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Short Abstract

I am interested in the role of local governments as partners in citizen science for urban air quality. Drawing on cases from Norway and the Netherlands, I aim to share insights on municipal motivations, challenges, and the policy relevance of citizen science data and dialogue.

Abstract

My research focuses on the participation of local governments in citizen science initiatives for urban air quality, based on interviews from both central and peripheral municipalities in Norway and the Netherlands. I am particularly interested in understanding the motivations that drive municipalities to collaborate with citizens in air quality monitoring, as well as the specific challenges they encounter when integrating citizen-generated data into policy processes.

Through case studies such as Hollandse Luchten in the Netherlands and a wood-burning monitoring project in the Norwegian municipality of Bærum, I have observed that municipalities are motivated by the desire to design more effective policies, improve the quality and relevance of air quality data, and raise local awareness. At the same time, municipalities face significant barriers—including concerns about data credibility, resource limitations, and alignment with formal policy frameworks.

My motivation for participating in this roundtable is to contribute practical insights on how local governments navigate the opportunities and challenges of citizen science, and to discuss strategies for making citizen-generated data more actionable for policy. It is not only the data that comes from citizen science initiatives that is policy-relevant. I hope to learn from other participants’ experiences and to explore how we can collectively support municipalities—both in central and peripheral contexts—as essential partners in bridging the citizen science data-to-policy gap for healthier urban environments.