, to be adopted in other countries and at European level.